Soft yellow lights shine down on a row of chairs meticulously aligned on the stage, purple curtains drawn to the side. The crowd of murmuring students hushes as a man in a suit walks up to the eagle-adorned podium. With a steady voice, he begins to recount his life story. 

Greg Stevens, 1988 Canyon High School graduate, was inducted into the Canyon High School Hall of Fame Oct. 2. Stevens entered the United States Air Force a month after graduating.

“I was a military police officer for four years, and I got out after active duty,” Stevens said. “I looked across the state and got on with the Lubbock Police Department in 1992 in October, and I worked there for a total of 27 years. I was the Chief of Police for the last four years of that. I rose up through the ranks and was an undercover detective for a lot of that time. I did everything from detectives to patrol, and I taught at the academy.”

Stevens re-entered the armed forces in 1998 as a military police officer. 

“I restarted that career, and I went back into the Navy,” Stevens said. “In 2005, I got a commission as a naval intelligence officer and was a targeting officer in the Navy. I worked with the Navy special warfare towards the end of what was a 25-year navy career.”

Stevens retired from military service March 1, 2015. 

“Along the way, I went to college,” Stevens said.” I went to Wayland Baptist University and got an undergraduate degree in criminal justice. I went to graduate school at Texas Tech and got an MBA (a master of business administration) and then–after all of that time–I retired from Lubbock this last May, in 2019. Since retiring, I’ve started as the Chief of Police in Rockport, Texas down near Corpus Christi.” 

Stevens said his original inspiration to enter law enforcement was his father. 

“My dad was a police officer; that was all I wanted to do,” Stevens said. “College wasn’t for me right away, so he took me to a recruiter where I could immediately become a military police officer. At the time I didn’t need a college degree for that. The military is a great option, and I encourage people to explore that idea. But there’s a ton of trade ideas out there that we need people to go into.”

Standing behind a beautifully carved podium proudly portraying Canyon High’s pride, he speaks of thanks and gratitude all the while imparting wisdom on the new generation.

Deputy Chief, volunteer firefighter and Reserve Deputy Dennis Gwyn, a 1985 Canyon High School graduate of 1985 joined the Canyon High School Hall of Fame Oct. 3. 

“I graduated high school thinking I was going to be an ag teacher,” Gwyn said. “I started going to WT preparing for my degree. I had a friend that was a dorm student at the fire department, which is a live-in program where we would do duty nights and keep the station clean in exchange for free room and board.” 

The experience influenced Gwyn to change his career plan.

“Former Deputy Chief of the fire department here in Canyon, Joe Rice, he has since passed on,” Gwyn said. “He was the chief here in Canyon when I was a dorm student. He really helped form my career and where it lead me.”

Gwyn was involved in FFA and choir while in high school.

“I was the FFA vice-president my senior year,” Gwyn said. “Attending stock shows put me on the path of wanting to be an ag teacher. The summer after I graduated high school, I was allowed to go to the national FFA convention along with the ag teacher we had at that time.”

Gwyn said for current students to pursue opportunities while they are young. 

“Life started happening, and I let it happen,” Gwyn said. “I backed off. I finished my associates degree in the last few years. Here I am 52 years old. The education part is what I try to stress the most to high school students. Jump into it, whether it’s a trade program that needs a little bit of touch up or call up your university and get it done while you’re young. Just keep going.”