Local Hall of Fame chapter announces first two nominations
WAYNESBURG – The Greene County satellite chapter of the Washington-Greene Sports Hall of Fame, which was established earlier this year, has announced the first two nominations for its chapter.
John Curtis, Jefferson-Morgan High School baseball coach for 35 years who has 302 wins, is the first nominee of the satellite chapter.
Also nominated is the 1939 Waynesburg College football team, who played in the first-ever televised football game. Waynesburg faced Fordham University on Sept. 30, 1939, in New York City. Fordham won the game 34-7, but Waynesburg has been recognized as being the first football team to score a touchdown on television, which was scored by Bobby Brooks.
John “Jack” Wiley, who played at Richhill High School, played in the game for Waynesburg as a freshman. He went on to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Greene County satellite chapter, committee and office was established to help the Washington-Greene Sports Hall of Fame in nominating deserving candidates from this area. The Eva K. Bowlby Public Library in Waynesburg has established space in one of the library’s rooms for the satellite office, which will display information and memorabilia of local athletes, coaches and others who are inducted in the future.
Buzz Walters of Rogersville, who is one of 23 Greene County athletes and coaches who have been inducted into the Washington-Greene Sports Hall of Fame, said the local satellite chapter was established to promote “athletes of distinction” from Greene County.
“There are several deserving athletes in Greene County who deserve to be recognized, and who better to do that than the local satellite chapter?” Walters said, who was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1997. “That is the mission of the satellite … to find and nominate athletes from this area.”
In addition to Walters, the satellite chapter committee is currently comprised of Linda and George Messich, who serve as basketball and football coach, respectively, at Mapletown High School. George Messich was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2013.
Walters said other athletes will be nominated each year for inclusion in the satellite chapter.