Super athletes, those who honor them leave legacy
Calling all you Dundee-Crown, Irving Crown and Dundee Community High School grads. Who do you think of when you hear "outstanding" from the days when your high school world meant time in the bleachers? What athlete, coach, scorer or ref made you think "extra special?"
Dundee-Crown Athletic Director Dick Storm hopes you'll share those names with the Dundee-Crown Hall of Fame board now collecting nominations for its next group of inductees who will be honored in the special showcase at the Dundee-Crown fieldhouse.
That showcase was built in part with some Hall of Fame hands. Wrestling coach Al Zinke -- who is poised to soon celebrate his 500th win as coach, possibly as soon as this weekend -- already is a member. Zinke did the work on the impressive case displaying the plaques and photos.
Nominees are eligible five years after graduation and can include anyone in the school's history. They could be state champs, all-state, outstanding coaches or athletes, someone with an outstanding post high school career or who gave meritorious service and support to the athletic program.
"The key word is 'outstanding'," Storm said. "We've had a lot of good and great athletes. In this room, this is the cream of the cream. These are the best of their generation."
Know of someone who fits the bill? Call the athletic department at (847) 426-1317. Nominations must be received by Feb. 1.
Digging for details
Once those names are submitted, the real work is done by John Longhini and George Doss, Storm said. "These guys do everything," he said. "It's incredible what information they find out when someone gets nominated." So let's put these gentlemen to work. Get your nominations in, OK?
Just the ticket
Don't forget that Hall of Fame group is selling raffle tickets for four second-row seats and a parking pass package for the Jan. 27 Bulls/Suns noon game at the United Center. You can buy tickets at Saturday night's Dundee-Crown basketball games at the fieldhouse. The sophomore game starts at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity tipoff following. If you can't make the game, call (847) 426-1317 for tickets. Raffle ticket for $5 or three for $10 at this Saturday's Dundee-Crown boys basketball game against McHenry
Sweet stuff
Some of you may recall the special Thanksgiving hosted for Great Lakes naval recruits at the Cary Country Club by David Dufern and the Sue H. Dufern Memorial Serviceman's Fund in honor of his wife, Sue, who passed away in the fall. One of Dufern's co-workers asked him if he thought it a good idea for her daughter to ask people to buy an extra box of Girl Scout cookies this year to send to the troops. Not only did he love the idea; he's adding to it.
"Would it not just be great to ... flood the Mideast with Girl Scout cookies?" Dufern said.
It sure would. Even if we can't send the beloved Thin Mints because they'd melt in the heat. Dufern will match it box for box up to 100 boxes from the memorial fund. If you'd like to help, send checks to:
The Sue H. Dufern Memorial Servicemen's Fund, P.O. Box 153, Fox River Grove, IL. Each box is $3.50. You can specify lemonades, peanut butter sandwich, or shortbread. If you'd like to help with shipping costs, I'll bet they can send even more of our troops a little sweet stuff.