Lansing Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony 2015 - - Stephanie Smiley - - Lansing Civic Events - July 30, 2015 - - by Chuck Krafft

Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame

2015 Induction Ceremony

Stephanie Smiley - - Holt High School Softball and Basketball

July 30, 2015

Stephanie Smiley was a great softball and basketball player.  In softball, she was a All District player at third base in 1995 and a Dream Team Catcher in 1997 and 1998; in 1998, she was the Lansing State Journal Position Player of the year!

In high school basketball, she was an All-Conference player for three years.  Her senior year, she was on the Lansing State Journal Dream Team and an All-Stater.  Holt High retired her basketball jersey in 2004 and she was inducted into the Holt High School Hall of Fame in 2007.

She only received one Division I College offer - - from Eastern Michigan University.  She spent the next four years making all the other schools wish that they had noticed her talent.

She was the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year in 1999.  As a sophomore, she was second team All Conference; as a junior and senior, she was first team All Conference.  Ms. Smiley was the first Eastern Michigan’s women’s basketball player to achieve that honor twice.  She was also Honorable Mention for the All-American team; she was also the first Eastern Michigan player to achieve that honor.

Ms. Smiley thanked her coaches, friends and family.  She spoke of a coaching career in Alaska, where she also had really supportive friends to help her.  We learned that in basketball, the teams are spaced so far apart that they have to pay plane fare to get to the other games and stay there for a few days and play a number of games during each visit.  She thanked her friend Debbie Rohrer,  who helped her raise the funds to pay these costs so that her players could experience a sports program.

She also thanked her family - - especially her mother and her father.

Lansing Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony 2015 - - Scott Kemp - - Lansing Civic Events - - July 30, 2015 - - by Chuck Krafft

Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame

2015 Induction Ceremony

Scott Kemp - - Grand Ledge Baseball

July 30, 2015

Bob Every said that Scott Kemp was the best baseball player he had seen in Lansing; he was especially good in the City League.

Mr. Kemp was Class A first team All-State in his junior and senior seasons.  He was also the team’s most valuable player during those seasons.  In his junior year, 1977, Grand Ledge won the Class A State Championship.

He attended Eastern Michigan university, where he achieved team records for Batting Average, RBIs, Hits, Doubles and Total Bases.  He also earned Conference Records in all those categories except for Batting Average.  In 1982, his senior year, he had a magnificent season as he was first team All-Conference, Eastern’s Most Valuable Player and the Mid-American Conference leading hitter.  His team won the Conference Championship in both his junior and senior years. 

Mr. Kemp thanked his parents, his wife, his family and his coaches.  He gave special mention to long time Grand Ledge baseball coach Pat O’Keefe and fellow inductee Jesse Gallegos, a teammate in the City League.  He mentioned Jim Erwin, who beat brain cancer and was able to attend the induction ceremony. 

He also thanked everyone who came to the induction ceremony to support this year’s Hall of Fame Class.  

Lansing Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony 2015 - - 1960 Haslett Football Team - - Lansing Civic Events - - July 30, 2015 - - by Chuck Krafft

Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame

2015 Induction Ceremony

1960 Haslett High Football Team

July 30, 2015

The Haslett 1960 Football Team had an undefeated 8-0 record and was the Number 4 ranked Class C Team in the State.  Denny Stolz, who later coached the Michigan State Football Team was their coach.

The players all introduced themselves and Denny Stolz gave the Acceptance Speech.

Mr. Stolz thanked the team for their effort and fine play during the season.

He then let us know that this was his first coaching job.  He found out about the opportunity from previous Haslett Coach Owen Dunkel while playing a city league baseball game.  Mr. Dunkel recommended Denny Stolz for the job and it was offered. 

Denny was appreciative as Owen Dunckel had some good teams previous and laid a good foundation for the 1960 team.

Denny then veered off into a story involving true love, phobias and a Ferris Wheel.  (Keep it clean, folks, this was 1960!!!)

Denny met a woman and asked her for a date.  They decided to go on the Ferris Wheel; Denny agreed to this even though he had a major fear of Ferris Wheels because of a childhood incident.  Of course, as you would expect in this sort of story, a fuse blew and left Denny and his date stranded at the top of the Ferris Wheel. 

Denny related how he struggled to fish a cigarette and lighter out of his pockets while his mind insisted he do nothing except cling to the safety bar of the Ferris Wheel.  It sounded like quite the traumatic experience although when we learned that he earned his first kiss from her, it turns out that this may be a good lesson about positive rewards from confronting phobias! 

In the happiest of endings, the story ends with her becoming Mrs. Stolz!! 

However, this was just the beginning of the football team’s story.  Their team had won the old Capitol Circuit league in 1958 and 1959 playing schools with larger enrollments. 

First they were able to beat Durand.  Then they faced Mason, which was a powerful team in the league.  He gave the classic speech about not fearing athletes just because they are bigger and stronger.  He used the line, “They all put their pants on one leg at a time.”  (This gives me visions of Miguel Cabrera jumping into his baseball uniform with both feet, but that is probably more suited to another article.) 

The Haslett team scored the first couple touchdowns and went into halftime with a good lead.  Mr. Stolz had to give the “don’t get overconfident” speech at halftime.  They went on to win the game by a 27-0 score. 

They then beat Williamston and handled Okemos, the biggest school in the league 21-0.  They went on to finish the season undefeated and earn an eventual induction into the Regional Sports Hall of Fame!

Denny cited three standout players on the team.  One was Running Back Mike Dovan, who was the best high school player he ever coached.  Dovan developed health problems and was not able to take his career further.

Denny Bongarde was the other running back.  He went to Alma College along with Denny, who took the coaching position there.  Bongarde switched to playing defensive back and was captain of Alma’s first ever undefeated football team.

Jim Bartel was also a standout player who became heavily involved with Haslett’s athletic programs.

Congratulations to Denny Stolz and all the team for their outstanding season!

Lansing Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony - 2015 - - Lansing Eastern 1979 Golf Team - - Lansing Civic Events - July 30, 2015 -- by Chuck Krafft

Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame

2015 Induction Ceremony

1979 Lansing Eastern Golf Team

July 30, 2015

The 1979 Lansing Eastern Golf Team went 12-3 during the season and won the State Class A Championship.  This is the only inner city high school golf team to ever win a Golf State Championship in Michigan!

Tom Penrod was the coach.  Doug Mielock, Steve Wakulsky, Bill Kost and Jeff Sernick were the golfers.

In a bit of coincidence, Coach Penrod started his career as an assistant football coach in 1963; just three years after the 1960 team had its undefeated season.  Also, Denny Stolz was his supervisor!

Coach Penrod thanked the Hall for the induction and thanked the golfers.  Lansing Eastern overcame some difficulties that other golf teams did not face.  While most teams had a home golf course that was their own, Eastern had to share Groesbeck with Lansing Everett and Lansing Catholic.

He gave special credit to the players.  Unlike other sports, the Coach has little influence on what happens during the match.  The players had to have poise, motivation and know what to do on their own. 

As they had to travel to the Pineview Course in Three Rivers to play for the championship, Coach Penrod recalled that they had to request extra money from the Athletic Director, Don Johnson (who is also in the hall of fame.)  He recalled that Mr. Johnson joked that he was not to come back unless the team won the championship.  Fortunately, they won and came back!!

He complimented the players, who have all gone on to have successful lives.

Lansing Sports Hall of Fame Induction - 2015 - 1977 DeWitt Softball Team - - Lansing Civic Events - - July 30, 2015 - - by Chuck Krafft

Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame

2015 Induction Ceremony

1977 Dewitt High School – State Softball Champions

July 30, 2015

The 1977 DeWitt Softball Team won the State Championship that year.  They were not expected to win the championship as they did not finish first place in their league. 

Debbie Boyds, the Coach thanked the Selection Committee for their team’s induction.  This was the first year that there was a State Softball Championship. 

She started the first team in DeWitt history.  They had no field, no equipment or anything at first.  She was able to field a team of girls who loved softball.

She mentioned that the Regional Game was a huge challenge.  She was happy that her team had an enthusiastic crowd.  The game went into 4 extra innings (11 total).  The other team had many chances to break the tie, but DeWitt kept coming up with fine defensive plays to prevent the losing run from happening.

The pitcher struggled, but hit a home run early in the game to keep it tied.  Her #9 hitter got an important hit in the final inning that led to the winning run; this was a total team victory that propelled her team through the rest of the tournament!

She was a young coach and had to learn how to organize and manage everything.  She had some great mentors that taught her that how you played the game is just important as the winning or losing.  She was proud that her team represented Dewitt High with sportsmanship and honor.

She thanked the hall for the recognition.  One player from the team went to the microphone to thank the families and fans for coming as well has thanking the parents who had passed on and could not be at the induction.

Lansing Regional Chamber Monthly Mixer - - Michigan Wildlife Conservancy - - Lansing Civic Events - - July 14, 2015 - - by Chuck Krafft

Lansing Regional Chamber Mixer 

Michigan Wildlife Conservancy 

July 15, 2015 
 

Do you want to learn of an amazing place to have a Board Meeting, Wedding Reception or other gathering?  At the Lansing Regional Chamber Mixer, we had the pleasure of gathering at the Bengel Wildlife Center at the Michigan Wildlife conservancy.   

 

We gathered in the DeVleig Conservation Hall.  This is a large versatile room that connects with a walkout patio (with a roof to keep out the rain) that looks out onto a magnificent natural wetland view.  They roasted a pig and had various other hors d’oeuvres to eat.  I estimate that around 100 local business people were in attendance.

 

 

After the guests spent some time mingling, John Ropp, the director of the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy gave a short talk and treated us to a tour of the building!  The following rooms are in the upstairs area.
 

He led us to the Anderson Great hall which is has a beautiful Fieldstone fireplace, maple floors and plush furniture.  It would be a wonderful place to have drinks or engage in a discussion by the fire! 
 

The Bengel Boardroom is a beautiful Executive conference room with a boardroom table and cushioned chairs.  There is a wonderful view overlooking Priggooris Lake and a marsh.  It also is equipped with a/v and teleconferencing capabilities and a wet bar.   

 

 

Another room is the Hendy Conference Room, which also provides a wet bar.

 

You can lease these rooms individually (including the DeVleig Conservation hall) or various combinations of them.

 

 

The Conservancy leases out these rooms to help to fund its operations.  It is dedicated to the restoration of a variety of wildlife habitats.  The Bengel Wildlife Center is set on 259 acres of nature.  People can hike through the grounds and see the wildflowers, prairie and animals native to the center.  In the winter, you can also ski the trails.

 

 

They have done many projects to restore national habitat.  Through the Conservancy’s efforts, Michigan has actually increased its wetland acreage over the last 30 years.  The Conservancy also provides many educational workshops.

 

 

The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy has a beautiful facility for hosting your gathering!  

 

You can learn all about the facilities for rent and the wonderful programs at their website.

 

 

https://www.miwildlife.org/

 

 

You will truly be amazed by the beauty of the center and its available rooms.  You can call at 517-641-7677 to learn more.