Bobby Parfitt, athlete and former sports editor, will be a part of the Coaldale contingent entering the Carbon County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame this year (2003).

Parfitt was a three-sport letter-winner at Coaldale High School in the mid-50s, as a member of the football, basketball and track squads throughout his high school career.Small, but gutty, Bob played both ways as a Tiger gridder, guiding the offense from the quarterback position and moving to the safety spot on defense.During his senior season he was utilized in the tailback slot for the final few games when the Orange and Black employed the short punt offense.In his final game, the Annual Thanksgiving Day battle against Lansford, Bob scored the 39th point, in a 39-7 win for the Tigers, on a run around end.Neither school, before nor after that year, scored more than 38 points against the other in the long and storied history of their meetings.

Bob was a starting forward his junior and senior years for the Coaldale cagers, averaging close to 17 points per game in his final season when he was among the top five area scorers.He tallied 38 points against host Northwestern, holding the one-game scoring record on that court for a number of years.Following the close of the 1957 season, he was named to the All-Schuylkill County team.

Bob was a pole vaulter and dash man on the track squad and a member of Coaldale's half-mile relay team that ran in the state finals at University Park.

Following his graduation, Bob attended Penn State University at Highacres in Hazleton.

When the Tigers, who had used the Lansford stadium for 10 seasons, returned to the school's football field for the 1958 season, he became the public address announcer for Coaldale's home games and served in that capacity until the merger of the Panther Valley School District in 1964.He became sports editor at the Lansford Evening Record in l960, covering the local scene and helpng a number of valley athletes to gain statewide recognition and earn college scholarships.In 1963 he was named to the editor's position, a title he held until the paper was purchased by Pencor in 1968.He has served as editor of the TIMES NEWS since 1972.

Bob is the son of the late Robert (Dauber) and Sue Parfitt and speaks proudly of his dad being a member of the famous Big Greens and the fact that a picture of the outstanding squad of 1919, of which he was a member, hangs in the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Bob remained active in sports for many years, playing sandlot baseball and recreational league basketball.He was also touted as one of the finer dart throwers in the region, having won a number of state titles, before settling down to his present hobby of golf.