When Waukegan Lions Club booster Jerry Wendricks and his friend the late Bevier Butts founded the Waukegan Sports Hall of Fame in 1974, the last thing Wendricks expected was to be included among its membership. But that`s exactly what happened last weekend, when Wendricks, Deerfield football coach Paul Adams and former minor league baseball players Karl ”Duke” Alto and Mickey McGuire were inducted into the Hall of Fame at the College of Lake County`s annual scholarship and sports banquet.
The two-in-one evening combined the Hall of Fame induction with a fundraiser for the Keith Ryan Scholarship Fund at the college. Ryan, a Lake County sportscaster who died in 1989, is also in the Hall.
The guest speaker was former professional basketball player Oscar Robertson, who was introduced by former Chicago Bear Curtis Gentry.
Wendricks, a former stock car racer, loves to talk about the Hall of Fame and the Lions Club but shies away from his own accomplishments.
”I`m proud of the Hall of Fame and I`m happy with what I`ve done, but I don`t really like to talk about myself. When they told me I was being nominated to the Hall of Fame, I told them they were crazy,” he said.
This year`s $1,000 Ryan scholarship went to Lynn Fornwalt, a 1991 Waukegan East High School graduate majoring in communications at the college.