If you've entered the gymnasium on the East Memphis campus of St. Agnes Academy and St. Dominic School, you have walked into the world where James W. Mathis has devoted nearly all of his working life.

Mathis, 77, has served as a coach on the staff of the private Catholic schools located on Walnut Grove Road at Mendenhall since 1962.

"Some of his original players came to drink coffee with him at Panera Bread at Laurelwood this week and I felt like I was in the presence of a rock star," said Jay Mathis, the coach's son who followed in his father's footsteps.

"Six week ago, Coach Mathis was bench pressing 260 pounds, " said Jim Lassandrello, Athletic Director of St. Agnes-St. Dominic, "but now he's in a wheelchair. It's shaken all of us."  

The Remington Versa Max On Tour events are a hands-on, live-fire demo of the latest in autoloading shotgun technology - the Versa Max.

The tour has traveled to 14 states, traversing nearly 10,623 miles, in which over 7,400 people have participated in a five-round challenge to test the Versa Max for function and reliability.

Over 37,000 rounds have been fired!

Remington invites anyone interested in learning more about the Versa Max autoloading shotgun to come out and join in the fun and have a chance to win a Versa Max of their own.

And now the tour is coming to Memphis.

Remington will be at Ducks Unlimited headquarters, One Waterfowl Way, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on November 29.

Information provided by Remington Arms Company, LLC.

Running a marathon takes everything you've got. It's emotional. It's common to see first time finishers gush with tears, overcome by sheer exhaustion and the magnitude of their accomplishment. I wept openly at the completion of the inaugural St. Jude Memphis Marathon in 2002 (my first), partly because my beloved Dad was a great runner and had passed away that year. Pop would have been proud! A deep current of emotion runs through the St. Jude course, which celebrates its tenth anniversary on December 3rd, 2011. The precious angels who benefit directly from the marathon line key segments of the course. Runners first encounter St. Jude patients cheering as they roll directly through the hospital's billion dollar campus. More St. Jude smiles appear after the 9 mile mark as little ones encourage runners outside Target House, a place St. Jude families stay free of charge courtesy of Target Stores.