WHS Athletic Hall-of-Fame

With a little over three weeks to go before the 5 Year All-Class Reunion there was a flurry of alumni activity this past week. The first meeting we sat in on was the Hall-of-Fame (HOF)Committee. As part of this year's reunion nine new alumni will be inducted into the WHS Athletic HOF. The induction ceremonies will take place in the high school Auditeria on Thursday, July 1, beginning at 7 P.M.

The HOF Committee is headed up this year by Wilbur Waggoner and Tuesday evening there were 18 assistants present to lend a hand. Together they were all going over last minute details. Except for the Program Committee it was the last meeting before the big night. Proof reading the programs was the last item on the agenda.

Admission for the induction ceremony is free and the event is open to the public. Seating will be on a first come-first served basis. Souvenir programs will be available at $3 per copy. The programs will have pictures and biographies of the nine new members to be installed. The pictures will be the same as the ones that will be put on display on the HOF Wall.

Mr. Waggoner will lead off the ceremony welcoming everyone with Steve Creaturo serving as Master-of-Ceremony. HOF Member John Henry Martin will offer the invocation and benediction. Each new member to be installed will be introduced by a presenter giving a brief history on their individual athletic accomplishments and little life history on what they went on to do since graduating. There will be one new member from the Senior Era and eight from the Modern Era.

The new members and their presenters are: Senior Era - James "Boo" Carter presented by Randy Thrasher. The late Mr. Carter will be represented by brother Frank "Fral" Carter. From the Modern Era there is Garry Allision presented by Chuck & Mark Allison, John Bobalik by brother Steve Bobalik, John Euill by Roger Ours, Collin Kinsey by Marvin Kinsey, Jason Ours by Bob Rudder, Dr. Laurie Punch by John Weeda, Lynda Salter by sister Cyndy and Danny Tice by Joe "Fu" Fusco. Thanks to Bud Ceneviva helping us out, we'll have the biographies posted before the July 1 ceremony.

Each new member installed will be given a honorary plague that will be a duplicate the one put on permanent display on the high school wall of fame. That wall is in the Auditeria. There will be a private catered reception in the high school Band Room for the new members, their families, their presenters, all HOF members, the HOF Board and school officials. That reception will take place before the ceremony from 5:45 to 6:45 P.M.

From our vantage point it is obvious that the HOF Board members put in a lot of work gathering information and organizing this event for part of this year's reunion. Anyone interested in becoming a member of the Board should contact them. Assistance is especially needed from folks familiar with Senior Era athletes.

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