Holtz Hall Plans 2011 Inductions

EAST LIVERPOOL – In its fourteenth year, the annual banquet for the Lou Holtz/Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame takes on the air of a world-stage event as the inividual second in the order of Presidential succession will be honored and is to speak to the anticipated crowd of 500.

John A. Boehner, 53rd speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, will be named the 2011 Distinguished American at the August 1 event at the St. Florian Hall in Wintersville. Boehner was elected to represent the Eighth Congressional District of Ohio for an 11th term in November 2010. The second oldest of 12 brothers and sisters, John has lived in southwest Ohio his entire life. He grew up mopping floors and waiting tables at his family tavern, and played football for Coach Gerry Faust at Cincinnati's Moeller High School. After graduating in 1968, he worked several jobs to pay his way through Xavier University.

Some of the highlights of Boehner's political career include he and fellow members of the "Gang of Seven" taking on the House establishment – Democrat and Republican. They successfully closed the scandal-riddled House Bank, uncovered "dine-and-dash" practices at the House Restaurant, and exposed drug sales and cozy cash-for-stamps deals at the House Post Office. In 1994, he helped secured passage of legislation allowing school districts to use their Title I funds for public school choice programs, under which parents could choose which public school their children would attend.

John was also instrumental in crafting the Contract with America. One of the Contract's cornerstones - the Congressional Accountability Act, which required Congress to live under the same rules and regulations as the rest of the nation – bears the unmistakable print of his drive to reform the House.

According to a press release from his office, today Speaker Boehner is focused on removing government barriers to private-sector job creation and economic growth, cutting government spending, reforming Congress, and rebuilding the bonds of trust between the American people and their representatives in Washington.

The Teramana Family of the Steubenville area will be honored with the 2011 Family Heritage Award. The name Teramana has been synonymous with business in Jefferson County for more than 70 years, when the family entered the coal business. Today, the second and third generations of the family in business have expanded into a wide range of companies, from real estate to retail shopping centers to one of the largest automobile dealerships in the Tri-State Area.

Philanthropic efforts also are a hallmark of the Teramanas, with involvement in a number of community and charitable causes, from sports to Historic Fort Steuben to the foundation that established the leading cancer treatment center in the region, the Tony Teramana Cancer Center at Trinity Medical Center West, which combines the expertise of two of the world's leading cancer research and treatment centers, UPMC and the West Penn/Allegheny Health System.

Retired Presbyterian minister Dr. H. Gene Toot of East Liverpool will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, being honored for his longtime ministerial career, as well as his six-year stint as East Liverpool Area Chamber of Commerce executive director, his service as a member of the East Liverpool Board of Education and as chaplain at City Hospital. He was the driving force in creating the annual Easter Pageant on the Hillside at Trinity Church. He also has many years of involvement with the YMCA, Rotary Club, Tri-State Pottery Festival, Fawcett Foundation, East Liverpool Area Prayer Breakfast and City Design Review Board. For many years he played in the East Liverpool Men's Softball League and the East Liverpool Church Men's Bowling League. Dr. Toot is also a noted dahlia grower, having grown two grand champions in American Dahlia Society National Shows and one ADS Mid West grand champion.

Tickets for the event, priced at $75, are expected to go on sale the first week of June and will be mailed out to purchasers a week prior to the event when seating assignments have been made. Because the Hall of Fame is non-profit, nearly half the cost of the ticket price is tax deductible. The social hour will begin at 5:30 p.m. featuring Italian themed appetizers of antipasto spread, garlic bread sticks with marinara, stuffed mushrooms and fruit trays with dip. The buffet-style dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. with tossed salad and a choice of dressing, honey-glazed chicken, sliced sirloin au jus, green bean amandine, herb mashed potatoes and rice pilaf. An array of dessert will be featured.

As in previous years, a silent and live auction of sports collectibles and other valuable items will be held. In addition to hearing from inductees, attendees will hear from Coach Holtz himself.

At the same hall in a separate gathering space, a dinner will be hosted at 5:30 p.m. for graduating seniors receiving the 2011 Holtz Life Improvement Scholarships for trade schools and their guests along with 2010 scholarship winners and teachers receiving the 2011 "I Believe in YOUth" grants along with their guests. The scholarship and grant crowd will be served a buffet of honey-glazed chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, tossed salad with a choice of dressing and cookies. Following an inspirational speech by Jim Connelly, a member of the Holtz Hall of Fame board of trustees and author of the motivational book "One More Sunset," the students and teachers will be addressed by Coach Holtz.