GREENFIELD — A basketball star. A dance instructor. A healthcare executive. An agriculture leader.
This year’s group of inductees into Greenfield-Central School Foundation Alumni Hall of Fame will join the 40 others who have been named to the prestigious ensemble of local graduates over the past seven years. School foundation leaders say the alumni have made lasting impacts on communities near and far.
The inductees are Mike Edwards, Debbie Brinkman Wilkerson, Rick Edwards and David Parker.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe newly named hall-of-famers will be recognized at the foundation’s premier fundraiser later this month, the Red Letter Gala. This year’s event is set for Saturday, Sept. 28 at Addagio’s Banquet Hall.
Nominations for new inductees come in every year from community members and friends. Here are what nominators said about this year’s group of alumni:
Mike Edwards, ’69
Many best know Mike Edwards as the “Greenfield Gunner.” Edwards was a standout basketball player for the Greenfield High School Tigers in the late ‘60s, before the school’s consolidation with Hancock Central High School in fall of 1969. Part of the last class of students at Greenfield High School, Edwards led the state in points per game his senior year and was named a high school All-American.
Edwards, who was named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003, went on to play basketball for the University of Tennessee. He was part of an SEC regular season championship and was selected as a SEC Player of the Year in 1972. Edwards later played professional basketball in Mexico after graduating college.
After retiring from professional basketball, Edwards coached basketball at high schools in Virginia and Tennessee. He coached and taught wellness and physical education for more than 30 years before retiring.
Edwards, who has authored two books — including one about the final basketball season for the Greenfield Tigers — currently has a weekly radio program in Maryville, Tennessee.
Debbie Brinkman Wilkerson, ‘76
Debbie Wilkerson grew up helping her mother’s business, a longtime staple of Greenfield — the Pizza Palace. Wilkerson, after graduating from Greenfield-Central High School in 1976, opened Wilkerson Dance Studio, later moving the studio to a standalone building in 1984.
The studio gained acclaim in the area, and Wilkerson has served more than 10,750 students, spanning three generations. Many of the dance studio graduates have left Greenfield to study dance in college, while a few others have worked in professional ballet companies across the United States and also have danced for Disney productions and cheered for the Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Pacers.
Wilkerson also lends her time as the director of choreography for Greenfield-Central High School productions. She also serves on the board of directors for the Friends of the Theater and helped spearhead Christmas at the Ricks, which debuted in 2018.
She also oversees two dance programs for the Greenfield Parks and Recreation Department: Golden Girls and Junior Blue Fusion.
Rick P. Edwards, ‘80
Rick Edwards, a 1980 graduate of Greenfield-Central High School, has worked more than 25 years for Hancock Regional Hospital, most notably as the vice president and CFO. Before joining the hospital staff in 1991, Edwards, a graduate of Purdue University, served several years as the branch manager and loan officer at the former Merchants National Bank.
Edwards’ involvement in the Hancock County community goes beyond the hospital. He served on boards for the American Red Cross of Hancock County in the ‘90s and later joined the board for the American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis. Edwards also volunteered with events and organizations, such as Special Olympics, March of Dimes and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hancock County.
He and his wife, Susan, recently established the Rick P. and Susan J. Edwards Community Development Fund with the Hancock County Community Foundation.
The Edwardses live on the family farm in Mohawk, where they raised their two sons.
David Parker, ‘75
David Parker graduated from Greenfield-Central High School in 1975. Parker, who went on to study agricultural economics at Purdue University, served as the Indiana State FFA president from 1975 to 1976. During college, Parker lobbied at the Statehouse on behalf of Purdue students.
In his professional career, Parker was a member and partner of the original management team for Agri Business Group, which became the largest agribusiness consulting firm in North America. He also was a co-founder of Agricultural Speakers Network and ABG Ag Services. Over the years, Parker has given more than 3,500 presentations across the country, focusing on business improvement.
Parker, who now lives in Las Vegas, still keeps deep roots in the alumni organizations at Purdue and Greenfield-Central. He communicates periodically with Greenfield-Central’s FFA club.
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WHAT: Greenfield-Central School Foundation’s Red Letter Gala
WHEN: 5:45 p.m. Sept. 28
WHERE: Addagios Banquet Hall, 5999 Memory Lane, Greenfield
TICKETS: RSVP to the foundation by Sept. 16, either online, in person or by mail; tickets cost $50 a person, which includes hors d’oeuvres and dinner.
INFO: Call Ginny Brown at 317-477-4103 or email at [email protected]
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Here is a list of members in the Greenfield-Central Alumni Hall of Fame.
2013
Keith McClarnon
David L. Hine
Judy Sheldon Swift
James F. White
Kathy Dowling
Ty Wooten
Stephanie Walker Kinnaman
James T. Broome
Paul Galbraith
James Whitcomb Riley
2014
Dennis C. Chapman
Sally Draper Zoll
J. Wayne Leonard
R. Mark Beeson
Cindy Wooten Adams
Sujay Kaushal
2015
Walter P. Worland
John E. Moenning
B. Wayne Addison
Jerry Rogers
Brian C. Samuels
Josh Bleill
R.J. Bodkin
2016
David Wark
Denise Lett Arland
Dawndy Mercer Plank
2017
Gordon D. Pope
David L. Apple
Robert W. Cherry
Thomas L. New
Joseph Todd Parker
Rob McCullers
Katrina Hodge Willis
Annie Linville Grinstead
Jerricho Scroggins
2018
Jack L. New
Larry J. Breese
Teresa Cooper Shook
Jeffrey A. Harris
David H. Arland
2019
Mike Edwards
David Parker
Debbie Wilkerson
Rick P. Edwards
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Greenfield class of 1969 will have its 50th reunion. Page A6.
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