Sheriff to face heat for good cause

Published 10:05 am Thursday, July 21, 2016

Like any public official, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace is used to catching some occasional “heat” from the public.

But Friday night, he will catch a different kind of fire when he becomes the target for flaming barbs from his brother, Warren, and Mayor George Flaggs Jr., during the second annual Randy J. Naylor Memorial Foundation Celebrity Scholarship Roast.

Warren Pace and Flaggs will serve as the  “roasters” for the 7 p.m. program at the Bluffs of Vicksburg. Comedian Marvin Hunter, a Vicksburg native now living in Atlanta, is roast master.

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“It was kind of hard to find people to sit up there and roast him,” foundation president Randy Naylor Jr. said. “I guess too many people were afraid they might end up in jail if they said anything about the sheriff.”

The event will be payback for Flaggs. Pace was one of the roasters for Flaggs’ roast last year.

“I guess the mayor will get his 10 minutes of revenge,” Pace said.

He said he didn’t mind being the target of the roast.

“Randy and I were good friends for many years and I knew his family,” he said. “I support the Randy Naylor Foundation and the good work it does. When Randy Jr. asked me to do this, I said I would. It’s all in good fun and for a good cause.”

Tickets for the roast are $50 each and all proceeds go to the foundation for scholarships.

The inaugural roast in 2015 raised $7,000 Naylor said.

Tickets can be ordered by going to the foundation’s website, rjnmemorialfoundation.com.

About John Surratt

John Surratt is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in general studies. He has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post staff since 2011 and covers city government. He and his wife attend St. Paul Catholic Church and he is a member of the Port City Kiwanis Club.

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