THE GREATER LANSING AREA SPORTS HALL
OF FAME
INDUCTION CEREMONY
July 25, 2019
By Chuck Krafft
THE GREATER LANSING AREA SPORTS HALL
OF FAME
INDUCTION CEREMONY
July 25, 2019
By Chuck Krafft
It was a
great time to be in downtown Lansing Thursday night. The Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame
had its 54th annual induction ceremony to honor some of the many
great Lansing Area athletic achievers!!
I played
background cocktail piano during the social hour as the 700 attendees mingled
and shared stories about their playing and coaching experiences. I always enjoy this. Most people in the athletic community know me
mostly for writing The Bleacher Denizen.
In another
life, I was actually a regular working musician. It’s fun to see the surprise that the
Bleacher Denizen actually has another life!
After a fine
dinner, 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
fine dinner. He also thanked the
sponsors. After the invocation, Kellie
Dean from Dean Transportation also gave a welcoming message and thanked the
audience for all the work they do in our Lansing community.
Bob Every
thanked Brian Calloway and the Lansing State Journal for publicizing the Hall
of Fame and this year’s inductees. He
also noted two inductees from the original Class of 1976, Jim Sinadinos and
Dean Look are still alive even if they could not be here today.
He also
thanked Magic Johnson, who made a $100,000 donation to help keep the Hall of
Fame opening. Next, he invited all the
Hall of Fame Selection Committee members to come to the stage.
At this
point, he invited all the past inductees to the Hall who were present to come
to the front and introduce themselves.
Olivia
Letts, the widow of Dick Letts, after whom the Community Service Award is named
came to the podium and thanked the people in the audience for making Lansing a
better place to live by helping to coach and work with young athletes. She also thanked the Hall of Fame for
continuing to honor her husband’s name twenty years after he passed away.
This year’s
two Dick Letts Community Service Award winners were Roger Love, a Grand Ledge
coach and athletic administrator and John Pudliner, who volunteered as a doctor
to be present for many Okemos athletic events over the years.
John
Pudliner’s son, John accepted the award for his deceased father. He told us that his father loved serving the
community and would have been honored if he had been alive. He introduced his family and thanked Bob
Every and the Hall of Fame for the award.
Later in the
evening, after a few of the inductees had given their acceptance speeches,
Roger Love came to the stage to accept his Dick Letts Award.
He had spent
many years coaching football and basketball (at various levels) in Grand
Ledge. He also owned and operated First
Place Sports and supplied uniforms for teams in Grand Ledge. He is currently the Assistant Athletic
Director at Grand Ledge.
Roger Love
thanked the committee for giving him the award.
He was honored to be inducted. He
also thanked the administrators at Grand Ledge for giving him the opportunity
to work with and coach kids. He thanked
his family, especially Sandy, his wife.
While she was not able to come because she is in the hospital, she
pushed him to attend the ceremony to accept his award.
His final
thought was, “It doesn’t matter what you have of don’t have. We all have what somebody needs.”
Here are
summaries related to the accomplishments and acceptance speeches of the 2019
inductees!
Denny Myers
Potterville
Volleyball Team - - 1988 to 1990
Bob Every
concluded by thanking the people for supporting the Hall of Fame and making the
event a success!
