The Birmingham Hall of Fame will hold its 32nd Annual Inductee and Scholarship Banquet Oct. 19 at St. Stephen's School Hall, 2018 Consaul St. Toledo. Eleven inductees and 19 scholarship winners will be honored. The celebration will begin at 4:30 p.m. with a social hour. Dinner, which will include “world-famous” chicken paprikas and pigs-in-the-blanket served family style, will be served at 6 p.m.

James H. Hartung, past president and CEO of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority will be the guest speaker. The Bethlehem Players will provide a special performance.

The Birmingham Hall of Fame was founded in 1976 as a charitable organization for the Birmingham Ethnic Community in East Toledo. In the first two years, all profits were given to the Birmingham Coalition for advancement and development of the neighborhood. During the following years, profits were donated to the four neighborhood churches and community activities.

In 1991, The Birmingham Hall of Fame Scholarship Program was established. The program awarded $750 college scholarships to a few outstanding high school students. Last year, 15 $1,000 scholarships were awarded to entering college students.

The Birmingham Hall of Fame continues to provide financial aid to the Birmingham neighborhood churches, sports teams and worthy organizations.

Banquet tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for children 6-12 and free for kids under 6 years old. Dinner tickets are available at Takacs Grocery & Meats at 1956 Genesee St., East Toledo or by calling 419-693-9233.

The honorees at this year’s banquet include:

The Arts:
St. Stephens Catholic Church Bethlehem Players.The Bethlehem Players is a group of men who perform an old traditional Hungarian folk play every Christmas season in the streets and houses of the Birmingham neighborhood. All the plays are acted out and sung in the Hungarian language. The troupe also performs a play at the beginning of the Christmas Midnight Mass.

A documentary film was made of the Bethlehem Players and a Hungarian TV station filmed the troupe at Midnight Mass.

Members include Elmer Pompos, Robert Kertesz, Gerald Vasko Jr., Steve Hornyak, Matt Kertesz, Gerald Vasko Sr., Paul Veres and Ronald Kekes. Also honored posthumously will be Robert Gall, Andrew Kertesz and Louis Kristof.

Some of these men have performed together for 50 years.

Distinguished Citizens:
• Irene T Klocinski, of Toledo. A widow, Irene has four children, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

She worked as the office manager of the Maumee Valley Girl Scouts and later worked and retired from the City of Toledo Tax Department.

On her 20th birthday, she enlisted in the Navy Waves. After boot camp, she was assigned to the Bureau of Personnel in Washington, D.C. She was transferred to Hawaii and on the crossing, the ship had to avoid being hit by enemy subs in the Pacific Ocean.

When she arrived at Pearl Harbor, the bombed ships in the harbor, planes at Hickam Field and the barracks at Schofield were still burning.

Irene received the rank of Sp.1 3Class working as a keypunch operator at Spare Parts Control. She served in the Navy for three years.

Irene helped establish the Lois Wetmore American Legion Post #617 She served as commander, finance officer and secretary. Irene holds life memberships in the American Legion and the VFW,

Irene loves to do embroidery. She was a volunteer in the cancer department at St. Vincent Medical Center and devoted time as a tutor in the Seniors Teaching and Reaching Students Program. She received commendations for her tutoring and mentoring children at Oakdale School.

• Robert L Kertesz, of Maumee, attended Macomber High School. Bob and his wife Catherine have four children and 11 grandchildren.

Bob retired as a sheet metal worker and was a member of Local 33 Sheet Metal Workers. He served on the executive board, serving on the negotiating team for 10 years. He also served as president and vice president for a term of four years each.

In addition, Bob served as president of the St. Vincent DePaul Society at Little Flower Church. He has performed with the St. Stephen Church Bethlehem Players as the Oreg or Old Man in an old traditional Hungarian folk play that is over 500 years old. Bob has been a member since 1952.

• Lewis P. Matyok, of Sandusky, and his wife Margaret have two children and two grandchildren. He is currently a culinary instructor at EHOVE Career Center in Milan, Ohio. A graduate of Macomber High School, he served in the U. S. Army five years, earning the rank of staff sergeant as food service manager and chef.

Lewis attended Military Food Service in Lenggrees, Germany and culinary school in Badtos, Germany and Counsoin, France. He is one of the American Culinary Federation’s 2,000 Certified Executive Chefs.

He was awarded the Coveted Chef of the Year award twice and was honored as the President’s Medallion winner from the Chef Association.

Lewis serves on a number of advisory boards, including the University of Toledo Apprentice Chef program and Penta Career Center Food Service Program. In addition, he serves as a certified ice sculpture judge.
  
• Stephen M Bartha, of Oregon, attended Clay High School and Houston Community College where he earned an associate’s degree in Construction Technology.

Steve played football at Clay and was All GLL as a corner back. He is currently employed by the East Toledo Family Center and is a member of Local 55 Iron Workers.

Steve oversaw the Toledo Family Center’s Birmingham Office as an Aid for Americorps, coordinated the Area Office on Ageing Senior Home Repair Program, which helped seniors with home improvements.

He is a secretary of the Birmingham Neighborhood Coalition and a member of Birmingham Development Corporation.

Athlete:
Paul J Belegrin Jr., of Oregon, and his wife Debra have three children and two grandchildren. He attended St. Francis de Sales High School, the Toledo University and Owens Community College.

Paul works out of Local 85 as a boilermaker.

He played football four years at St Francis and was an All City selection in his senior year at wide receiver. He played in thee City League football championship games. Paul has the distinction of catching the winning touchdown pass against St. John’s to win the Blue Division and earn a spot in the Shoe Bowl.

He played for many years on various teams after high school and made the All League team as a player for the Jock Shop at the Recreation Center in Maumee.

Paul coached the seventh- and eighth-grade grade boys’ basketball team at St. Stephen’s School, winning the Diocesan Championship in the minor division. He also coached basketball and baseball in the Oregon-Jerusalem League.

Paul was a member of the Metro Umpires Association, where he officiated high school baseball and softball and in the men’s softball leagues.

The scholarship winners include:
• Rex L. Powers III, Ken and Janet Szolosi Scholarship.
• Elizabeth C. Dumas, Midwest Terminals Scholarship.
• Jordan D. Kovacs, Northwestern Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council Scholarship.
• Sarah M. Kamelesky, University of Toledo / Business / Birmingham Ethnic Festival Scholarship.
• Logan J. Wolf, Slivinski Family Scholarship.
• Danielle L. Lakin, Tony Packo’s Scholarship.
• Zachary T. Niehaus, 5/3 Bank Scholarship.
• Justin T. Fodor, Birmingham Ethnic Festival Scholarship.
• Jessica S. Cantrell, Andy and Steve Walko Scholarship.
• Alison M. Zsigray, Kinsey Determination Scholarship.
• Kelsey A. Kovacs, Kinsey Determination Scholarship.
• Anthony R. Dumas, Kinsey Determination Scholarship.
• Danielle E. Leffler, Kinsey Determination Scholarship.
• Nicholas D. Tammerine, Scholarship in Memory of Bill Nyers Jr.
• Mary C. Toth, Kinsey Determination Scholarship.
• Brenton E. Webb, Kinsey Determination Scholarship.
• Jacob D. Jude, Kinsey Determination Scholarship.
• Hailey M. Kuzma, Kinsey Determination Scholarship.
• Riley E. Toth, Kinsey Determination Scholarship.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed