OPC Wins Five MRPA Awards; Nathan John Named Lamar Evans Recreational Professional

Oxford Park Commission took home five first-place awards at the Mississippi Recreation & Parks Association banquet in Biloxi on March 3, 2026, with honors recognizing a mix of events, classes and individual staff accomplishments. The night’s awards capped another year of statewide recognition for OPC programs and facilities.

The MRPA awards ceremony in Biloxi honored both programming and personnel; initial reporting noted an award connected to OPC’s instructional programs and singled out staff achievements among the five first-place honors. The presentation followed a multi-year pattern of OPC successes at the association’s annual conference.

OPC’s string of MRPA wins stretches back several years. In 2019, OPC took five MRPA awards on Oct. 23, including the Hayward "Bo" Phillips Design Award of Merit for the Ulysses "Coach" Howell Activity Center. The $12 million Coach Howell facility, completed in January of that year, was named the top facility in the Class II category; Sam Pryor was recognized as Professional of the Year for his work leading the activity center, and former OPC employee Kim Brasher was named Recreation Therapist of the Year. OPC Executive Director Seth Gaines said in 2019, "We have great workers who have or who continue to do a great job with the community in their respective field," and added, "We are very happy to have the MRPA acknowledge their dedication, their efforts and service."

OPC’s 2025 awards run reinforced that record. On Feb. 28, 2025 OPC announced three first-place plaques from the MRPA conference hosted in Natchez, including the Hayward "Bo" Phillips Award of Merit for the basketball court and park on South 18th Street. Recreation Director Felisa McKnight was the MRPA Professional of the Year in 2025; McKnight leads OPC’s youth camps, the League of Champions program for individuals with physical and intellectual challenges, and youth cheerleading. Mark Levy, the City of Oxford’s Director of Special Projects, led the South 18th Street project, and local programming such as Aaron Barton’s youth fishing camps was highlighted in conference materials.

OPC has repeatedly been recognized by MRPA for facility design and community programming; OPC materials record seven Hayward "Bo" Phillips Award wins since 2015 and note sustained award totals across recent conferences. As OPC accumulates honors across Biloxi and Natchez ceremonies, the commission points to concrete program growth in Lafayette County - from the Coach Howell center to South 18th Street courts and the League of Champions - as measures of impact. In 2019 Gaines said the Coach Howell center "provides so many opportunities for all ages in the area. We have been very pleased with the amount of people who have used the facility so far and we look forward to find new ways to use this great facility to our advantage for betterment of residents.