West Aurora adds 6 to alumni hall of fame

Tickets are available for the Thursday, Oct. 30 induction ceremony of six West Aurora High School graduates into the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Honor. The reception and ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. at the Aurora Country Club. Tickets are $50 and available at the high school main office, 1201 W. New York St., Aurora, or by calling (630) 301-5601 or (630) 897-6785.

The six honorees are Michael Cavender 1972, Thomas C. Ewing 1969, Phillip E. Johnson 1958, Frank H. McWethy 1901, Richard Olson 1947 and Randy Shilts 1969.

Selected by a committee of the West Aurora High School Alumni Association from dozens of nominations are:

• Michael Cavender - Class of 1972: He has achieved national and regional recognition for broadcast journalism, including six Emmy awards and an Edward R. Murrow award for outstanding news programming, documentary productions and daily news reporting, writing and editing.

• Thomas C. Ewing - Class of 1969: A senior vice president and general counsel of U.S. stores for Wal-Mart, he assisted in the development of a generic prescription drug program that has helped millions of people obtain affordable medicine. The program allows customers to purchase one of 300 kinds of generic prescriptions for just $4, per 30-day supply.

• Phillip E. Johnson - Class of 1958: A longtime professor of law at the University of California-Berkeley, he is not only the author of widely used textbooks on criminal law and criminal procedure, but he is also generally recognized internationally as one of the foremost critics of Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

• Frank H. McWethy - Class of 1901: Thanks to McWethy, an Aurora company was to play a significant role in the building of the Panama Canal. As vice president of the Aurora-based Stephens-Adamson Manufacturing Co. in its New York office, McWethy was able to secure several contracts that generated significant work and growth to the Aurora community.

• Richard Olson - Class of 1947: As mayor of Des Moines, Iowa during the 1970s, Richard "Dick" Olson was not only leading force in stimulating almost $1 billion in new development to rejuvenate the city's downtown, but he also was co-founder of the city's Big Brothers mentoring program. From 1984 until 2002, Olson chaired the United States Olympic Committee for eight Midwestern states.

• Randy Shilts - Class of 1969: An acclaimed journalist and author, he gained international recognition with his book "And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic," an account of the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the United States.