Former Troy standout to speak at Back to School Bash
Published 5:08 pm Friday, July 27, 2012
The Community Youth Association will hold its 10th annual Back to School Bash Aug. 3 at the Hank Williams Sr. Music Park in Georgiana.
In year’s past the event has drawn hundreds of young athletes in Butler County and the surrounding area.
“If you feed them, they will come,” joked Allen Stephenson, an organizer of the event. “Last year we had about 700 students come, and I think we might have 800 to 1,000 this year.”
The event will feature food, music and a keynote address from former Troy University standout Henry Tellis.
After finishing his college career, Tellis went on to play for the New York Giants and New York Jets of the National Football League and NFL Europe’s Amsterdam Admirals.
Tellis now serves as the director of Young Men of Valor, a mentoring program for fatherless young men in Montgomery.
“When we were trying to line Henry up to speak, we were told that he didn’t really like to talk about football,” Stephenson said. “The told us that all Henry wants to talk about is Jesus. I knew right then that we had our man.”
Stephenson said that during the last 10 years, event organizers have seen hundreds of students make decisions to follow Jesus, while others have asked for prayer and counseling.
The Next Level Band and the youth group from McKenzie Baptist Church will perform at the free event, which is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.