Florida State head football coach Bobby Bowden will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming "Evening of Influence" the Fellowship of Christian Athletes-sponsored rally, scheduled for April 8.
The rally will be held at Mustang Arena and will begin at 7 p.m.
Tickets for the rally are still available and being sold on a first come, first serve basis and are $10 each.
Tickets may be purchased by contacting Bill Baxter at 633-0780 or Lewis Etheridge at 633-0310.
Sara Harris, ASU football coach Steve Roberts and ASU assistant
coach David Gunn will also be guests at the rally.
by FRED CONLEY
Forrest City School Superintendent Lee Vent has his "short list" of applicants for the athletic director's job, in place.
Vent has trimmed the original list of 10 applicants -- nine men and one woman -- down to just three.
The long list included Frank McClellan of Barton; Michael Bender, a former Razorback football player; Bobby Cole of Lake Village; Ray Gillespie of Little Rock; Kelvin Gragg of Newport; Annette Scogin of Little Rock; Eric Rodmon, Little Rock; Richard Freeman Ehinger of Lawrence, Kansas; Van Charles Nelson of Foreman and Gary Lee Montgomery of Green Forest.
The three finalists are Bender, McClellan and Cole and beginning today, they will be interviewed in that order by Vent, Assistant Superintendent Alice Barnes and Dr. Wayne Jones, president of the Forrest City School Board.
Vent said the 10 applicants were evaluated individually and ranked and all of the data carefully calculated, which led to determining the final three.
In this area, McClellan, who has been the Barton football coach for 31 seasons, needs no introduction. After all, McClellan has almost single-handedly put Barton on the state map.
He has made no bones about wanting to make the transition from coaching to the administrative ranks.
Bender has been an offensive line football coach, played football in Europe and presently lives in Fayetteville.
Cole is the athletic director and assistant principal at Lakeside Schools in Lake Village.
The Forrest City AD position became available in January when Bill Baxter submitted his resignation to the School Board.
Baxter, who has held the AD position on a part-time basis since July 1996, will serve through the remainder of the school year in May.
It is Vent's hope that Baxter will be available to help with the transition, once a new AD has been named.
That could come as early as next week, according to Vent or it could be into April before an announcement is made.
The sooner the better for Vent and the school district.
Baxter made the decision to step aside, because he knew the school district needed a full time athletic director -- "someone who can be on the campus all the time and be available to carry out the duties of an athletic director 24-7."
Baxter, who also operates his own business in Forrest City, has been splitting his time between that business and the business of overseeing Forrest City athletics for nearly six years.
"There have been times when the AD duties pulled me away from the duties of my business," Baxter said back in January, "which left my business virtually standing still."
Add to that the fact that Baxter admitted he was never fully "comfortable" with just being a part time AD.
"The district needs and requires someone who can fill this position full time," Baxter said. "There are too many things going on in the district right now that demand an AD's full attention. The district needs an on-site AD."
Even though he is stepping down as AD, Baxter said he plans to continue his role as director for the annual Rumble on the Ridge Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament and will continue his work with the Forrest City Athletic Hall of Fame.
* PREP SPORTS
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
Tuesday's Score
Blytheville at Forrest City - Rained Out
Thursday, March 21
Hughes at Barton
Forrest City at Wynne, 4 p.m.
GIRLS SLOW-PITCH SOFTBALL
Tuesday's Score
West Helena at Hughes - Rained Out
Wednesday's Score
Hughes at Clarendon - Rained Out
GIRLS FAST-PITCH SOFTBALL
Thursday, March 21
Blytheville at Forrest City - Rained Out