THE GREATER LANSING AREA SPORTS HALL
OF FAME
INDUCTION CEREMONY
July 26, 2018
By Chuck Krafft
With all
necessary apologies due William Shakespeare, eight individuals and three teams
were rewarded with a Midsummer Night’s Dream as they were inducted into the
Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame.
The large room at the Lansing Center was filled with 700 people who came
to honor this year’s inductees.
Your blogger
played piano during the social hour and was at least good enough to avoid chasing the
people out of the building. It was fun
and I surprised a few people who only know me for writing blogs. (I played in bands nearly every weekend from
about 1983 to 1998.) Of course, Michele
Hoffman was there to take the official pictures for the archives, too. (She does excellent live photographs of many
of the high school sporting events in the area.)
Bob Every,
the Director of the Hall of Fame thanked the Lansing Center Staff for their
work organizing the event as well as preparing and serving the excellent
dinner.
He thanked
the sponsors and invited Scott Keith, the President and CEO of Lansing
Entertainment & Public Facilities Authority to give the official opening
welcome. Kellie Dean from Dean
Transportation then came up to do the invocation.
After
dinner, he gave the Dick Letts Community Service award to two individuals. Olivia Letts, Mr. Letts’ widow came up to
thank the Hall of Fame for including her in the ceremony and to explain what
the award means.
Bob Bouck
was given a posthumous reward for his work on the Pony Colt Board of Directors
in Grand Ledge and for his other work in the Grand Ledge Community, which
included sixteen years on the Grand Ledge Board of Education.
Bob Bouck’s
daughter, Kristen Bouck Kemp accepted the award for him. She thanked the Hall of Fame and was
especially proud that her father was a hands-on worker and not hiding in a
board room as he served his community.
Russ Sanches
was awarded for sponsoring many baseball and softball teams in the Lansing
Area. This sponsorship is important as
it helps make organized baseball and softball available to many
youngsters.
His daughter
Deb Sanches Edgecomb accepted the award for him and noted that he loved
watching his teams play. He took his
family to many of the games.
Bob Every
then invited all the past inductees up to the stage to be honored. They introduced themselves and received a
warm ovation.
The 2018
Inductees were then called to the stage to be honored.
(Please note that the links work even if they look like the rest of the text.)
(Please note that the links work even if they look like the rest of the text.)
1976
Williamson Girls Track Team
Tom Jakovac
Larry Bates
“E.J.” Ernest
Pasteur, Jr.
Jean
Robinson Clum
1970 Lansing
All-Stars Football Team
Bob Stragier
Randy Kinder
Lindsay
Bowen
Jeff Tropf
2000 Grand
Ledge Football Team
Afterward,
the guests and inductees mingled and had their pictures taken by Michele
Hoffman for the Hall of Fame Archives.
Thanks to
Bob Every and everyone else who helps to operate the Greater Lansing Area
Sports Hall of Fame. Events like this do
a lot to reward achievement and to bring a community together!!
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