The Post-Journal

Chautauqua Hall of Fame Is A Reality

After over a year of planning, the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame has become a reality.

Walt Brown, Russ Diethrick, Kay Gould, Marty Haines, Mark Hammond, Jim McCusker, Lyle Parkhurst, Brad Rendell, Leo Squinn and the late Nelson Turnell were inducted before a full-house crowd of nearly 300. Hammond was unable to attend because of a recent operation and Mrs. Turnell represented her late husband.

It was announced by President Tony Milioto that the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame finally has a site which will be in the Chautauqua Mall in the near future.

An interesting sidelight was the induction of Rendell and his daughter Gould. She was the first to be inducted while her father was ninth. When making his acceptance speech, Rendell joked, “This is the first time my daughter ever beat me to the stand.” The former track star added, “It’s also the first time I’ve been in ninth place.”

Two others that had something in common were inductee Jim McCusker and speaker Lou Groza who were teammates on the Cleveland Browns. The other speaker was Montreal Expos manager Jim Fanning who was in Germany Sunday but made every effort to attend the fete. He arrived in Montreal Sunday and headed to Jamestown Monday morning. He had been in Germany with Expos radio broadcaster Dave VanHorne to visit the Canadian service bases.

Former major leaguer Walt Brown was glad to have in the audience the man who convinced him to become a pitcher, his old shop teacher Dave Dorman. Brown said Dorman told him, “If you can throw the ball from third to first you should be able to throw it from the mound to the plate.”

Another pitcher honored was Lyle Parkhurst, while Haines was cited for his contributions to bowling, Squinn for his volunteer work in all sports, particularly baseball; Hammond for his long involvement in football, basketball and baseball; Gould for her outstanding coaching achievements in women’s basketball; Diethrick for his involvement in sports at all levels in the Jamestown area; and Turnell for his dedication to teaching tennis.

The emcee for the event was someone who knows quite a bit about halls of fame, Tom Eakin. Eakin is the founder and president of the Ohio Baseball Hall of Fame and museum.

Fanning summed up the philosophy of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame best when he mentioned that in addition to the many athletes who became professional stars, the ones who perform and serve without receiving a penny are just as important.


The additional financial assistance of the community is critical to the success of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame.
We gratefully acknowledge these individuals and organizations for their generous support.