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Left to right: Maynard Crowe, Robert McKinney, Jenora Wade, Dr. Harold Whitmore.
(Tony Duncan)

Five elected to Parks and Rec's Wall of Fame

By Trey Williams
Press Sports Writer
twilliams@johnsoncitypress.com

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By Trey Williams

Press Sports Writer

twilliams@johnsoncitypress.com

Five Johnson City Parks and Rec Wall of Fame electees were announced during a luncheon at Winged Deer Park on Thursday.

Harold “Doc” Whitmore, Robert McKinney, Chuck Bowman, Maynard Crowe and the late Tom Wade will be formally inducted at a 6 p.m. banquet on Dec. 10 at Carver Rec.

Harold “Doc” Whitmore

Whitmore has coached 38 years at the Johnson City National Little League. He joins Little League coaches such as Authur Lady and Henry Joy and veteran umpire John Mashburn on the Wall.

Whitmore and the late Bill Anderson coached the Nationals when they got within a game of the Little League World Series in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1976.

He said it hadn’t even dawned on them how many rungs there were on the postseason ladder when they began play in the local tournament.

“We really didn’t know about all of those things,” Whitmore said, “but we kept winning and all of the sudden we were going here, there and yonder.”

Wall member Herb Greenlee remembers Whitmore organizing and coaching football and basketall teams when Cherokee Elementary School started fielding teams at the Boys Club.

“Doc’s been a pillar in our community,” Wall member Harry Gibson said. “He was very instrumental in seeing that the new Little League complex was developed over there (in Keystone). And I know, most of all, Doc has had a great influence on a lot of young kids.”

And vice-versa. Whitmore can still see Jamie Hill rocking and firing on the mound and Ward Cathey’s first base-hit -- an opposite-field single -- and slugger Jackie Cook getting hold of a pitch.

“Jack Cook -- oh boy,” Whitmore said. “The best hitter I’ve ever seen there. And wild and crazy. He was a joy to be around.”

Whitmore remembers personalities as much as players.

“You just knew Doc cared about you,” said Cook, who played on the ‘76 team. “It wasn’t about Doc. I didn’t even know he was a professor at ETSU until I went out there years later.”

Whitmore said four decades of service wasn’t exactly what he had in mind when he began in 1971.

“I never dreamed I’d do it that long,” Whitmore said. “But I enjoyed the kids and the other coaches. We got to be a family.”

Thomas Wade

College educations were something Wade not only helped inspire, but helped fund. Wade, who died during the summer of 2008, started the Melvin Stevens Scholarship Fund with Herb Greenlee in the early 1990s.

Wade was a custodian in the gym at Science Hill for 35 years (1970-2004), was the gym supervisor at Carver Rec for 22 years (1987-2008) and looked after children and teenagers in a variety of ways.

“Any time a kid needed anything, whether it was lunch money or whatever, Mr. Wade was there,” Greenlee said.

Wade’s widow, Jenora, said money set aside for bills might end up getting handed out to needy children.

“Sometimes a kid would ask him for money, or he would just see a child who he knew needed money,” she said. “He wanted to make sure they had some food in their stomach. He was an exceptional husband.”

Wade took an active interest in Science Hill students, and never knew where he might run into one.

“One time we were in New York in one of the stores and somebody said, ‘Hey, TW,’” she said. “I thought who on earth, except the friends who were with us, would know him. It was one of the students.

“Tom knew most of the students who came across his way -- by name. He looked around and saw (the student) and said, ‘Oh, that’s so and so.’ And they hugged and (the student) said ‘I’m so glad to see you.’”

Nourishment was important to Wade, who ate fish heads and rice for a week while he was a POW during the Korean War. He organized pancake breakfasts and fish fries to raise money for scholarships.

“Tom loved the Carver community and Science Hill,” Greenlee said. “All he wanted to do was provide for people. I miss him every day.”

Maynard Crowe

Crowe spent 35 years as full-time maintenance employee with Parks and Rec, and was better known for officiating, umpiring and refereeing. He began “calling ballgames” in 1961. He had a grouchy, unconventional style, but some saw a Teddy Bear on the inside.

Wall member Bucky Oxendine mentioned a time when Crowe was calling a youth league girls basketball game. Crowe lifted up a girl, who hardly ever touched the ball, to help her score a basket.

“Right in the middle of the game,” Oxendine said, “Maynard picks her up, gets the ball and lets her shoot a goal. Maynard was always a special umpire, because he didn’t go by all the rules. Kids always enjoyed playing the games when Maynard umpired or refereed.”

Crowe smiles when remembering the girl’s field goal.

“She hadn’t scored all season,” he said. “She’s just a little bitty thing. The other team was way ahead, so I just handed her the ball and said ‘Come here baby.’ I held her up and she stuck one in and we counted it.

“Oh, they all went crazy. It tickled her pink.”

Crowe also orchestrated a couple of ejections during his time. Wall member Grant Trivett said he was coaching a youth basketball game one night at Keystone when his father was heckling Crowe. Suddenly, Crowe ejected Mr. Trivett from the gym.

“My dad said something to Maynard and Maynard threw him out of Keystone school,” Trivett said.

Of course, Crowe and Mr. Trivett were “punking” everyone else.

“Nobody knew we’d made it up to do that,” Crowe said. “He said ‘I’m gonna really ride you heavy tonight, and I want you to throw me out.’ I said ‘OK.’

“After I tossed him, he left the gym, went around to the side and looked in the window and stuck his tongue out at me.”

Crowe said he had another ejection request in softball from a Texas Instruments coach.

“That was funny,” Crowe said. “He came out and started yelling and kicking dirt on me. I swung my arm around to show that I was (ejecting) him and he fell to the ground just like I’d shot him. I guess people thought I’d hit him.”

Crowe’s grandsons, Brandon and Nick, helped Science Hill to the 1998 state baseball championship and played in college at Tennessee and East Tennessee State. Several have said Maynard supplied good genetics.

He’ll tell you about playing semi-pro baseball against the likes of minor league legend Muscle Shoals. Crowe, a 1952 alumnus of Boones Creek High School, played a couple of years for a team based out of Lebanon, Va.

“I went up there with Jack France,” Crowe said. “They paid $10 a game back then. That was big money for me.”

Whether a gate needed to be unlocked or an umpire was needed, Parks and Rec athletics coordinator David Carmichel said Crowe was always on call.

Robert McKinney

McKinney has spent some 19 years working with the Parks and Rec.

An engineer at Eastman, McKinney began tutoring students when Science Hill basketball player Derrick Bristol and a couple of other students asked about getting help in math.

“I was having trouble in Algebra II,” Bristol said Thursday night. “I’d heard Robert was good in math. And he broke it all down to where it all made sense.”

What began essentially as a personal favor at Thankful Baptist Church quickly branched into a community outreach at Carver Rec.

“We needed an educational component, someone to really get after kids and get them involved more in the academics,” Carver director Herb Greenlee said. “Robert came in and volunteered his time. He’s had everybody from the first grade to college coming in for math. Our program has grown from five or 10 kids to 25 or 30 kids a day, and they just keep coming.”

McKinney said he receives much more than he gives.

“I feel like the Lord has given me the gift to help, and I feel like that’s what I need to be doing,” he said. “My wife probably says I do too much, but I try not to neglect home. I think it’s important to give back to the community, and feel blessed that I’ve been able to do that.”

Bristol said McKinney would help him “until nine or 10 o’clock at night” on a moment’s notice.

“Robert would do anything for you,” Bristol said. “He just wanted to see all of us be the best we could be.”

It worked out for Bristol. He and the Hilltoppers won the state championship in 1990, and Bristol went on to get a degree from Troy University in 1996.

Chuck Bowman

Bowman played summer league baseball six years (ages 13-18) for Bud Seaver and played at Science Hill for John Broyles. So turning pasture fields at Liberty Bell into ballparks in the early 1980s and naming them after Seaver and Broyles was doubly rewarding.

Wall member Harry Gibson said the Babe Ruth league fields at Optimist Park weren’t much in the late ‘70s. The two leagues had also dwindled to eight teams, combined, when Bowman decided to create two ballparks and move the leagues to Liberty Bell for the 1981 season.

“We built dugouts and put up lights,” Bowman said. “Numerous people contributed, but I guess I was the one who kind of kept it going when a lot of people didn’t think we could make it work.”

Bowman spent money and raised money, fondly recalling a three-mile walk with Lamar Alexander that generated $24,000 and selling Seaver’s “Buddy Boy” donuts.

Gibson said Bowman’s contributions to local baseball facilities isn’t limited to Liberty Bell.

“I guess Chuck and I built the first batting cage in Johnson City down at Lion’s Field,” Gibson said. “He provided the money and I provided the labor. Chuck got a movement going years ago, and that’s probably the reason we’ve got the three baseball fields at Liberty Bell. ...

“Chuck’s been a great supporter of recreation projects. A lot of people don’t know what some people do in this town. Any time we needed money, Chuck was always there willing to ante up his part to help with any programs.”

Bowman provided labor at Seaver Field, and was treasurer of the Pony League there for its 12-year existence (1981-92). He credits people like Jim Powell and Sam Barnett when discussing ballpark construction and success of the leagues at Liberty Bell.

“I remember being up there at midnight many times working on that field (Seaver) with Gary Gentry getting ready for the opening season (in 1981),” Bowman said. “It was something near and dear to my heart. I still get a warm and fuzzy feeling driving by it.”