What to expect at Bartlesville Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony on Saturday
It will be a night of athletic heroes, past glories and memories Saturday night at the Hilton Garden Inn.
A full house — the joint was sold out last Friday — will be on hand to share in the passionate nostalgia and gentle heartfelt vibes.
The evening’s activities are set to get underway at 6 p.m.
This year’s ceremony — the 14th Annual Bartlesville Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Celebration — also will feature a changing of the guard.
Former Bartlesville Sports Commission Board Chairman Bob Pomeroy is set to be a spectator following more than a decade of serving as the Master of Ceremonies.
New BCS Chairman Chris Batchelder will assume that duty, which will likely include the general introduction, updates and comments from the BSC — which oversees the selecting of Hall of Fame members and the banquet celebration — any other appropriate remarks, the introduction of each new inductee and the dismissal.
“It’s really exciting,” Batchelder said about the the complete sell-out. “I think that has a lot to do with the inductees. I think it has a lot to do with the traditions of this event.”
A subtle change in the amicable atmosphere will be pull back on the standard dressing suggestion of black tie.
“It’s been kind of formal,” Batchelder explained. “We’d like it to be a little more festive. We want people to feel free to cheer and honor the individuals. We’ve kind of set it for cocktail dressing. You might we anything from a nice jacket and tie to a tuxedo.”
But, Batchelder hopes for the same decorum and respect for what he considers as a first-class Hall of Fame induction event.
Another change from years past will be a buffet dinner rather than being served at the tables.
This year’s class is especially eclectic and close to home.
The roll call of incoming HOF stars include the 1982 Bartlesville High softball team, Adams Municipal Golf Course legendary leader Jerry Benedict, former Bartlesville High softball standout and later head coach Erica Derryberry, former local multi-talented athlete and popular coach Terry Hughes and Ricky Jackson, a 1970s College High graduate who some consider the greatest prep athlete to ever have come out of Bartlesville.
Jackson will be induct posthumously. He will join his older brother Ernie as one of the few sibling pairs inducted as individuals.
Hughes starred in multiple sports at Bartlesville Sooner High School, and made key contributions as a player for the Bartlesville American Legion baseball program and Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
Many remember him only as a long-time coach for Bartlesville Public Schools, including overseeing the Bartlesville High girls golf program for many years.
He impacted the lives of hundreds of local student-athletes, and continues to do as an assistant athletic director.
“Terry Hughes was my freshman basketball coach and is very special,” Batchelder said.
Batchelder labeled Benedict as “a Bartlesville legend. He and Jerry Cozby (the deceased former Hillcrest Country Club head pro and a Bartlesville Hall of Fame inductee) are synonymous with golf in Bartlesville. What he’s (Benedict) done for golf in the City of Bartlesville is phenomenal.”
He credited Benedict and Cozby with involving a great number of local people in the game of golf.
The 1982 Bartlesville High softball team captured the school’s first state title after the school began in 1982.Multiple state-championship winning coach Jerome Gibson — already an individual Hall of Fame member — coached the team with Annie Collins as a varsity assistant.
Derryberry excelled as a Bartlesville High softball player, then turned in an excellent diamond career at Missouri State. In the early 2000s, she served multiple seasons as the Bartlesville High head softball coach despite being a newlywed and starting a family.
She is deserving of the HOF membership both for her playing qualifications and “to come back and serving her alma mater and giving her time at a critical juncture of the program,” Batchelder said.
Even 50 years after his high school graduation — and a decade prior to that in local youth athletics — Jackson’s ability and competitive character have left an indelible impression on former teammates and rivals and those who watched him.
Although he’s best known for his game-changing smoothness and skill on the baseball court — he might have been deserving of the nickname “Dr. J.”, along with a contemporary pro hoopster of the time — Jackson also performed athletic magic on the gridiron and the diamond.
He went on to play a season at Centenary, playing alongside future NBA Hall of Famer Robert Parrish.
“There are people that will argue Ricky is the greatest athlete to come out of Bartlesville in any sport,” Batchelder said. “It’s so cool to put somebody like that in the Hall of Fame. The least we can do is honor what he did for athletics in Bartlesville. On the video, teammates talk about his exploits. He was one of those guys who could do what he wanted in a game. … His son Ron Johnson was the best shooter I ever saw.”
In another tweak to years past, the inductee videos — about a five-to-10 minute professionally made, well-researched production spotlighting the inductee’s sports and life highlights — “will be a little more lively and funnier,” Batchelder said.
Who are the Bartlesville Athletic Hall of Fame members?
Class of 2008: Bob Kurland, Coach Bailey Ricketts, Dallas Dobbs, Dee Ketchum, and the 1967 College High Boys Basketball Team.
Class of 2009: Bobby Joe Green, Coach Kenneth Treadway, David Lee Baker, Scott Martin, and the College High Boys Golf Team.
Class of 2010: Cindy Cooper, Coach Ken Bruno, Dr. Pat Connor, Tim Pugh, Phillips 66ers ,and the 1979 College High Boys Tennis Team.
Class of 2011: Bill Berryhill, Coach Steve Hesser, Jim Clark, Kenneth Fitch, and the 1969 College High Wildcats Baseball Team.
Class of 2012: Chuck Hetrick, Coach C.C. “Lefty” Custer, Ernie Jackson, Jerry Cozby, Linda Brown, Paul Tietze, and the 1980 Sooner High Softball Team.
Class of 2013: Bob Pritchard, Coach Jerome Gibson, Renee Roberts Jones, Tug Baughn, and the 1955 Douglas Dragons Football Team.
Class of 2014: Jennifer Fontenot Atkinson, Coach Burl Stidham, Pat Ritchie, Tracy Bunge, and the 1978 Sooner High Boys Golf Team.
Class of 2015: Tim Tolin, Paul Geymann, Viki Streets, the Blazer Softball Organization, and the 1966 College High Girls Swim Team.
Class of 2016: Jim Connor, Coach Doyle “Tink” Patterson, Mitch Nash, the Phillips 66 Splash Club, and the 1989 Bartlesville High Boys Basketball Team.
Class of 2017: Bill Mingle, Coach Doug Tolin, Joe Holladay, Mike Vaclaw, and the 1980 College High Baseball Team.
Class of 2018: Mike Wise, Coach Cecil Epperley, Sam and Susie Barto, Yolanda “Yogi” York, and the 1985 Bartlesville High Girls Track Relay Team.
Class of 2019: Amanda Warehime, Coach Sid Burton, Mike Coast, Mike Tupa, and the 1991 Bartlesville High Girls Cross Country Team.
Class of 2020-2021: Gary McDonald, Coach Mickey Ripley, Kevin and Dorea Potter, Stan Baughn, and the 1962 College High Swim Team.
Class of 2022 (prospective): Erika Derryberry, Coach Terry Hughes, Ricky Jackson, Jerry Benedict, and the 1982 Bartlesville High Softball Team.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bartlesville Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony set Saturday
