Hoffpauir named director of recreation complex by Joey Martin - posted Thursday, July 29th, 2010 @ 7:53 am  E-mail Story |  Print Story  Longtime Vidalia High teacher and head baseball coach Johnny Lee Hoffpauir has been named recreation director of the soon-to-be constructed $4 million Vidalia Recreation Complex. Hoffpauir, who is 58, said he has turned in his resignation as a teacher to the Concordia Parish School Board, adding that he's asking the board to allow him to coach the VHS baseball team without pay for one more year. He said he'll miss teaching at Vidalia where some of his students are now among his best friends. "I've spent 51 of my 58 years going to a Vidalia school," he said. "It's been a wonderful experience that I will never forget." Hoffpauir's salary as recreation director will be paid by the City of Vidalia and Concordia Recreation District No. 3. He said the opportunity to serve as recreation director was one he couldn't turn down. "I didn't want to leave a baseball field where my sons played and where I have coached more than 1,000 kids over all these years," he said. "But I got caught up in the fever and enthusiasm of what this can be." Final design plans are now being completed for the complex, which will include soccer fields, basketball courts, 12 tennis courts, four baseball fields, four softball fields, press boxes with offices and concession stands. Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said Hoffpauir will be an anchor for the overall recreational program, adding that the coach has already begun the process of trying to draw tournaments to the complex in the future. (For full story subscribe to The Concordia Sentinel 318-757-3646.)