The Boys & Girls Club of Southwest Mississippi will be located on Randy Tate Lane beginning Jan. 13.
Randy Tate was the first executive director of the club when it was established in McComb nearly 30 years ago and held the position until his unexpected death on Nov. 28.
The McComb city board voted unanimously to change the street name from Positive Place to Randy Tate Lane and passed a resolution honoring Tate at Tuesday’s meeting.
Marcus Pittman, who was the club’s operations director, took over as executive director Dec. 13. He said a ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held for the name change on the afternoon of Jan. 13, which was Tate’s birthday.
“It’s great,” Pittman said. “It’s something the selectmen had brought to me after Mr. Tate passed away. I got a phone call (Tuesday) night after it passed. I reached out to the family and they’re excited. What a way to celebrate his birthday. We’re going to do it here at the Boys & Girls Club and we’ll do the ribbon-cutting here on that street.
“I’m just excited about it. When I got the call last night, I just got chills down my body.”
Selectman Donovan Hill originally proposed naming the street Randy Tate Lane and notified Pittman the board approved the change.
“Mr. Tate has been the director of the Boys & Girls Club since it was created here in McComb, Miss.,” Hill said.
“I just think it was vital and important that we do something in remembrance of Randy Tate, and what greater way would it be for us to see a sign going to the Boys & Girls Club?”
Mayor Quordiniah Lockley said the name change accomplishes the same thing the name Positive Place did for many years.
“It was recommended because the Boys & Girls Club was designed to create positive outcomes, so that’s why it was called Positive Place,” he said.
Tate’s daughter, Rashanda Littles, said Pittman notified her the selectmen approved naming the street Randy Tate Lane. Littles said Pittman is like family and has kept in touch with and checked on Tate’s family.
“He was so excited,” Littles said of Pittman. “We were just as excited. I think it is a great thing that is taking place and it’s definitely in the right direction to keep his legacy going. I think it’s a great thing the city decided to do.”
Littles said she, along with her mom and Tate’s widow, Yvonne Tate, nearly all of her siblings and some aunts and uncles will attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Family and friends remembered Tate’s love for the community.
“He was a great example in the community,” Pittman said. “He was just that type of person. He led by example. He was great to this community. He was a plus to this community.”
Hill got to know Tate as an adult.
“I never went to the Boys & Girls Club when I was a kid, but I came back home from Alcorn State University and Mr. Tate kind of took me under his wing and had me come to the Boys & Girls Club and talk,” he said.
“He was a great guy. He was always funny. You are never going to be around him and be sad. He’s always uplifting and he’s all about the community. All Mr. Tate cared about was the kids in his community.”
Lockley knew Tate for many years.
“Randy Tate and I go way back,” he said. “I remember when he was selected for the Boys & Girls Club. The Boys & Girls Club was his life. He loved his job. He loved the kids. He would bend over backwards for the Boys & Girls Club.”
Littles said her father had a love for the city and children.
“His love for children and a neat and humble person,” she said. “He was definitely a servant at heart. I hope that’s what people remember about him.”
