The second Frankfort Hot Dogs Alumni Hall of Fame Class of 2019 has been announced.
“This is just as good, I believe, as the first one,” said Don Stock, who is the brainchild of this project. “We’re inducting 11 individuals and they all have different criteria. This is the best thing about being an alumni hall of fame than a sports hall of fame.”
The Hall of Fame weekend will be held on Friday, January 25, and Saturday, January 26. The Mayor’s reception will be held at The Farmers Bank on Friday. The induction ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the Frankfort High School auditorium and the inductees will be introduced to the public between the varsity and junior varsity games against West Lafayette that night.
This year’s inductees are as follows:
- Charles Aidman — Class of 1945, served in the Navy during Korean War, American stage, film and television actor.
- Dr. Frank Beardsley — Class of 1943, doctor and spent more than 36 years serving the residents of Frankfort and Clinton County, active in several service clubs and started the K-Club at FHS..
- Lt. Gen. Jay Kelley — Class of 1959, U.S. Air Force graduate, one of four U.S. generals from Clinton County who are on monument at Clinton County Courthouse.
- Dr. Patrick Kersey — Class of 1986, very active in the world of sports medicine with involvement in sports concussion network.
- John Milholland — Honorary, FHS basketball coach for 18 years winning eight sectionals, two regionals and five Sagamore Conference titles, inducted into Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000, served as FHS principal from 1985-2001.
- Cindy Ward Wine Martinez — Class of 1973, hosted radio and television programs from Indiana to Arizona, was news anchor and meteorologist on WTHR television while maintaining her presence on WHHH 96.3.
- Karen McClain Miller — Class of 1973, first female president and CEO of The Farmers Bank.
- Jim Miner — Class of 1936, member of state basketball champions, 1937 state pole vault champion, received Purple Heart and Silver Star Medal of Honor.
- Rawlings (Rawl) Ransom — Class of 1938, awarded Bronze Star in World War II, president of Kramer Brothers Lumber Company, helped procure land for the Frankfort Municipal Airport and the Industrial Park.
- Richard (Butch) Ricker — Class of 1949, 440 state track champion, served as FHS athletic director for 30 years.
- Ralph Vaughn — Class of 1936, top scorer on 1936 state champions, consensus first-team All-American in basketball at USC, selected to Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976.
Stock said the first two groups would be inducted in consecutive years. After that, it would probably be held every other year.
“If more people will nominate and keep our numbers in the 30 to 35 range then it would require us to probably go every year,” said Stock. “Our concern is once the numbers drop down to 10, 11 or 12, which would be a number we would take, we don’t want to empty the pool. We’re trying to get people to be more conscious of nominating individuals.”
Stock said the public can 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 added the Hall of Fame will be located outside the auditorium at the high school.
“The greatest thing about this is to find out the number of people who have gone on throughout the United States and have just made it better,” said Stock. “There’s a lot of people out there that we haven’t tapped into yet. We hope the classes will start to nominate them.”
Last year’s inaugural Hall of Fame class included 15 individuals which spanned 75 years. They included: Everett Norris Case (honoree), Janice Koertge Davidson (Class of 1962), Andrew J. Detherage (Class of 1986), Rana Dogar Foroohar (Class of 1988), William Aughe Ghere (Will Geer) (Class of 1919), Gary Good (Class of 1985), William James Goodwin (Class of 1922), Larry Allen Gosewher (Class of 1979), Vance J. Hinton (Class of 1975), Karen Mundell Kowalski (Class of 1961), Lawrence J. “Jay” McCreary (Class of 1936), Douglas F. Reid (Class of 1961), Raymond “Buck” Rohrabaugh (honoree) and Dr. D. Kevin Schied (Class of 1975).