For years, Don Stock has been thinking about have a Hall of Fame at Frankfort High School. Next weekend, the inaugural Frankfort Hot Dogs Alumni Hall of Fame becomes a reality as the induction ceremony for the Class of 2018 will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday in the auditorium at Frankfort High School. Frankfort Mayor Chris McBarnes will be the master of ceremonies for the event.
“This is a great thing for our community,” said McBarnes. “We’ve had so many all-star Hot Dogs graduate from Frankfort — not just athletes but people that have done well in business, politics, entrepreneurs, lawyers, professionals and doctors. We want to celebrate them and show our young people that when you go through this school you can out in life and do great things.”
The Hall of Fame weekend will be held Friday and Saturday. The Mayor’s reception will be held at The Farmers Bank on Friday. Following the induction ceremony Saturday, there will be a reception in the Hall of Fame area catered by Shoup’s. The inductees will be introduced to the public between the varsity and junior varsity game against Tipton that will be held that night.
The induction ceremony is free and open to the public.
The following is a list of the 15 individuals who will be inducted in the inaugural Hall of Fame class which will span 75 years:
- Everett Norris Case — honoree, basketball coach for 17 season, won four state championships.
- David Kyle Cook — alumni, Class of 1994, lead guitarist for Matchbox 20.
- Janice Koertge Davidson, alumni, Class of 1962, founder of Davidson & Associate.
- Andrew J. Detherage, alumni, Class of 1986, partner of Barnes & Thornburg LLP, 2017 Lawyer of the Year.
- Rana Dogar Foroohar, alumni, Class of 1988, CNN Global Economics and publisher of ‘Makers and Takers’.
- William Aughe Ghere (Will Geer), alumni, Class of 1919, actor in The Waltons.
- Gary Good, alumni, Class of 1985, all-state in basketball, ranks third all time leading scorer in basketball.
- William James Goodwin, alumni, Class of 1922, entrepreneur.
- Larry Allen Gosewher, Class of 1979, won state golf championship in 1978, 1981 Purdue Big 10 champions.
- Vance J. Hinton, alumni, Class of 1975, entrepreneur.
- Karen Mundell Kowalski, PhD RN, alumni, Class of 1961, CEO of Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence.
- Lawrence J. “Jay: McCreary, alumni, Class of 1936, all-state basketball, led team to state title in 1936, basketball coach at LSU.
- Douglas F. Reid, alumni, Class of 1961, first team all-state football, Indiana all-star basketball.
- Raymond “Buck” Rohrabaugh, honoree, head football coach for 17 seasons. Restarted program in 1929.
- Dr. D. Kevin Schied, alumni, Class of 1975, orthopedic surgeon.
Stock, who is the brainchild behind this project, said they hope to select 15 new members in 2019. After that, it will be held every other year. He also said the number of inductees could range anywhere from eight to 16, depending on the nominations. Stock said the public came nominate individuals by using the form on the Frankfort Education Foundation website. Forms can be filled out online or emailed to Frankfort High School Principal Steve Edwards. Stock said good resume writing will be key is considering new members.
Stock said the Hall of Fame will be located outside the auditorium at the high school.
“The student body will go by this every day and see there have some pretty quality people that walked the same hallowed halls they are walking in a time that I think some of us believe that Frankfort is not a good school to go to,” said Stock. “It’s a great school to go to and it’s a great school to come from. We want to show that through the Hall of Fame.”
Individuals are selected on two different criteria. The Alumni Criteria consists of nominees living or deceased who must have graduated from Frankfort High School, be at least 10 years past their graduation date and be a person of good character and citizenship. The Honorary Criteria states nominees can be a coach, teacher, employee, volunteer or friend/patron from The Community Schools of Frankfort with a minimum of 15 years of service; and be a person of good character or citizenship.
“We think that the community as a while will really enjoy this,” said Community Schools of Frankfort Superintendent Don DeWeese. “It’s wonderful.”