On Thursday, several notable local figures were inducted into the Dayton Region Walk of Fame.
At an induction ceremony at Sinclair College, entertainer Nancy Cartwright, known world-wide as the voice of Bart Simpson was honored, as was former UD Flyer coach Don Donoher, who said his time at UD has meant the world to him and his family.
"Well, it’s been everything, the food we eat, the home we live in, it’s all as a result of those great kids that came to our school," he said. "The University of Dayton is able to attract a high-caliber kid and a high-caliber basketball player and we just rode 'em."
Donoher went on to say, "We had some great talented players and we had some great moments. We got to the Final Four one year playing the Sweet 16 a number of times, and we were in another Elite Eight. Every once in a while we’d pop-up with a real good team so, we had some great players, great great kids."
Several military figures were honored, including Martin Robison Delany, who was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to the field rank major in 1865, making him the highest ranking African American officer in the Civil War.
Retired General, Janet Wolfenbarger was one of the first females to enter the Air Force Academy in 1976, and the first women to attain the rank of four-star general.
“For those folks who understand what a military lifestyle is like, it’s a lot of moving around," she said."I spent my childhood as well as third-five years of active duty time and when I counted up the amount of time I was stationed here in the Dayton Area at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, it actually amounted to more than twenty of those thirty-five years. So, I’d have to say that if I were to be asked what my home town is, it would without a doubt be Dayton, Ohio, so it is an extraordinary honor to given a paver on the walk of fame.”
Wolfenbarger is Beavercreek High School graduate. In 2013 the school named their campus after her.
The Dayton 2016 Walk of Fame inductees also included Norma and Robert “Bob” Ross who became the first African-American Mercedes-Benz Dealer in the world. After Bob Ross’s death, Norma took over the dealership, while continuing her role as leader in Dayton philanthropy.
Longtime sports writer with the Dayton Daily news, Hal McCoy, covered the Cincinnati Reds back in the 1970’s and was the first person to call them “Big Red Machine.”
“There are three things in life that I love very much," the writer said. "I love baseball, I love to write, and I love to travel. And I got to do all three for fifty years, and I got paid for it. Sports has been my life and to be able to write about it all this time and to receive recognition for it for something that I love to do is pretty special.”
McCoy was inducted into the Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 2002.
Other inductees yesterday into the Dayton Region Hall of Fame were Bette Rogge Morse who hosted “The Bette Rogge Show” on local television, interviewing nationally known celebrities. Morse was Inducted into the Dayton area Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2003.
Dr. Benjamin and Marian Schuster were also inducted because of their philanthropic work and the realization of a three-decade-old dream of a building a new performing arts center, which bears their name in the heart of Downtown Dayton.
Check out interviews with this year's inductees and their representatives below.
