Hundreds gathered on a chilly Saturday morning to celebrate the dedication of the Charleston High School running track and field as The Craig Walker Track Field.
The naming honor is a tribute to the widely revered longtime Charleston Middle School physical education teacher and track and football coach who 44 years ago founded a summer youth athletic organization that earned trophies, medals and ribbons, and gave its members so much more.
Saturday’s 9 o'clock dedication ceremony featured a welcome and invocation by CHS Principal Eric Rice and the singing of the national anthem by Obie Matthews. Chasidy Buckley emceed.
At the heart of the event was an open mic period, a free forum for “reflections and remarks” by any family, friends and former athletes of Walker who wanted to come up and offer some comment. Speakers were asked to limit their remarks to 2 minutes, but most of them overshot that mark.
A dozen people came forward to share a mixture of fond, personal memories and heartfelt expressions of appreciation and love. Occasionally sprinkled in were a few humorous remarks and anecdotes.
The 81-year-old Walker, sitting in a wheelchair closest to the podium and alongside his wife, Linda, could be seen occasionally wiping his eyes with a white hand towel.
Some of the speakers did not share their name for identification purposes, but snippets of their comments are shared along with others in the following:
• “Papaw, if it wasn’t for you and your hard work and effort, a lot of us would not be here right now. So we really appreciate you, we love you and we thank you for everything.”
• “When I heard that this track was going to be dedicated to Coach Walker, I was so excited. We spent a lot of time with coach. Coach was like a dad to a lot of us. ... The first time I ever stayed in a hotel was when coach took us on those AAU track trips. Packed on the van. Packed in the room. It’s so many positive memories.”
• One man commenting on Walker wooing him to play football said, “Craig made me the man that I am today. [He] really made me believe that no one could stop me.”
• “It’s a blessing to be here. It’s a long time coming. ... I just wanted to say, on behalf of me and my peers, that we appreciate you and every goodness you have done. I look at you as the epitome of a real community activist, because you poured into us when you didn’t have to.”
• “We started running track ... because of him. I went on to the Navy. I have traveled halfway around the world. And I ran track in the Navy because of this man right here. ... This man made us tough and strong from your legs, from your heart and everything.”
• Trentice Sparks, present-day coach of the Mississippi Road Runners Track Club that Walker founded in the early 1980s, recalled the moment when Walker, having suffered strokes and other health setbacks that kept him from carrying on the summer youth program, asked him to take over. Sparks continues to carry that baton, noting that “Coach Walker’s legacy is still going on.”
• Percy Townes recalled how Walker “would always push us to the highest level. And he would always say, just because we’re from a small town doesn’t mean that we can’t think big and dream big and compete on a large level.”
• “Coach Walker did not stop at his success. He wanted everybody in Charleston to be successful, and there are so many people that he inspired to be whatever they are. ... You had a gold mine here in this man ... People in Charleston, you are doing a good thing to recognize him, because he did so much for you.”
• James Buckley recounted a time when one of Walker's school track team girls was on the last leg of a relay race in Greenville: "One of our students ... was running so fast that she kind of ran out of her bra. Coach Walker told her, 'You better hold it [the baton]. Don't drop it. ... And that's what she did, and we won."
• Craig Walker Jr. said, “I never dreamed this would ever happen, that my dad would have a track named after him. ... I just wanted to say to Charleston as a whole ... it is an honor for you all to think about him in that aspect, to name this track at Charleston High School after him.”
— * —
East Tallahatchie School District Board of Trustees President Bryant Watson presented Walker with a plaque that said, “Coach Craig Walker, in recognition of your outstanding dedication, leadership and unwavering commitment to the student-athletes of the East Tallahatchie School District, your legacy will continue to inspire generations to come.”
Walker and family members then participated in a ribbon-cutting to mark the official dedication.
Afterward, Walker was asked about the recognition. He said, “I never thought that I would be recognized like this. To have a track named after me, man, it’s great.”
Also asked to comment, Walker’s wife, Linda, said, “It’s an honor. And I just thank the school board and all of the participants for what they did. He was out there, and he did his best.”
Mrs. Walker said her role was keeping the home fires burning and always having “a bologna sandwich and some grape Kool-Aid” waiting for the coach at the end of the day.
— * —
During his remarks, school board President Bryant Watson had talked about how Coach Walker "would sing every Sunday after church." He then turned to Walker and said, "Coach, I just want to say part of your song: It's been a long time coming, but I know a change gonna come. And the change has come, coach."
Watson also took time to thank ETSD Superintendent Raymond Russell for helping to get the long weatherworn paved running track at Charleston High School replaced. Because of the track's previously poor condition, Watson stated that before this year, 2013 was the last time CHS was able to host a track meet.
"We have won state titles and didn't even have a home track field to run on," Watson noted.
"I remember when we first hired [Mr. Russell], he said 'Mr. Watson, what is one thing that I can do to show the community that we are trying to move forward?' And I told him, 'You can figure out a way to get us a track field.' ... He didn't say no. He didn't say 'We don't have the money.' He said 'Let me get back to you," recalled Watson. "About three months later, he called me ... and said 'Mr. Watson, we've got three options. You pick the way we want to go. We're going to build this track.' We thank you, Mr. Russell, for doing what they kept saying couldn't be done. For so many years, we kept hearing, 'We don't have the money. We can't do it. Not this year.' But this man said, let me check on it. And to the school board members who went with it and said we've got to make this happen, thank y'all for us working as one unit to make sure we go forward. ... Now we've got our own track field and it was only fitting [to name it after] a person that gave so much to track."
