For long time Fellowship of Christian Athletes Area Representative Bill Ray, last night's Southeast Missouri Home Team Banquet was his last. With an end of summer retirement on the horizon, Ray used the gathering as an opportunity to speak about the local history of the FCA.
Everyone else, however, used it as an opportunity to show their appreciation for Ray's solid dedication to the program and to the community.
"I've been around for a while and Coach Ray has been around for a while longer," Poplar Bluff's FCA Chapter Sponsor Coach David Sievers said. "It's been a pleasure working with him and whoever takes over for Coach Ray is going to have some really big shoes to fill."
Aside from well wishes, sentimental gifts and anecdotes about Ray's ability to work a room, a large focus of the evening centered around how the FCA has grown and changed since former Poplar Bluff football coach Tom Telle took over the reigns during the 1972-73 school year, just one year after the chapter began.
Ray said he had recently started coaching at Poplar Bluff in 1973 under Telle when he became involved with FCA.
"Back then, we'd just meet in peoples homes. We didn't have nearly as many members as we do today," Ray said.
According to Ray, in the 1970s, the club was boys-only. He said girls didn't have as many athletic options at the time and it wasn't until the late 1970s when Poplar Bluff started the first athletic program for girls, basketball.
"Finally, in the early 80s, Cathy McManus decided we needed a girls tennis program. She also started an FCA for girls," Ray said.
The separate clubs would meet together once a month but remained separate until the 1990s when McManus retired. Today the local FCA chapter is comprised of a mix of male and females athletes from all backgrounds, nationalities, races and genders.
"And we can't forget the junior high's FCA program, which was started by Doug Lawyer, Tom Schlimpert and Bill Clanahan," Ray continued.
Ray's job within the organization is to support FCA chapters in an eight-county range. For the past 11 years, he has assisted groups with fundraising, answered legal questions and ultimately helped guide the chapters to success. His counterpart, based in Cape Girardeau, Mo., is Mike Litzenfelner.
Litzenfelner has been with the program since last year and has his own group of eight counties to support. Upon Ray's retirement, Litzenfelner will oversee Ray's replacement and play a larger role in the success of the FCA chapters in Southeast Missouri.
Litzenfelner spoke about his vision for the future of FCA.
"Through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, through Three Rivers, through Cape Girardeau, we're going to get into every one of these schools and share the love of Christ with the coaches and with the kids, here and everywhere in Southeast Missouri," Litzenfelner said. "That's my vision. That's what I hope to accomplish."