Paris-Henry County Sports hall of Fame ~ 2012 Banquet

The Paris-Henry County Sports Hall of Fame
2012 Induction Banquet ~ July 24, 2012

New Hall of Famers display their greatness

BY TOMMY PRIDDY, POST-INTELLIGENCER

Showing the kind of respect and humility that only greatness breeds, the 2012 class of inductees were sworn into the Paris-Henry County Sports Hall of Fame Tuesday night at the Paris Convention Center.

The three living members of this year’s class, Kitty Allen, Josh Archer and Jim Drexler, all conveyed to the crowd how great an honor they viewed being selected for the honor by their hometown fans. Don Byars spoke for the late Richard Byars and Chris Grissom represented his longtime friend the late Buddy Akers. Both talked about how proud each family was made by the honor.

R. L. “Buddy” Patey, a Hall of Famer himself as a high school and college official, warmed the crowd up with a rambling talk about his association with great officials and coaches around the country. He said he was worried about the game of football at the college level.

In college, he believes money is making too big an impact and in the NFL, he thinks impacts delivered by bigger and faster athletes may be destroying the game.

“High school football is the purest game in sports. I still love college football and professional football but I am greatly concerned about their futures. High school is still the purest form of the game because of the sportsmanship, its competition between nearby communities, and the community involvement. I just love it,” Patey said.

Allen was a two-time All-State basketball player at Henry County High School and finished a four-year starting career at the University of Memphis in the top 10 in almost all of the school’s offensive and defensive statistics. She said she was very proud to tell people she was from Paris.

“Of course, they would ask how I got over here. I’d tell them we drove down the highway that it was only a couple of hours away. I’d have to tell them I meant Paris, Tennessee. Then, they’d say, ‘Oh yeah, they have the World’s Biggest Fish Fry there’,” Allen said.

She also said that an early lesson from her youth softball coach, Gary Elkins, had helped throughout her sports career.

“My cousin, Keisha, and I went to practice over at Ogburn Park and we decided we didn’t want to play for Coach Elkins. So we quit. A day or two later, we decided we should go back.

“When we showed up at practice to talk to him, he told us that it was about more than just playing a game. He talked to us about the commitment to each of our teammates that it took to play and how much dedication it took to become a good player. He also made us run ten laps after every practice for quitting on the team and we sure didn’t ever want to do that again. It stayed with me on whatever team I was playing on what he said about being committed to your teammates and being dedicated to the sport,” Allen said.

Like Allen, Archer thanked his many coaches and supporters for helping him develop into one of the biggest baseball stars at Henry County High School and later at Middle Tennessee State University. He said he got his toughness from his grandmother, the late Wanza Archer, however. He said her unwavering support was something he’d never forget.

Drexler played basketball, football and golf at Grove High School while later playing basketball and golf at Lambuth University in Jackson but he didn’t consider himself a star. He was proud to have been part of the first integrated basketball team in Henry County and talked about the Blue Devils not being allowed to play in the county gyms when he was a junior.

“There were a great many of my teammates that were tremendous players and would be much more deserving of this award than I am. I am very honored to be here tonight but I just think that I was just another guy on those teams,” Drexler said.

Don Byars said he recalls the point that he realized his brother, Richard, wasn’t just a guy on the basketball court.

“That was the day when I couldn’t beat him anymore,” Don Byars said. “He was such a great athlete and player. I just wish, so badly, that he could have been here with us tonight.”

Grissom called the late Akers a longtime friend who would have absolutely loved being at the Hall of Fame banquet Tuesday but not for receiving the award.

“He would have loved being here with all the other greats and talking about their accomplishments. He’d have loved talking with the students being honored tonight about how great their accomplishments are to receive this kind of award.

“Wherever Buddy went to race motorcycles, he was always telling people how wonderful Henry County was. He loved people and he loved children. You could just see him light up when he was announcing a race to fans or playing Santa Claus at Christmas time. He would have been very impressed that people thought this much of him,” Grissom said.

Jones received the Distinguished Service Award for spending a lifetime coaching and tending to ball fields in various sports in Henry County. He said he loved every minute of it and wished he could do it all over again.

The Hall of Fame also honored two students from each school in Henry County that sponsor athletics. These students were honored for not only being outstanding athletes, but for having displayed qualities of leadership, good citizenship and dedication to their school.

The Student Hall of Fame class of 2012 includes: Celie Hudson and Perry Atkins, Inman Middle School; Ashley Collins and Thomas Thompson, Harrelson School; Victoria Page and Ben Wilson, Henry School; Darby Underwood and Javan Winders, Lakewood School; Addi Cate and Shontel Thompson, Grove School; and Cher’ron Teague and Andrew Jelks, Henry County High School.
Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2012