About Helena
A graduate of Whitworth University, Helena has a double major in Recreation Administration and Fine Arts. She was an assistant teacher on and off for 15 years and served as a City of Kent Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Program Coordinator from August, 1990 to July, 2020.
In addition to being a stay-at-home mom when her children were born, she also helped create Rap Outreach, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit ministry. Rap Sessions with music and speakers were held before games in a major-league ball park, personally hosted by professional major-league baseball players.
Since 1974, Helena has been married to Dave Reynolds, a college basketball and baseball player who dumped her in a campus snow bank on their very first encounter. After graduation, he became a secondary school teacher and coach. Dave retired from coaching football, basketball, and baseball, and teaching PE, Health, First Aid, and Social Studies after 32 years. He launched a second career as a sales rep with ADT Securities and retired in 2021.
After retiring in the summer of 2020, Helena refired to help teach her special-needs grandsons during the pandemic in the fall. She helped care for her mother in Hospice from the spring of 2021 until she passed away at age 92 in January 2022.
Dave now pitches for 4 senior baseball teams including the 65+ and 70+ Washington Titans All-Star teams, who have won multiple championships at the Roy Hobbs World Series in Ft. Myers, Florida, beginning in 2005.
Dave’s 65+ Puget Sound Mariners and 70+ MBI teams both won gold rings during the October 2022 Men’s Senior Baseball League World Series tournaments in Phoenix, AZ. The 2022 Roy Hobbs World Series tournament was cancelled due to damage from Hurricane Ian in Ft. Myers, Florida, but Dave played in the 2023 Series with the Washington Titans. Thirty four 70+ teams competed in A, AA, AAA, and AAAA divisions with the latter being the highest competitive level. During a 6th inning rain delay, the final game was moved to another major league stadium, a first for the 34-year-old World Series. The Washington Titans won the 70+ AAAA Roy Hobbs World Series Championship (score: 12 to 11) on November 11, 2023.
After writing her immigrant family’s life stories over the past 40+ years, Helena recently completed a life stories book for a friend, whose late husband was a great-great-grandson of U.S. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, and a grandson of global financier J. P. Morgan. Entitled Destined to Be a Hamilton, True Life Stories of Mary Anne Hamilton, the book is a unique “memoir plus” because it also includes 90 facts about Hamilton’s life and his little-known contributions to our nation’s foundation.
The eBook version was launched on January 1, 2024 and became an Amazon Bestseller (#1 in two categories) and an Amazon Hot New Release (#1 in five categories). It’s available for only $2.99. The paperback and hardcover versions can also be ordered on Amazon.com. See the link posted on the page entitled OUR BOOK: Destined to Be a Hamilton.
See the Presentations* tab above for details of Helena’s workshop topics, including “Hamilton, the Man, the Musical, and the Maestro who Made It” and “Leave A Legacy of Love” as well as other workshops which have been presented at local, regional and national events.
These venues include:
- The National Recreation and Parks Association Conference
- The Washington Recreation and Parks Association Conference
- The Washington State Association of Senior Centers Conference
- The City of Kent 50 Plus Program
- Numerous Libraries, Community Centers, and Retirement Residences
- Daughters of the American Revolution (D. A. R.) Chapters
- Curves Gym in Federal Way, WA
Dave and Helena enjoy their family, their church, Dave’s sports, Helena’s writing, and traveling to national baseball tournaments and writers’ conferences around the country.
MISSION STATEMENT
Helena Reynolds’ life-long mission is to make a positive impact graciously……one smile at a time.
After giving a January 6, 2018 Hamilton workshop described by many as ‘inspiring,’ Helena launched an adventure to fulfill her life-long mission statement: She has created multi-media presentations* that she hopes will inspire people of all ages to enhance their lives by telling their life stories and by launching an often-illusive End-of-Life Family discussion.
In September, 2023, Helena hosted a book launch for her friend, Mary Anne Hamilton’s memoir they co-authored entitled Destined to Be a Hamilton. This unique publication includes Mary Anne’s incredible life stories, 90 facts about her great-great-grandfather-in-law, Alexander Hamilton, 70 images, most in color, and Quick Response (Q.R.) Codes to her online presentations and resources. An eBook as well as paperback, and hardcover versions are now available on Amazon.com. As mentioned, a link to Amazon is posted on the page entitled OUR BOOK: Destined to Be a Hamilton.
*Sessions offered via Zoom or in-person.
