PORT ANGELES — There’s still a few tickets left if you want to rub elbows with some of the elite members of Port Angeles sports history.
The first-ever Port Angeles High School Hall of Fame dinner Saturday will induct the inaugural 17 members of the school’s athletics hall of fame.
Anyone driving around the city the past few days has noticed signs at various businesses around Port Angeles welcoming the hall of famers and their families back to the community.
Year in the making
The event begins at 4:30 p.m. at the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St., with social time. Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. and at 7 p.m., the ceremony will begin with the inductees giving a speech between three to five minutes each.
Organizer Bruce Skinner has been working on this event for nearly a year now. “It’s getting exciting,” he said.
Fourteen of the 17 inductees are expected to attend.
The three who cannot make it are Tyna Birinaga (Badminton, 1964), Ken Fuhrer (Basketball, 1952) and Bernie Fryer (Football and basketball, 1968.)
Skinner said Fryer, a longtime NBA referee, will be working an NBA playoff game that night in Salt Lake City between the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
However, people will accept in their honor.
The 14 expected to attend are:
• Kelli Antolock, golf, 1980 graduate
• Michael Briggs, football, 1960
• Scooter Chapman, radio/sports writing, 1952
• Mike Clayton, basketball, 1966
• Sherri Felton, track and basketball, 1977
• Penn Graves, track, 1984
• Scott Jones, football, 1984
• Jim Michalczik, football, 1984
• Leigh Morgan, basketball, 1986
• Jeff Ridgway, baseball, 1999
• Art Sandison, track 1966
• Lee Sinnes, basketball and coaching, 1966
• Joel Thomas, football, 1993
• Henry Wyborney, track 1958
The dinner menu catered by Next Door Gastropub includes: mixed green salad, Cuban pork loin with mango chutney, brined traditional game hens, Italian roasted brussel sprouts with balsamic glaze, duck fat potatoes, dinner rolls and dessert.
While the event is officially sold out, some seats are available. Tickets are $60 per person. Anyone interested in buying a ticket should call 360-417-7144.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.