Elgin Sports Hall of Fame about more than just the past

Maybe it's a sign of age, but I can remember clearly when the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1980. A novel idea at the time, one had to figure with all the great sports history of Elgin a Hall of Fame would be a long-lasting venture.

And that's exactly what it has become. Sunday night, the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame will hold its 29th annual banquet and induction ceremony at Villa Olivia Country Club in Bartlett.

One might think the Hall of Fame is just that - an organization that recognizes worthy athletes from Elgin's past. But this Hall of Fame organization has become far more than that.

The Hall's foundation has provided thousands of dollars in scholarships to Elgin athletes over the years, and on Sunday it will award 20 more athletes with $1,000 scholarships. Also recognized will be 32 teams/individuals for special accomplishments this past year.

The Hall's membership has increased to 287 and donations to the scholarship fund increased this year over last year's record total.

But the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame even goes beyond recognizing current and former athletes. It truly has become a part of the community.

There have been ESHOF displays in three different locations this past year, including the permanent display at The Centre of Elgin. The organization also had displays this year at the Elgin Historical Museum and at Gail Borden Library.

In July, the ESHOF teamed with the Chicago Bandits pro softball team, which now plays at Judson University, to welcome 15 members of the all-American Girls Professional Baseball League to Elgin. A special ceremony was held at The Centre that included Mayor Ed Shock, as well as before a Bandits game.

The organization also participated in Elgin's Fourth of July parade for the first time with 16 members and/or inductees donating their time to appear.

Then, as a finale to the Gail Borden summer reading program "Get in the Game", the Hall of Fame presented a program to children and their parents that featured six people who are either Hall inductees, scholarship winners or outstanding achievement winners.

And even though it rained all day, the ESHOF again sponsored an annual golf outing in September, at which more than 100 individuals participated to help the scholarship fund.

"One of the goals has been to become more community-oriented," said Ron Lange, now in his third year as ESHOF president. "We wanted to let people know we're in the community and we want to be involved."

The Elgin Sports Hall of Fame has made great strides these past few years. People like Lange, vice president Mark Sharf, longtime organization leader and treasurer Dave Covey, and many many others have helped this organization become one to be proud of.

"We formed a promotion committee three years ago and they've come up with a number of good ideas and we've been implementing them," Lange said. "Larry Michelson has done a wonderful job with the scholarship program. I believe the golf outing was Dick Fitchie's idea. Being in the parade was Amy Kovacs-Young's idea. We needed to boost our membership, which we've done, and we have some good idea people involved on the board now. We've continued to multiply and grow and get more non-members involved."

But the strawberries on top of the ice cream for the Hall is Sunday, and the highlight of the evening will be the induction of five new members - Sean Harrington, Gus Vaughan, Chris Sigourney, Katy Carter Potts and Ellamae Williams.

Harrington, of course, is the most recognizable name of the five. His basketball career at Elgin High and the University of Illinois was well-chronicled. Vaughan, a three-sport athlete at Elgin High, starred in baseball at Carthage College and is now an All-World softball player.

Sigourney was one of the finest punters to ever come through Elgin when he played at Larkin before going on to a stellar career at the University of Illinois.

Some would tell you (including me) that Carter Potts was the best softball player to ever play in Elgin. The Larkin graduate went on to help DePaul become a College World Series team and she is now an Elgin Police Officer.

And even though I go back to the first days of the Hall, I won't pretend to have known Williams, who was born in Elgin in 1917 and became a premier golfer in the late 1930s.

If you attend the banquet, don't miss what might be the most touching moment of the night, when the Hall gives its Vic Masi Award to Maxine Turek, a pioneer of girls sports in Elgin. The Masi Award, named after one of the most recognizable people in the history of sports in Elgin, is presented each year to one person in recognition of their outstanding service to sports and schools in Elgin - and this year the Hall couldn't have picked a better recipient.

For more information on the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame, log on to www.eshof.org.

jradtke@dailyherald.com