When it comes to deeply rooted hometown pride, Buck Chappell is as close as it gets! Born in downtown Fort Smith at the old St. Edwards hospital, Chappell was raised in the quiet town of Magazine, Arkansas and has lived there all but five years of his life. Buck graduated from Magazine in 1988 and went on to college at Arkansas Tech. He attended college for three years before deciding to join the workforce and make a little money. Later he met his wife Christal while he was student teaching at Booneville. After getting married, the two moved to Greenwood. Life was a little hectic during this time because Buck was working at Hartford and Christal was working at Booneville. But God always has a plan and his was to get the Chappell family back to Magazine.
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With Buck’s entire family in Rattler country, the young couple was given plenty of help in raising their five beautiful children, Brett, Andrea, Deven, Ainslee, and Everlee. Today, Brett is a Booneville police officer, Andrea is a teacher at Scranton and Deven works for a construction company. Ainslee and Everlee are in school at Magazine in the fourth and sixth grades.
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Buck Chappell is the perfect example of the saying “it’s never too late to live your dreams”. Sixteen years after high school graduation, and working at places like Coca Cola, Tom’s Potato Chips, construction and delivering ice, Buck decided it was time for a change. Drawing inspiration from his high school coach, Geral Holloway, who also married Buck and his wife, Chappell decided to follow his dreams of becoming a teacher and coach.
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“I always felt like I should work with kids and the desire to be a coach was still there and it was the best decision I made for a career choice,” expressed Chappell. “My first teaching job was at Hartford in 2006 and I went to Waldron in 2008 for four years before coming home to Magazine. I have coached football, basketball, golf, baseball, softball, track, and volleyball so far in my career.”
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“I lived my entire childhood and most of my adulthood in Magazine. My family owned the Do Drop In for over 50 years and I worked there on weekends through high school and college. I started a video rental store and it did well for many years. My family is in its sixth generation of living in Magazine starting with my great-grandma down to my grandkids. I grew up in the backwoods of town, going to Blue Mountain Lake and Mount Magazine and just hitting the backroads with friends when we were in school.”
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“My favorite thing to do is to spend time with my family. When we get together for after church dinner there can be close to 40 people there at any given time. We spend every major holiday together or just a quick let’s get together this weekend and there is always a birthday party going on. Christal and I love to take our family camping when the weather is nice. I also enjoy working around the house. I always have a building project going on. My daughters are involved in multiple athletics and 4H so we are on the move at all times. During basketball season, I coach two little league girl teams, and 7th grade, junior high and senior high boy teams. Basketball season is a rough time but we manage and I have a great support system at home.”
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“I still have many high school friends but Randy Loyd, the Lady Rattlers basketball and baseball coach, was my best friend growing up. Now we have been coaching basketball together for the last six years.” At the end of the 2019-2020 basketball season, Coach Chappell gave his notice that he would be stepping down as the boys’ basketball coach. With only fourteen years of teaching under his belt, Buck Chappell doesn’t have any plans of slowing down in the other areas of his work. He will continue to teach, coach golf and coach softball. “I am also the ALE director which takes a lot of time and needs a lot of attention. I plan to retire from the Magazine School District and stay close to home. My main goal is to get at least 28 years in the school system and try to do some t-drop!”
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