THOMASVILLE — He spent a lifetime trying to keep kids on the right path. Now Frank “Poppa D” Delaney Jr. has a road named in his honor.

The longtime and venerated Thomas County educator received one more accolade at the annual Marguerite Neel Williams’ Boys and Girls Club annual steak and burger night as the section of Highway 84 bypass in front of Thomas County Central High School now bears his name.

“That was some kind of honor,” Delaney said after the sign for the Frank “Poppa D” Delaney Jr. Parkway was revealed. “It surprised me — that’s hard to do.”

The distinction was the handiwork of Thomas County Schools Superintendent Dr. Dusty Kornegay and TCCHS teacher Randy Young, both former students of Delaney’s. With help from state Reps. Amy Carter (R-Valdosta), also a teacher, and Darlene Taylor (R-Thomasville), the state House of Representatives passed a resolution in honor of Delaney.

But the humble Delaney still wondered how Kornegay and Young were able to pull off their subterfuge.

“They are some slick jokers,” he cracked. “They got me.”

Delaney’s purpose for being at the annual steak and burger night was to serve as the keynote speaker. Introduced by longtime friend Charlie Ward Sr., who called him “a master psychologist.”

“When you go in there and talk to him,” Ward said, “you come out a better person.”

Delaney said his talk was designed to reach one person and two groups with three words — “I dare you.”

“I’m not here to beat up on young people,” he said. “But I’m going to challenge the one person first. I’m going to dare that young person to continue to work hard to make sure that everyone he comes into contact with, day by day, will have a better day than they would have had if they hadn’t met him.

“I want to encourage that person, dare that person, to live in such a way that when people see him coming, they rejoice, ‘here he comes,’ and not be one of those that when people see him coming, ‘oh, my God, here he comes.’ I want to challenge that person to continue to make a difference in the lives of people. It’s the lives you touch, that’s what’s going to be important.”

Delaney said the Bible tells children to honor their mother and father — even if there is a disagreement.

“As many times as I have read that chapter, I have never found anything that says ‘honor your mother and father, if you agree with them,’” he said. “God doesn’t care if you agree with them — just respect them.”

Delaney also said adults should stop talking about young people and start talking to them instead “and let’s make a difference,” he said.

“Young people want to be told what’s right,” he said. “And we want to put all of society’s ills on the shoulders of young people. All young people are not wrong all the time; all old people are not right all the time.” 

Delaney said God does not want ignorance to make you a fool.

“I thank you all not so much for coming to hear me but to support the Boys and Girls Club,” Delaney said.

Art Allen, Marguerite Neel Williams Boys and Girls Club executive director, described some of the programs now in motion and those that will be for the organization’s clientele. Through Thomas University, a seven-year program called Gear Up that will provide academic intervention for students in fifth, sixth and seventh grades and follow them all the way through graduation.

The club also is partnering with the Thomasville Center for the Arts to start a community vegetable garden at the Fletcher Street locale, with plans to start in the fall. There also is a workforce development program with Southern Regional Technical College in the works.

‘We are keeping kids safe at the Boys and Girls Club,” Allen said. “But we don’t them to just survive. We want them to thrive.”