By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – After all the excitement and the hustle and bustle from the Bristol City Series Championship cross country boys and girls meets came to a conclusion on Thursday from Dewitt Page Park, a special dedication was made.

Before all the race winners were announced, Bristol Central cross country coach Tamara Stafford-Kirk and counterpart Kyle Fuller from Bristol Eastern led a brief ceremony – dedicating the course at Page Park after the late Johnie Floyd.

“It was special, and certainly very near and dear to my heart,” said Stafford-Kirk of the ceremony. “That was a big deal for us and something we had actually planned to do maybe two years ago. And there was construction here [at Page Park]. So we moved it to Central and then last year with COVID, so it’s been a long time in the works. He had family fly out from Georgia and come in from a lot of different places, so that was very special.”

Along with Floyd’s family, there were dignitaries from City Hall, the Bristol Board of Education and representatives from all three high schools in attendance.

And having this ceremony at the annual city series cross country meet made it even more meaningful as Floyd was Eastern’s coach in the sport several years ago.

Floyd guided and mentored so many youths and young adults in Bristol during his days as a teacher and cross country coach – preaching positivity, and was an icon in the Bristol community, and beyond. 

He was a mentor for Stafford-Kirk as she grew up in town and later transitioned into teaching and coaching at Bristol Central.

Floyd was a great representative of Bristol and set standards that several of his students and peers strived to achieve.

“To the Floyd family, thank you,” said Stafford-Kirk. “Thank you for being my family, for your undying love and support of, not only these programs, but [for] Bristol [itself].”

There are numerous stories about Floyd helping students attend college and then watching them succeed later in life.

One of the many people who taught along with Floyd, David Mills – a former physical education and football coach at Eastern – shared a story after a tough Thanksgiving Day loss to Bristol Central back in 1968.

Mills, then a young coach, was lamenting the loss in his office on that Thanksgiving Day but ended up getting a surprise visitor.

At about 2 p.m. that day, with Mills still feeling a bit sorry for himself, Floyd approached the football coach’s office and gave his fellow coach a few words of wisdom.

“It’s only a game,” said Floyd to Mills that day. “‘I know it’s important, I know it’s important to you and your family.’ But [Floyd] also said, ‘you know your wife is pregnant and you’re going to have your first son in about two months.’ He said, ‘what’s really important?’”

“He made me feel a whole lot better.”

Mills said Floyd left his family on Thanksgiving Day, to come down to the high school – thinking about Mills and his family after the loss to Central

“That’s just an idea of what Johnie Floyd was like,’ said Mills. “He was helpful to so many people. He did so many things for so many people.”

Stafford-Kirk mentioned all the advice Floyd passed along, helping her navigate through a few tough roadblocks that life threw at her.

“[He] was a man who came from humble beginnings and, who on my toughest days as a teacher and coach, continued to whisper in my ear ‘keep going,’” said Stafford-Kirk.

There was a special plague made by Fuller for the event which will be displayed near the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium at Bristol Eastern.

Daryl Floyd accepted the plague on behalf of the Floyd family which read, ‘The Johnie M. Floyd Memorial Cross Country at Page Park. This dedication is in honor of Bristol Eastern Cross Country Course Johnie M. Floyd. Coach Floyd won the boys Cross Country State Open title in 1967. The dedication of this course is to keep his legacy living on forever.’

Johnie M. Floyd

Floyd was inducted into the Bristol Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 – a member of that precious group for twenty years.

His bio on the Bristol Sports Hall of Fame reads as follows:

“A 1945 Bristol High graduate, Johnie M. Floyd played scholastic football, and was the league’s quarter mile champion in track.

At Morehouse College, where he was a team captain his senior year, he won many individual races and ran the anchor leg on the mile relay team, unbeaten through three seasons.

Following college, he coached numerous league championship teams with Jim Bates at Greene-Hills School in both basketball and baseball. He coached in Little League and during the 1960s was the popular cross country coach at Bristol Eastern.

Under his helm, Eastern won a state title in 1967 and went undefeated in dual competition during three separate seasons.”