From the Beginning - Archery Hall of Fame History
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A Little Bit of History
The year was 1969, a group of archers were setting around the dinner
table at a Professional Archers Association tournament in Michigan. The
subject came up about different sports who had halls of fames and one of the
tournament officials said," Wouldn't it be something if someday Archery
could have a Hall of Fame like other sports have. The seed was
sown and that was how it all began. At that time is was really just a
dream.......
.........but in 1971The
Archery Hall of Fame, Inc., became a reality when the then Archery Lane
Operators Association President, Joe Rusinek and Professional
Archers Association President Dave Staples put their heads together and
presented the idea for a Hall to the American Archery Council (AAC). "The thing that struck me when Joe Rusinek and
I proposed the idea' said then Hall President Dave Staples, "was that
this group of people [within the AAC] had the vision and the sense of
history to offer total commitment to an organization that would
promulgate
To officially announce, to publish, to make known to the
public; to formally announce a statute or a decision by a court.
every facet of the sport." "We wanted the Hall to be a way
of recognizing those people who had moved the sport forward via their
contributions, to he a repository of the memorabilia that changed the
sport, and
most importantly to be an educational resource for future archers. The early pioneers who got behind Joe Rusinek
and supported the formation of the Hall via a sort of "internal
committee" included industry standouts like Bob Kelly,
Jim Dougherty, Jim Easton, Earl Hoyt,
and George Helwig of the National Archery Association (NAA), Pat
Wingfield of the National
Field ArcheryField
archery involves shooting at targets of varying (and often
unmarked) distance, often in rough terrain.
One goal of field archery is to improve the technique and abilities
required for bowhunting in a more realistic outdoor setting, but without
introducing the
..... Association (NFAA), and Dick Lattimer (Bear
Archery and later of the
AMO
AMO - America's Multimedia Online
). In 1972 the Hall became a part of the AAC.
That same year, at Fred Bear's invitation, the Hall held its first induction
ceremony at the PAA Nationals in
Grayling, MichiganGrayling
is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city
population was 1,952. It is the county seat of Crawford County6.
Grayling takes its name from the Grayling fish that was once prevalent
in its lakes and streams.
..... , and in '76 the Hall incorporated as an independent
entity. The Hall would stand alone to protect the integrity of those
people who were nominated and inducted.
A Vision for Preserving History
In the early '70s Joe Rusinek took the lead in creating a vision for the
Hall's operation. He served as executive director, and his wife, Jane,
assisted him. (The Hall later recognized Joe's leadership with
the prestigious Karl E. Palmatier Award of Merit.) Joe, with the able
help of Dave Staples and
Don ClarkDon,
both of whom served as executive directors, Dave basically through the
'70s and '80s, and Don from the late '80s until 2004, along with the
Hall's Board of Directors, blazed a trail to properly recognize
archery's steadfast contributors, while at the same time preserving
priceless archery history.
A fair procedure for nominating and voting in worthy members was
established and with the passing of Joe Rusinek in 1995, Dave
Staples, took the helm. "The initial
thought process was to
induct
in·duct
v.
To produce an electric current or a magnetic charge by induction.
outstanding members of the archery community in the categories of
bowhunter, coach, competitor, contributor to the sport, educator, and
influence on the sport.
That's basically what the Hall's electorate continues to do today. One
other category was added, that of Lifetime achievement. The only person
to be inducted in that category was Dave Staples after his passing in
2008.
Each
year official letters of nomination, accompanied by complete biographies
and any other supplemental materials telling the nominee's story, are
sent to the Hall's office by individual's, wishing to see someone
inducted into the hall. and it's up to the Hall's electorate to closely
consider these nominations.
The Archery Hall of Fame now has approximately 65 electors drawn from
the ranks of living inductees, board members, representatives of each
national archery organization, representatives of all supporting
organizations, and members of the archery/bowhunting media.
Soon after Dave Staples took on the Hall's
leadership role in the mid 90's , he looked for fresh ideas from Executive Director
Don Clark and fellow board member, George Helwig. With renewed
vigor the Hall added Dick Lattimer as a member of the board, along with
Sherwood Schoch, Maryanne Schumm, and Glenn St. Charles. Dick Lattimer
brought a a tremendous sense of history, Maryanne Schumm brought
incredible intercollegiate archery and coaching experience, and Glenn
St. Charles added the
bowhunting
Bowhunting is the practice of taking game animals by
archery. Technique
In contrast to a rifle hunter, who may shoot effectively from ranges in
excess of 200 yards (about 180 m), archers will usually restrict shots
to 45 yards or less, depending on factors such as
perspective.
Ready
for the Challenge Ahead
Without a doubt the Archery Hall of Fame has renewed energy and is
working hard to set the stage for future efforts to preserve archery
history. In the past few years with the passing of some of our board
members, new names appear on the board. Rick McKinney, Joe St.Charles,
and Billy Staples join M.R. James, Ann Clark, Steve Kaufman, Jane
Johnson, Marilyn Bentz and Executive Director, Diane Miller.
The big thing is the Hall has found a permanent home with the Bass Pro
Shops in Springfield Missouri. and they will house the Hall
of Fames memorabilia that will be displayed in our museum for future
generations to see. The Hall is doing everything in its power to
make sure that it has the archival materials - both artifacts and
printed materials - that will allow scholars to intimately know the
people and happenings of the archery community/industry. The Hall
already possesses a truly impressive collection of materials, including
the works and bows of Dr. G.M. Hickman (including a bona fide Geronimo
bow), as well as memorabilia from Karl Palmatier, Babe and Henry
Bitzenburger, Jean Lee Lombardo, Myrtle "Mimi" Miller, M.R. James and
Ann and the late Earl Hoyt, as well as Ann Clark, Jim Dougherty, Glenn
St,Charles, Ishi and many other who have been inducted into the Archery
Hall of Fame.
It's important to recognize the people who made outstanding
contributions. Today a lot of people come into the sport without knowing
the history, without knowing about the people who came before them!' But
the Hall definitely wants
to put an end to
to destroy.
- Fuller.
See also: End
that. The Archery Hall of Fame is keeping its
date with history.
Some of the above information is taken from an article written
by Jeff Waring, Editor, Bowhuinter Magazine
- 2002
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