MIDWAY – The annual Liberty County Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony had a family feel to it, with actual sisters, those who grew up together as if they were brothers and a father figure getting honored.

Delisha Milton-Jones, a member of the Hall of Fame’s inaugural class, introduced her sister Charmaine Milton Gatlin as the newest member of the Hall of Fame at the ceremony, held Thursday at the Liberty County East End Complex’s John McIver Auditorium.

Julian Stokes recalled how much of a father figure the late Kirk Warner was to the young men around him. Stokes led the Liberty County High School boys basketball team to a Class AAA state championship Candler Boyd, also among the original Hall of Fame class, said the late Bill Stanford, one of the class of 2025’s inductees, was like a brother to him growing up. Travis Mobley, also a member of the Hall of Fame, offered similar sentiments about the late Rick Wege, who was inducted with Thursday night’s class.

The inductees Milton-Jones, a two-time Olympic gold medal winner with the U.S women’s national basketball team, lauded her older sister’s accomplishments.

“This is a woman of virtue,” she said of the woman she calls her “built-in bestie.” “She is a woman of stature. There are those that are givers and those that are takers. She is indeed a giver. You are going to meet users and utilizers. She is one who is going to utilize every gift within her for herself and those who share space with her.”

Gatlin became the first woman to run a college football bowl game, her younger sister proudly declared, ran the Nat Moore Foundation and recently retired from the Jackson Health System, the largest safety net hospital organization in Florida.

“I can come up here and be the CEO and chairman of the little sister delegation,” Milton-Jones said.

Milton-Jones also recalled the day that changed their lives, and nearly ended her own. She was rescued from drowning in a pool not far from where Thursday night’s ceremony was held.

“As big sis, you’re always supposed to keep your eye on little sis. But sometimes little sis can be mischievous, and I was,” Milton-Jones said, “and I almost made a mistake that cost me my life. I know that moment was hard. I’m so glad and so grateful that God saw otherwise. The 39 years I have been on this earth since that date, I have had the privilege of watching and being mentored by the best ambassador a sister could ever ask for. Charmaine, you are a shining star. You are a hall of fame human, you are a hall of fame professional and a hall of fame sister.”

Gatlin recalled the many hours of games on a makeshift goal and thanked the many family members in attendance, and those no longer here, who helped push the two sisters into stardom.

“It is more than a personal milestone,” she said. “It is a reflection of every person, every moment and every challenge that has shaped my journey. I stand here with the coaches who believed in me, the teammates who pushed me, the fans who cheered me on and the family who stood by me through every high and low.”

Gatlin also thanked God for her journey – “I would be nothing without Him.”

Gatlin also praised Faye Baker for being a trailblazer for girls in high school sports and lavished gratitude on her mother, Beverly Milton.

“Thank you for teaching me the value of hard work, humility and faith,” she said. “You made so many sacrifices because you wanted more for us. You taught me how to win with grace and how to lose with humility. She challenged me to grow, not just as an athlete but as a pro.”

Being inducted into the Liberty County Athletic Hall of Fame gave Gatlin “a heart full of thanks,” she said, and she promised to give back more than she received.

“This honor is not the end of the road. It is a reminder of my responsibility to give back and make a difference,” she said. “Sports gave me a platform, a purpose and a path. Now it is my time to pay it forward, to mentor the next generation, create opportunities where they were none. Greatness isn’t just about talent. It is about resilience, respect and a willingness to lift others up as you climb.

“True greatness isn’t measured in wins,” Gatlin continued, “but by the legacy we leave behind.”

Boyd said the Hall of Fame induction for Stanford, a multi-sport standout who earned 13 letters at Bradwell Institute, was “long overdue.”

“It is indeed an honor and a privilege to present this plaque that Bill Stanford is officially and finally a member of the Liberty County Athletic Hall of Fame,” Boyd said.

Stanford excelled at every sport, especially football and track and field, but only earned one letter in basketball.only earned one letter in basketball.

“It coincided with hunting season,” Boyd said.

Boyd and Stanford became friends in the first grade, not long after Boyd’s family moved to Hinesville.

“Over the next 60 years, and until his death, we continued to be the best of friends,” Boyd said. “In fact, we were as close to each other as if we were brothers.”

Stanford was key member of Bradwell’s 1965 Class B football state championship team, leading the team with 135 points scored, and as a four-year starter in right field, he helped the Lions win the region baseball championship.

At the junior college level, he led Lees-McRae (N.C.) College in rushing and scoring and to the JUCO national championship game.

Off the field, Stanford was named senior class president.

“I’ve never met anybody who met Bill who didn’t like him,” Boyd said. “Bill was a unique and very colorful individual.”

Stanford coached football and track at Bradwell before leaving to help his father with their farm and rental business.

“Daddy would be humbled and honored to be included in such accomplished and respected company,” said his daughter Lara Jordan, who accepted on his behalf. “Daddy was also blessed to have the support and encouragement of so many loyal friends who continued to show him they were still on his team long after they left the field.

“I hope it shows them how the bonds they form with teammates and coaches and other supporters can lift them up for the rest of their lives through any struggle.”

Rick Wege was a great athlete and a great student and he excelled at every sport, Mobley recalled.

“He was extremely fast and extremely talented,” Mobley said. “He was so talented, you could put him on any team. When he walked the halls, if you were a coach, you knew you could put that kid on any team and he would succeed for you.”

Wege, who played several sports at Liberty County High but made his biggest mark in soccer, played collegiately at what is now South Carolina-Upstate. Mobley noted he and Wege were on the Hinesville Gators at age 6 and playing against its under 11 team.

“As good as they thought they were,” Mobley said, “we were better than them.”

Wege moved to Australia after graduation from USC-Spartanburg, but even as kids, Mobley noticed how Wege worked on different aspects of the game, taking countless corner kicks by himself, for example.

“He was a visionary thinker,” Mobley said. “He was doing things by himself to get better.”

Carol Wege, Rick’s mother, accepted his plaque on his behalf, and Mobley noted how Rick never boasted about his athletic skills or accomplishments and remained a good friend until his passing.

“They raised a good man,” Mobley said. “He was a wonderful friend.”

Stokes played under Warner and later coached alongside him at Liberty County High School when Stokes led the Panthers to the 2016 Class AAA state boys basketball championship. The winningest football coach in school history, Warner had an impact on his players and on his community, Stokes said.

“Kirk Warner was an amazing man, amazing father, amazing husband, amazing coach,” he said. “He changed the trajectory of that program. The amount of work he put into that program and into the community is unmatched.”

Warner’s widow Kim said the two met when they were teenagers attending the University of Georgia, where Kirk was a starting tight end on the football team. His first coaching job was at Bradwell Institute, where he was an assistant on the football and basketball staffs.

“I am so grateful,” she said. “Thank you so much for honoring this man God gave me. I have always been proud of him. I have always been honored to be Mrs. Warner.”

Warner was also active in his church and its outreach and other community organizations.

“What you see in public is what he was everywhere he went,” Kim Warner said. “If you knew Coach Warner, you loved him. He loved Liberty County.”

Warner also coached at his alma mater, Bleckley County, before being coaxed back to Liberty County to take over the Panthers football program.

“He got so many offers from Atlanta,” Kim said. “He just loved Liberty County. He loved Liberty County, period.”

Warner was head coach at Liberty County for 20 years before succumbing to cancer in 2022. He is survived by Kim and their three sons.

“I saw him be strong at times when it was hard,” Kim said. “He came here and I believe the Lord built him to build up the Liberty County program and touch so many lives. I believe his life was not in vain. He made his life count. Every single day I hear from someone who was touched by him or learned from him. It makes me proud that kind of caliber of man was my husband.

“I know he’s smiling down from Heaven,” she said.

Paul Rose remembered asking a teenaged Jeff Deloach to be his teammate in golf matches, going up against much older duos. Now, the Atlantic Judicial Circuit Superior Court judge also keeps an eye on Deloach through his contacts on the bench.

“I’ve watched him grow into the outstanding young man that he is here today,” Rose said. “He is a very respected lawyer and I know that because I know the judges he has to appear before from time to time.”

Rose and Deloach shared a passion for golf and said you could spot Deloach’s talent early on. In those days, getting a golf scholarship meant getting out on the junior circuit, playing in tournaments far and wide, with his parents Buddy and Linda ferrying him all over the South.

“He is a testament to dedication and hard work,” Rose said. “This is a great honor for me, but also a painful reminder of how old I am.”

Deloach called the induction “unexpected and humbling” and said it makes him reflect on the people who have influenced his life.

“It’s actually fun to do that,” he said. “Athletics has been a part of my life as long as I can remember.”

For Deloach, it started at the Liberty County Recreation Department and he recalled running the 400-yard dash at the state track meet. He had a lead but fell, and then rec director Charles Shuman came down and implored no one touch Deloach. Deloach got back up and finished the race, taking fourth place.

“I was tremendously disappointed,” Deloach said, “but I learned from that. The lessons I learned in sports have carried me in life. It sounds like a cliché, but it’s true – hard work, working toward goals, how to be a team player, how to handle defeat and disappointment and how to be humble in victory are life lessons we learn in sports. These lessons have served me well.”

Deloach has become a sports dad himself – his son Will runs middle distances for Washington and Lee University’s track team and his daughter Kathryn has committed to play golf at Georgia Southern University for its nationally-ranked women’s team.

“A Furman Paladin is having to learn to say Hail Southern and GATA,” Deloach said, noting two of his college alma mater’s former rival’s mottos.

Deloach also cited getting tips on his course management from the late Clifford Johnson and how Cora Horne started a junior golf clinic to introduce kids to the game, even buying the trophies to present at the end of the week from her own pocket.

He also recalled learning baseball from Wade McCallar and how his dad and his dad’s cousin – fellow Hall of Fame member Allen Brown – coached rec basketball. Deloach also noted how his mother and Caroline Tunkel taught some of the first soccer players in the community, and there was also Tom Sukaratana, the longtime head of the Hinesville Gators soccer program.

“He taught us soccer,” Deloach said, “but he taught us about teamwork and caring about one another. He taught us how to pray and praise the Lord with everything we did.”

The Hall of Fame induction also brought back to mind his many rounds of golf with Travis Mobley and Bo Strickland, whom Deloach called one of the best athletes he’s been around.

“We competed, we talked a little trash and most importantly, we had fun,” Deloach said. “Playing with those two guys taught me to compete and gave me a love for the golf.”

His earliest memories of golf, which led to a scholarship at Furman University, were tagging along with his mom and dad at Cherokee Rose Country Club.

“Golf started for me by literally riding my dad’s golf bag as he pulled a pull cart, which led to many Sunday afternoon rounds for the three of us,” Deloach added. “All those things I could not have done without my parents. They supported me in everything they wanted to do.”

Deloach is a lawyer in Athens and praised the upbringing he had and people who surrounded him as a younger man.

“I am humbled by this honor and appreciate the opportunity to talk about some of the people who have blessed me in my life,” he said. “I am thankful for being in this organization and thankful for being from Liberty County.”