Stories of sporting excellence will rise again next month with the induction of five new members to the Paris-Henry County Sports Hall of Fame.

Henry County athletic greats George Atkins, Patricia Owens Dyer, Edward Littleton, Roger “Beeter” VanDyke and the late Ras Bilbrey will be enshrined in the local Hall of Fame at a banquet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Paris Convention Center.

The Hall of Fame committee also will present the annual Distinguished Service Award to longtime athletic booster Jack Hays. A female and male eighth-grade student from each of the four schools that compete in middle school athletics, Grove School’s freshmen and seniors at HCHS also will be honored during the banquet. Those students names will be announced later.

Murray State University football head coach Chris Hatcher will serve as the guest speaker.

Atkins is a familiar face around the athletic fields of Henry County. He first became active as a Grove High School football player where he was named Most Valuable Player in 1954. He is best known as a longtime football official and leader of chain crew for middle and high school games. He is a past recipient of the P-HC Hall of Fame’s Distinguished Service Award.

Dyer played basketball at Grove where her scoring prowess earned her All-District honors in 1950. Scholarships weren’t awarded in women’s sports in those days, so many women competed in Amateur Athletic Union competition for the Nashville Business College and helped the team to the national tournament.

Littleton lit up the nets as a high-scoring guard at Henry County High School in the late 1970s. He carried his game first to the University of Tennessee at Martin before transferring to play at UT Knoxville as a junior and senior. After college, he played professionally several years in Japan.

Bilbrey was an all-around good athlete at Grove High School in the late 1940s. He competed on varsity teams in football, basketball, baseball and ran track. The 1947 Grove track team won the Big Ten championship. In football, he was a small, elusive back known for his nifty moves.

VanDyke graduated from Grove in 1959 where he played baseball, basketball and football. He lettered in baseball at UT Martin in 1960. VanDyke remains active in sports like golf and tennis. He twice won the City Tennis singles championship in the 1980s.

Hays served as a longtime executive at Tennessee Asphalt’s division in Paris for many years before retirement. A high-school athlete in Memphis while growing up, Hays has donated to youth activities in Henry County for many years. He is easy to spot cheering for the Henry County High School football team during home games at Patriot Stadium.