Although Mayor George Flaggs Jr. and Sheriff Martin Pace typically get along just fine, Wednesday morning was a battle.

The war happened in the auditorium at Vicksburg High School where the two local celebrities were pitted against each other for a lip sync competition to raise money for the school’s Relay For Life team. Tickets cost $3 to attend, and the school raised more than $1,000.

Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said he wanted to be involved because the event promoted a great cause.

“I had a mother who died from cancer, and having cancer survivor Antonia Flaggs-Jones as my niece, I think it was worthy,” he said. “It was putting a human face on how important it is to support not only the school but also the community. It brings awareness to it, and I commend all who were involved.”

Flaggs lip synced a song he said has been with him throughout his entire political career: Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come.”

“My reason for going into politics was to make a change, and I always believe a change is going to come,” he said. “It’s one of my favorite songs.”

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said he enjoyed taking a small break from an otherwise hectic day.

“I thought it was fun to spend a few minutes with the students at Vicksburg High,” he said. “They were very energetic and involved in the contest, and they seemed to enjoy it.”

Pace said

“It was something old school that I would know all the words to,” he said. “I didn’t do any practicing. As a matter of fact, I didn’t know anything about participating until the day before.”

Meredith McRight and Emmarie Flaggs-Anderson coordinated the event and Melanie Sanders was emcee.

Sanders said the program was modeled after the television show Lip Sync Battle and after the mayor and sheriff performed, several groups of students got in on the action.

“It’s good for our students to see our community leaders supporting them,” she said.

Judges were former faculty members who had beaten cancer and representatives from the families who had lost loved ones to cancer.

After Flaggs and Pace had both performed, the judges declared the decision too tough and called it a tie.