Our Pride series at the Old Independence Regional Museum continues July 9 (Posted by Ginger Smith)
Sports as Individual Recreation –
The Our Teams – Our Pride series at the Old Independence Regional Museum continues on Sunday, July 9 at 2 p.m. This program will feature three leaders who have designed facilities and led programs for the residents of our community and beyond. Mayor Rick Elumbaugh, Dennis Wright, and Darrell Shaw, combined, number more than 70 years of experience in recreation, outdoor programs, and leadership development.
Three decades of Batesville middle school students received physical education provided by Rick Elumbaugh. He had earned a Bachelor of Science from Arkansas State University. Along with teaching, he managed Batesville Municipal Pool for 32 summers. For all of these past years he has promoted recreation and has continued to do so while leading the effort to design and construct the Community Recreation Center in Batesville, which opened in June. He is recognized as a role model in recreational programming and for his continued effort to inspire others. He has received numerous local, state, and national recognitions as a teacher and community leader, including accepting an invitation to the White House in 2013 to be honored as a leader in promoting Lets Move! Cities, Towns and Counties.
Mayor Rick Elumbaugh
Dennis Wright has valued the benefit of individual recreational sports since he was a small child floating down a creek in a metal tub in Arizona. As a college student he focused on science, earning a Bachelor of Science and a Masters in Science Teaching from the University of Arkansas. He joined the Arkansas College (now Lyon) faculty in 1973. While teaching and also serving as Dean of Students, he developed The Outdoor Experience Program there. He learned to kayak in the North Sea, and for years he took students to kayak in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, challenging them to face fear while gaining skill and confidence. Then for several years he took off to The Bahamas, leading students to sail a 65-foot boat in the ocean between islands. As Wright recently explained, “My goal was to increase student self understanding and confidence that would transcend into the classroom.” In 2014 the Dennis Wright Leadership Award was established at Lyon College.
Dennis Wright
Darrell Shaw is a University of Arkansas graduate. He earned a master’s degree in Recreation and Sport Administration from Western Kentucky University before joining the leadership team of the Lyon Education and Adventure Program (LEAP) in 2013. Darrell worked with the Outdoor Leadership Program, which offers academic classes in leadership and recreation. He aided in the expansion of Lyon’s on-campus bike trail, challenge course, and bouldering wall. Darrell assumed the leadership of Lyon’s intramural program in 2016, offering recreational activities to the Lyon student body. Recently Darrell assumed the position of Director of the LEAP program.
Darrell Shaw
The museum invites everyone to attend this program and share with, or learn more from, these men’s exchange of ideas about how recreation is an integral element in the world of sports.
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.
