By Staff
EAST LANSING -- The Michigan High School Athletic Association's annual Officials' Awards &Alumni Banquet will honor 289 individuals with 20 or more years of service to the interscholastic sports community.
Among those who will be honored is Dowagiac's Randy Melvin for his 30 years of service.
The 25th edition of this banquet will take place on May 10 at the Sheraton Lansing Hotel at 7 p.m.
The 40-year award will be presented to 23 officials who will be in attendance. In addition, 162 officials with 20 years, and 103 officials with 30 years of experience, will be honored. With the induction of this year's select group, the honor roll of officials who have aided young student-athletes grows to 5,455 since the inception of the banquet in 1979.
The banquet will also feature the announcement of the 2003 recipient of the Vern L. Norris Award. The honor, named for the former MHSAA executive director, will be presented to an official with more than 20 years of experience who has been active in their local officials' association, has mentored other officials and has been involved in officials' education. Ted Wilson of East Detroit was the recipient of the inaugural award in 1992; Fred Briggs of Burton won the award in 1993; the 1994 recipient was Joe Brodie of Flat Rock; Jim Massar of Flint was honored in 1995; the 1996 winner was Jim Lamoreaux of St. Ignace; Ken Myllyla of Escanaba was the 1997 recipient; Blake Hagman of Kalamazoo received the award in 1998; Richard Kalahar of Jackson was the recipient in 1999; in 2000, Barb Beckett of Traverse City and Karl Newingham of Bay City were honored; Herb Lipschultz of Kalamazoo was the recipient in 2001; and last year, Robert L. Scholie, Sr., of Hancock received the award.
The guest speaker for this year's event will be Jim Brandstatter, the radio analyst for University of Michigan and Detroit Lions football, and author of the book, "Tales From Michigan Stadium."
Tickets for the banquet are available to the public and are priced at $15.00. Tickets will not be sold at the door. For additional information, contact Angie Butterwick at 517/332-5046.