Hall of Fame ceremony highlights the blessings of TVCC
(TVCC Hall of Fame Class of 2021 inductees are, from left, Matt Bryant, Jeff Ayers, Elena Lovato, and Jeryl Sasser.)
I was blessed to be one of the folks invited to the TVCC Hall of Fame induction ceremony Saturday morning in Athens.
I very specifically used the word blessed there, but before I get to that, let's take care of the prerequisites for this column:
Trinity Valley Community College inducted its Hall of Fame Class of 2021 Saturday, Oct. 23, at the Student Union Building on the Athens campus. It was the 11th such class inducted by the college and included Jeff Ayers (cheer), Matt Bryant (football), Elena Lovato (women's basketball), and Jeryl Sasser (men's basketball).
Those are the facts. There's no reason for me to write much about those individuals because TVCC's Benny Rogers has already done a wonderful job of that. You can find bios of these incredibly successful Hall of Fame inductees below.
But I do want to share with you the theme that ran through the speeches.
"We used to call this place Magic City for several reasons," said Elana Lovato. "As you know, it is a special place and there have been many lives changed out here."
And there it is. Whether you call it TVCC or HCJC, whether you call it Trinity Valley or just The Valley, the college located in the heart of Athens has been making a difference for decades. Jeryl Sasser played ball for Coach Leon Spencer in 1969 and was still proud to come back to Henderson County.
The Cardinals celebrated Saturday morning went on to do amazing things in life. Jeff Ayers, who was the college's first mascot, played Baby Bop on "Barney and Friends" for 15 years. Matt Bryant played in the NFL for 18 years and was the third-oldest player to ever appear in a Super Bowl.
But The Valley remained in their hearts.
Jeff Ayers talked about some of the highlight moments in his life and then said, "All this wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for Trinity Valley and my journey through this school."
Matt Bryant, who played in Texas, Iowa, Germany, and with five different NFL teams said TVCC's reputation is bigger than just Henderson County.
"Whenever I'm talking to different guys, different coaches out there in the world and tell them about my story, where I've been and what I've done, and somebody mentions a junior college I say I played football at Trinity Valley," Matt Bryant said, "and everybody knows Trinity Valley. Definitely, this place is on the map nationwide."
"Trinity Valley is known other than as a little small town in East Texas," he said.
So, yes, I say I was blessed to be there Saturday.
Just like the Hall of Fame inductees said they were blessed to attend TVCC.
And just like the whole county has been blessed by the college since 1945.
Go Cards.
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