SALISBURY – Livingstone College will host its first home game of the 2019-20 football season Saturday with the sixth annual West End Classic, which honors the hometown of the historic institution.

The West End Classic is a partnership among Livingstone College, the city of Salisbury and members of the West End Coalition (West End Pride and West End Community Organization). The game begins at 4 p.m. at Livingstone Alumni Memorial Stadium. At halftime, five members who have impacted the community will be honored with Community Spirit Awards.

The West End Classic typically honors an individual and an organization, but this year a children’s category was added.

The following are the honorees:

• Individual Award: Fannie Butler was a founding member of the West End Community Organization and has served as president for more than 25 years. She was the first director of Miller Recreation Center. The 90-year-old is a 1949 graduate of Livingstone College, where she met her husband, David T. Butler Sr., a local principal. She often says she came to college to get her bachelor’s. degree and her M.R.S. She taught math at several high schools in the area, retiring from Salisbury High School in 1989 after teaching for 38 years.

• Organization Award: Shirley Holt of Moore’s Chapel AME Zion Church and the Rev. Mary Hardin of Soldiers Memorial AME Zion are co-founders of Families and Communities Together (FACT), an outreach program started in 2012 by the two churches for Zion Hill Apartment residents. In 2016, the program extended to the entire community and provides reading programs and basketball camps in the summer and promotes resources available to families. Other churches are now part of the organization in addition to Livingstone College, the city of Salisbury, Salisbury Housing Authority and AARP. FACT also offers parenting sessions through Terrie Hess House and Blessing of the Children worship services four times a year at various churches that include recognizing honor roll students.

• Group Award: Triple Threat Dance and Charm, of which Krystal Stukes is founder and CEO. Stukes, who has 20 years of dance and cheerleading experience, teaches ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, majorette and lyrical dance. The studio also offers charm and etiquette classes. The dance group has won several awards in various local, regional and national competitions.

• Children’s Award: Ja’Mir Leach is being recognized for his athletic ability as a promising golfer. The 10-year-old plays golf for First Tee of the Triad and is in his second year. Last year, he won the Responsibility Award. He is a student at Koontz Elementary School and a member of Soldiers Memorial AME Zion Church. He has been playing golf since age 4 under the tutelage of his uncle, Tony Leach. He aspires to play golf professionally.

For more information on Blue Bear athletics, visit bluebearathletics.com, or visit livingstone.edu for general information on Livingstone College.