Funeral services for Emily Meredith Prince were held Wednesday, September 8, at 2 p.m. at Emmanuel Baptist Church with burial in Double Springs Cemetery with Shelton-Hunt Funeral Home of Humboldt in charge of arrangements.

Ms. Prince, 22, died at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital on Monday, September 6, following an accident.  Ms. Prince, a cosmetologist, graduated from Humboldt High School in 1999, where she was a cheerleader in both junior high and senior high school.  She was also a member of the Milan Saddle Club.  Her hobbies were horseback riding and riding four-wheelers with her friends.

Surviving are her parents, David and Beverly Prince of Gibson; a brother, Tyler Prince of Gibson; maternal grandparents, Delmus and Faye Thomas of Humboldt; a paternal grandmother, Margie Prince of Gibson; and also a special friend, Josh Morris of Humboldt.

Memorials may be sent to Emmanuel Baptist Church, Humboldt.

4-Wheeler fall fatal to woman

A 4-wheeler accident over the Labor Day weekend claimed the life of a young Gibson woman.

Emily Meredith Prince, 22, was one of two passengers on a 4-wheeler late Sunday afternoon when the incident occurred.

According to Tennessee State Highway Patrolman Kenny Callahan, the three friends had just driven out of the woods and onto Esquire Estes Road near her parents' home outside of Gibson.

Prince apparently fell from the 4-wheeler as it turned into her parents' driveway at 105 Esquire Estes Road.  She sustained a serious head injury from the fall.

She was taken to Humboldt General Hospital and then airlifted to Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, where she died later Sunday night.

Cody Scott, 20, of Humboldt, was the driver of the 4-wheeler.  The other passenger was Josh Morris, 22, of Milan.

None of the group wore helmets.

Callahan said Scott has been charged with underage drinking and driving an off-road vehicle on a roadway.

Other charges could be forthcoming depending on the results of the investigation, Callahan said.

According to witnesses at the scene, it was just a fluke accident, Callahan said.  Prince apparently hit her head on the pavement in a way that caused serious injury at the back base of her head.

'In Memory of Emily'
Prince remembered by saddle club friends

The Milan Saddle Club, on September 4, held their 3rd annual World Flag Race.  In years past, many people from this area would travel to Mount Vernon, Illinois to attend the World Championship Flag Race.  Several years ago, the saddle club in Mount Vernon decided to take the flag race out of their show schedule.  Some of the area contestants of this event got together and the World Flag Race at the Milan Saddle Club became an annual event.

This show is held the 3rd weekend in July at the Milan City Park.  Now contestants mark their calendars a year in advance to attend this show.  This year in July, the show was rained out with many people already here, traveling great distances and using their vacations to spend the week in Tennessee.  Due to some contestants using all of their vacation and the price of fuel, the number of entries was down from the previous years.  We still had contestants from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Missouri.  The Milan Saddle Club paid out $10,770 in cash, along with $2,000 worth of prizes.  Many of the prizes and cash were donated by businesses and individuals.  The prizes consisted of saddles, trophies, buckles, breast collars, halters, and feed.

The World Flag Race is an event where people run two times, with the winners of each "go" receiving money and prizes.  Then the two runs are averaged and the person with the fastest averaged time is the champion.  This year's champion is James Denton (formerly of Milan).  James received money and a trophy saddle.  2nd was Kenneth Anderson of Clarksburg.  3rd was Ronnie Washburn of Lexington, TN.  4th was Kenneth Anderson.  5th was Johnny Dugger of Kentucky, and 6th was Jason Brewer of Dyer, TN.  The 2-D Champion was Joe Taylor from Jackson, TN.  2nd was Dan Griffith from Gibson, IL.  3rd was Chris Trone from Canton, IL.  4th went to Terry Betts from Greenfield.  5th was Josh King from Lexington, and 6th was Buddy McCory from Indiana.

This year was special because, along with the flag race, the 1st annual Emily Prince Memorial Barrel Race was held.  Emily's life was suddenly taken while riding 4-wheelers with her family and friends on September 5, 2004.  The Prince family has always been involved in horse showing.  Years ago, David and Beverly would bring their children, Emily and Tyler, to the shows.  Their love for horses and the sport was passed down to their children.  The Prince family is the lifeline that has helped make the Milan Saddle Club grow.  Emily was a barrel racer and avid horse lover.  She and her horse were familiar to everyone around the horse shows every weekend.  Her horse has been retired on the Prince family farm in Gibson.  With the face of an angel, beautiful smile, and mild manner, Emily will always be remembered by family and friends.  She is sadly missed by all.

In the 1st annual Emily Prince Memorial Barrel Race, a trophy and saddle were donated by Ronnie Washburn, Dwight Hendrix, Johnny Dugger, and Tony Edwards, friends of the family.  David, Beverly and Tyler Prince gave a year membership fee to Air Evac Lifeteam to the 3rd place winner, Gary Weighmink of Lexington, TN.  The winner of this barrel race and 1st time Emily Prince Memorial Champion is Ashley Townsend of Atwood.

Ashley stated, "There will be more barrel races in memory of Emily, but there will be only one 1st."  Upon receiving the saddle, Ashley presented it back to the Prince family in memory of Emily.  Ashley and Emily were competitors in this event, as well as friends.  Other winners in this event were 2-D Champion, Quay Eaves, Louisville, MS.  3-D Billy Truitt, Centerville, TN, and 4-D was Shane Rushing from Lexington, TN.

The winner of the Pony Barrels was Katie Brown from Waverly, TN.  All contestants of the pony barrels received a prize donated by businesses.  Winners of the Pole Bending event were 1-D Amy Wood, Decaturville, TN, 2-D Brooke Grace from Hopkinsville, KY, and 3-D was Janie Rushing from Lexington, TN.  Winners of the Adult Barrels were Ashley Townsend from Atwood, 2-D Jennifer Barron from Trenton, 3-D Darren Thurston from MO, and 4-D Wendy Scherzinger.

Youth Barrel winners were 1-D Monica Burton from Clarksburg, 2-D Katie Brown from Waverly, and 3-D Casey Jowers.  Speed Race winner was Ronnie Washburn from Lexington, TN and the 2-D winner was Issac Tucker from Parsons, TN.