Seven individuals were enshrined into the Frankfort Hot Dogs Alumni Hall of Fame Saturday afternoon in front of a packed crowd in the cafeteria at Frankfort High School.
That now brings the total in the Frankfort Hall of Fame to 56 for an organization that has been operating for just six years.
‘Each year, I think the classes get better,” said Hall of Fame Chairman Don Stock. “And they get better because the people out in the county and in the world are starting to send in their nomination forms and we’re finding out a lot about individuals that have gone out and made us proud of what they did.”
Five of the seven members of this year’s inductees made it back. The other two, Vesto Melvin Slipher (Class of 1897) and Earl Carl (E.C.) Slipher (Class of 1902) were both posthumously inducted. The other five inducted were Fred Carter (Class of 1949), Dr. Lee F. Dupler (Class of 1951), Nicole Rudolph (Class of 2003), Dan “Bonz” Scott (Class of 1978) and Clarence Warthan (Honorary).
Among the inductees, you have a highly successful retail businessman who was a bank president, served on countless civic organizations and was proclaimed “Mr. Hot Dog” for his lifetime service to Frankfort; a doctor for more than 30 years, served his country in the Army, developed the first Intensive Care Unit at Clinton County Hospital and was Medical Director at Bradford Woods summer diabetic camp for children; a full-time fashion history content on You Tube where she brings her expertise in shoemaking, sewing and tailoring to an international audience; a man who returned to Frankfort to start his own company, Hi-Tech Label, which created labels for businesses coast-to-coast; and a man who taught Industrial Arts at Frankfort High School for 41 years, was head wrestling coach for 37 years at FHS, and was inducted into the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame.
The Sliphers are known worldwide for their work in Astronomy and both worked at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona.
“Thinking that the high school goes all the way back to 1897 and 1902 and they produced some of the greatest astronomers that probably have lived,” said Stock. “Something they didn’t talk about but they did at the Library was the youngest brother Earl got the guys read to go to the moon.”
“You look at “Bonz” Scott today at Hi-Tech Label and Fred Carter, who is “Mr. Hot Dog” and Clarence Warthan, who has given 41 years of his life,” said Stock. “The thing keep going on and on and on, and Nicole Rudolph, who does her on own thing on You Tube.”
The following people are in the Frankfort Hot Dog Alumni Hall of Fame:
The Inaugural Class of 2018: Alumni — David Kyle Cook, Janice Gail Koertge Davidson, Andrew J. Detharge, Rana Dogar Foroohar, William Aughe Ghere (Will Geer), Gary Thomas Goode, James William Goodwin, Larry Allen Gosewehr, Vance J. Hinton, Karren Mundell Kowalski, PhD RN; Lawrence J. “Jay” McCreary, Douglas F. Reid, Dr. D. Kevin Scheid. Honorees — Everett Norris Case, Raymond “Buck” Rohrabaugh.
The Class of 2019: Alumni — Charles L. (Chuck) Aidman, Dr. Franko Beardsley, Lt. Gen. Jay Kelley, Dr. Patrick Kersey, Cindy Ward Wine Martinez, Karen McClain Miller, Jim H. Miner, Rawlings “Rawl” Ransom, Richard “Butch” Ricker, Ralph Vaughn. Honoree — John Milholland.
The Class of 2020: Alumni — Steve R. Adams, John Coulter, Phil E. DePoy, Perry Charles Lewis, Dr. David Moore, James Rogers, Jonelle Smith. Honoree — Katherine Howard.
The Class of 2021: Alumni — Dan Cougill, Thomas V. Ranson, Dr. Roger Frank Robison, Robert K. Ryan, Gina Lucas Sheets.
The Class of 2022: Chad Buntin, Kelly J. Good, Mary Gorham Herrick, Tom Miller, Lt. Colonel James (Jim) Rentschler, Mark Sawicki, Randall (Boe) Workman. Honoree — Steve Mullen.
“This is a community of about 16,000 people and a number of people have gone out and done great things,” said Stock. “It’s really phenomenal to me and we haven’t touched them all yet. But we hope to able to do that.”