The 10th Anniversary of the Pauline “Teena” Cooper/Minnie Shakespeare Scholarship Award and Travelganza with “Bible Jeopardy” will include a reception to honor the Rev. James “Jimmy” Jones.

Jones, 90, was a crew chief on a P-47, a fighter aircraft for the Tuskegee Airmen.

“I was responsible for putting the plane in the air, making its mission and bringing the pilot back home,” Jones said. “I had to sign off on all of that on paper to make sure that the plane was able to do its job and pilot could do his job.”

“We are recognizing him because I don’t think he gets enough recognition,” Cooper said. “He and his wife are very excited to come. They have been married 50 years and have six children.”

Cooper said that Brassbell Entertainment, Inc. will fly from Los Angeles to come perform a tribute to Motown’s Temptations in honor of Jones.

“I know Donald Bell so I talked to them about coming down and performing for the reception,” Cooper said. “They are pretty great so it should be a good time.”

Cooper said that she came up with the idea for the scholarship award while she was watching T.V. 10 years ago in her home in Los Angeles and saw where a tornado had killed eight students in Enterprise.

“I called Gov. Bob Riley and sponsored four students to fly to L.A. to see all of the sights,” Cooper said. “I had no idea I would be doing this 10 years later.”

Cooper still has a home in Andalusia and is thinking about moving back to her hometown.

“I still live in L.A. right now and my kids all live there,” Cooper said. “But I love Andalusia. The people are amazing and I absolutely love the clear air.”

Sixteen students have signed up for Bible Jeopardy which will cover questions from the King James Version of the Holy Bible, with categories from Genesis, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Cooper said that she came up with the idea because God has been so good to her.

“I have been in several life threatening situations,” Cooper said. “And each time, God has taken care of me. So I do what I can for God.”

The students use the Bible Jeopardy to be encouraged by its words, Cooper said.

“The main reason I do this is so that these students can be encouraged by the word of God,” Cooper said.

Cooper graduated from Covington County Training School in Andalusia and earned a nursing degree from Los Angeles Southwest College. She later earned other degrees from East Los Angeles College, California State University, and ULA. She worked with the County of Los Angeles for 29.5 years as a medical records supervisor, director of medical records and mental health counselor.

The benefactors for the scholarship are Cooper, Minnie Shakespeare’s sister, and Willie C. Wilson, Formerly of Red Level.

The first prize winner of the Bible Jeopardy will win a new car, the second prize winner will win a trip to Africa and the third prize winner will win $5,000 cash.

The Bible Jeopardy will be hosted at St. Peter Baptist Church on Sat., July 14, at 8 a.m.

The reception honoring Rev. James will be Fri., July 13, at 5:30 p.m., at Tabby D’s Restaurant.

Tickets are available for $40 between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., daily, at 209 3rd Street.

For more information, call Cooper at 323-388-9105.