Clovis Hall of Fame puts finishing touches on annual awards gala

The Business Organization of Old Town (B.O.O.T.) staff goes on stage to receive the Spirit of Clovis Award at the 2017 Clovis Hall of Fame ceremony. CLOVIS ROUNDUP FILE PHOTO

The annual Clovis Hall of Fame ceremony, an event that honors members of the community who have enriched Clovis in their special way, is coming up Sept. 15.

Normally held in June, organizers pushed this year’s celebration to better accommodate schedules.

“Every June, we’ve run into the same problem between graduations, vacations, and weddings,” said Scott Dority, a member of the Clovis Hall of Fame Council. “We’ve always shot for about 300 people and we tend to run right around 220-240. We think by pushing it into September, we’re not competing with anything else. It’s the fall, everybody’s kind of relaxed after their summer, there’s fewer weddings and there’s no graduations at that time. We really think we can get the numbers up to somewhere around 300-400, and then it becomes a bigger deal for the people we’re honoring.”

Dority and the council have selected the following individuals, families and organizations as this year’s inductees:

  • Hall of Fame Award: Frank & Maude Bell Family
  • Hall of Fame Award: Janet Steiner Young
  • Spirit of Clovis: Dwight Kroll
  • Friends of Youth: Guy & Carey Adams
  • Citizens of the Year: Dan & Peggy Dunklee
  • Service to Veterans: Fran Kilgore
  • Organization of the Year: Clovis Elks Lodge No. 2599
  • Clovis Police Officer of the Year: Scott Borsch
  • Clovis Firefighter of the Year: Fred Edwards

First hosted by the Clovis Independent in 1975, the Hall of Fame started as a way to honor the history and spirit of Clovis. From the early 90s to 2009, the Clovis Chamber of Commerce acted as host and in 2010 the Clovis Exchange Club became the sponsoring organization.

“The sole purpose of the Hall of Fame is just to honor the people that have made and continue to make Clovis the community that it is,” Dority added.

This year’s ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 15 at Clovis Veterans Memorial District with a reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by the dinner and program.

For more information and tickets, visit www.clovishalloffame.org

A native of Woodlake, Daniel Leon is a recent graduate of Fresno State with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism. Daniel served as Sports Editor at The Collegian, Fresno State’s student-run newspaper, prior to joining the Roundup. Got a story idea? Email him at editor@clovisroundup.com