Old Independence Regional Museum – David Parker & More About Sports October 8th program (Posted by Ginger Smith)
More About Sports
The folks in Old Independence Regional Museum hope that readers will mark the date Sunday, October 8, 2 p.m. on their calendars. At that time David Parker will be its guest to share his involvement with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which formed back in the 1950s and continues now as the largest Christian sports organization in the world.
Parker is the FCA director for the North-central, Northeast, and East regions of Arkansas. His ministry focuses on coaches, campuses, communities, and camps that can inspire the lives of young people in the Christian faith. The organization’s central values are integrity, service, teamwork, and excellence.
Its objective, according to Parker, is “to see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes as they touch millions of lives one heart at a time.” He exudes enthusiasm, devotion, and energy in designing and leading programs which impact lives in a positive way. A graduate of Arkansas (now Lyon) College, he lives in Batesville with his wife Susan who leads the physical education program at Eagle Mountain Magnet School.
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes offers various ways to encourage and inspire young people through huddle groups, regular meetings on campuses and within communities. They provide camps, devotionals, videos, and podcasts.
“We hope that church youth and youth workers who are involved in local FCA groups will attend the program and share what the organization has done for them,” invites museum board member Amelia Bowman.
This is the museum’s ninth program in a monthly series focusing on sports. Subjects have ranged from the history of sports, stories of local athletes, successful coaching, sports photography, local media and sports, recreation, and sports injuries.
Bruce Johnston, museum program chair, encourages people to watch for announcements of upcoming programs that will include Brooks Blevins speaking about sports in the Ozarks, three women who were former Red Heads basketball players, and a program of sports music.
All of these programs are a prelude to the arrival in Old Independence Regional Museum of the Smithsonian Institute’s traveling exhibit “Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America” in December.
The program will be free and open to the public. Normal museum hours are: Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $3.00 for adults, $2.00 for seniors and $1.00 for children. The museum is located at 380 South 9th street, between Boswell and Vine Streets in Batesville.
Old Independence is a regional museum serving a 12-county area: Baxter, Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Marion, Poinsett, Sharp, Stone, White, and Woodruff. Parts of these present-day counties comprised the original Independence County in 1820’s Arkansas territory.
