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LANETT – When Lanett won its second state championship in three years, there was one question circling around the city— how were the Panthers going to celebrate?

Several ideas were thrown around, but with a good amount of the football team starting basketball right away, the celebration has been pushed to the back burner for now.

Lanett head football coach and athletic director Clifford Story has had several ideas on how to celebrate the team’s success.

The first is state championship rings. 

Story has reached out to the community to try and help support the team’s cost of rings. Each ring costs $250, and with the total cost somewhere between $12,000 and $15,000 for the entire roster and staff.

So far the bulk of the donations have come from Lee County.

Story plans to thank the donors with a banner that will have the donor’s names written on the banner, which will be in the Panthers’ stadium. 

“It’s not a pressing issue for us now because ring it probably won’t be back in about the middle of March,” Story said. “We have the rest of this month and February [to reach the goal]. I think that it can work out and people always come through for us, so I’m not that concerned.”

The other way Story plans to honor the state championship is by hosting a Lanett champions parade. He wants the parade to celebrate more than just the 2019 football team, but every team that has won a state championship at Lanett. 

“I don’t want to just throw it together and it’d be something just small just say we did,” Story said. “If we do it, I want to make sure it’s done right.”

So far, Story has not sat down with Lanett mayor Kyle McCoy just yet to figure out the details for the celebration. 

In Story’s plan, the parade to go from Lanett High School to the fountain in downtown Lanett. At the fountain, there will be a chance for a member from each championship team to talk about the success. There will also be vendors to make the event more of a community event. 

Story plans to sit down with McCoy and other members of the community to plan out the celebration.