While the game between Grambling State University Tigers and Bethune-Cookman College Wildcats will match two traditional small-college football powers Saturday in the Procter & Gamble Ohio Classic, it will mean a lot more to Cincinnati Vice Mayor Alicia Reece and local businessman Tyrone Virgil.

Reece received a degree in mass communication from Grambling, while Virgil earned a degree in history from Bethune-Cookman.

Reece also served as Miss Grambling State University, the student ambassador, and was on the school's 1990 Southwestern Athletic Conference women's basketball championship team.

"I am so proud to have my alma mater represented here,'' Reece said. "Grambling was scheduled to play here in 2001, but had to be canceled because of 9/11. When I was attending Grambling, my schoolmates used to ask me, 'Where is Cincinnati?' I am glad to invite them here now that I am vice mayor. My school being here means much more to me than a football game.

"I think black colleges have a legacy of producing great leaders. This entire weekend of activities gives the local black students a chance to see bandleaders, recruiters and some of the leadership of black colleges. They will see role models that look like them. They will have a chance to see how to get scholarships through the educational seminars offered this weekend.''

Virgil, who owns a medical supply company in Avondale, hopes his alma mater wins, but he sees the classic as a piece of history.

"Anything that raises the awareness of black colleges helps to put the history of these colleges in perspective," Virgil said. "This is good history that our black students will not get in the classrooms here."

Virgil will be part of the escort team for Trudie Kibbe Reed, president of Bethune-Cookman, while she is in Cincinnati.

The game is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Paul Brown Stadium.

Halloween bash underwritten

A $25,000 donation from Target stores to the Hamilton County Park District will pay for the annual Halloween Nights at Parky's Farm in Winton Woods, Oct. 15-30.

The event is a non-scary Halloween event featuring tens of thousands of lights and dozens of whimsical characters.

The donation was made at the Mill Race Banquet Center, Winton Woods, on Monday.

Seniors to be serenaded

Residents of Lincoln Crawford Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center, Walnut Hills, will hear the music of Uncle Russell and The Kinfolks 2-4 p.m. Oct. 16 at the center.

The event is the Annual Fund Campaign Open House for the center. The group, led by Russell Given, is a favorite of the residents.