It’s setting up to be a busy sports weekend in Vicksburg.

High school football will cover two days this week — Vicksburg High and Warren Central play on Thursday, and Porter’s Chapel and St. Aloysius on Friday — and then college football and the NFL will grab our attention Saturday and Sunday.

In between football games, there is plenty going on. The 31st annual Over the River Run is Saturday at 8 a.m. on the Old Mississippi River Bridge. The 5-mile run and race walk across the bridge is a race, but also a unique opportunity to go for a stroll to Louisiana and back. It is, quite literally, an opportunity that does not come along very often.

There is a $25 entry fee for the race. You can sign up Saturday from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. at the race or Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation at the corner of Crawford and Cherry Streets. The event is a fundraiser for the SCHF.

Meanwhile, Warren County’s golf courses will also be busy.

On Friday, Clear Creek Golf Course will host the Alcorn State Alumni Foundation’s Purple and Gold Benefit Golf Tournament. Saturday and Sunday at Vicksburg Country Club will be the Red Carpet Bowl Golf Tournament.

The Purple and Gold tournament benefits the Alcorn State athletics department. The entry fee is $125 the day of the event, and the tournament starts at 10 a.m.

The Red Carpet Bowl tournament is two rounds and begins at 11:30 a.m. each day. Cash prizes are awarded to the top finishers, and the entry fee is $375 per three-man team. Proceeds from the tournament go to the Red Carpet Bowl scholarship fund, which awards as many as a dozen scholarships each year.

What all of these have in common is that they aren’t just sporting events. They are fundraisers for worthwhile causes.

The Over the River Run helps the SCHF offer programs throughout the year that enrich the community. A dozen runners paying that $25 entry fee helps them to put on painting or cooking classes in June.

Two extra teams playing in the Red Carpet Bowl golf tournament can give another senior a another scholarship.

So, if you have nothing to do this weekend, go for a walk across the bridge — you don’t have to run or even be competitive; you can amble at your own pace — or gather a few friends and play a round of golf or two. It’s fun and it’s a small way to help make our community a better place.

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Ernest Bowker is the sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com