The Birmingham Hall of Fame’s 35th Annual Inductee and Scholarship Banquet will be held Oct. 16 at St. Stephen School Hall, 2018 Consaul St. in East Toledo.

The celebration will begin at 4:30 p.m. with a social hour. The “World Famous Chicken Paprikas and Pig in the Blanket” dinner will be served family-style at 6 p.m. Guest speaker for this event is Tod Kowalczyk, head basketball coach for The University of Toledo Rockets.

Banquet tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children 6 to 12 years old. Children under 6 are admitted free. To order dinner tickets, call Takacs Grocery & Meats at 419-693-9233 or stop by the store at 1956 Genesee St. between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

This year seven will be inducted into the Birmingham Hall of Fame and 14 $1,000 scholarships will be awarded. Inductees include Joseph Yambor, Daniel Suto, Emilio Ramirez, Joseph Barocsi, Kate Achter, Gerald Beale and Michael Poddany.

Joseph B. Yambor (Business & Athlete) played football and basketball and ran track while at St. Stephens School. He participated in varsity football, basketball and track at Central Catholic High School and went on to play football at the University of Chattanooga in Tennessee – earning several honors throughout his sports career.

In addition to owning several barber shops, Yambor has operated Ohio Skate for the past 40 years and is an accomplished figure skater, earning honors and competing with skaters from all over the world.

Daniel Michael Suto (Athlete) graduated from Waite High School where he played hockey, earning honors in the Varsity City Hockey Championships in 1980 and 1981. He also ran varsity track and received the Coach’s Award.

His athletic endeavors also included playing baseball and running cross-country track at St. Stephens School, playing football for Holy Rosary and participating in the East Toledo Boys Club swim team.

Suto, of Oregon, is being lauded for devoting his time to coaching young students in all sports, as did his father, Steve Suto.

He and his wife, Renee Lyn, have one child.

Emilio Victor Ramirez (Distinguished Citizen), attended Waite High School, Ohio State University and the University of Toledo. He holds a degree in Special Education and a master’s degree in School Administration.

He worked as a special education teacher at Waite High School, dean of students at Leverette Middle School and Woodward High School, a hearing officer for TPS, and is currently the principal at Woodward.

Ramirez has been involved in a number of community service efforts, including the Old News Boys Council, the United Way, Lagrange Village, Weed and Seed, The Friendly Center and others.

Joseph F. Barocsi, LMT (Business), lived in Birmingham at 103 Whitmore St., across from the National Bakery. He attended Central Catholic High School and graduated from the University of Toledo, studying physical education and dance therapy.

Barocsi, who has been self-employed since 1990, is certified as a licensed massage therapist, Pose running coach, yoga instructor and macrobiotic cooking trainer. He invented the EZ Run Belt, a training device for runners that has been sold worldwide.

Barocsi won the Birmingham Festival Waiters Race a number of times, has earned honors in Toastmasters and serves as treasurer of Yoga Teachers of NW Ohio, among other activities.

Kate Elizabeth Achter (Athlete), earned 12 varsity letters during her years at Clay High School, setting many school records and earning numerous awards.

Achter attended Bowling Green State University, where she was an All-American point guard on the Lady Falcons basketball team. During her career, BGSU won four consecutive Mid-American Conference championships, advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times and won 108 games, with only 21 losses. In 2007, Achter led the Falcons to the Sweet 16 as the team’s starting point guard. She ranks fourth in BGSU women’s basketball history with 1,580 points and is the all-time leader in assists with 688 and free throws with 551.

After graduation in 2008, she played for one season with Palaio Faliro in Athens, Greece. She then worked as a graduate assistant at BGSU and a volunteer assistant coach at Pike Delta York High School in Delta, Ohio. She is now the assistant women’s basketball coach at St. Bonaventure University in New York.

Gerald R. Beale (Business), graduated from Waite High School. After school, he worked for several Kroger stores, going to night school to better prepare himself for an education to better his life.  He went on to study at the University of Toledo.

Beale, who holds an MBA degree in business, was employed by Merrill Lynch for 42 years, retiring in 2010. His community activities include United Way, the Point Place Businessman’s Association, working with area food banks and supporting the Birmingham community.

He and his wife Sandra are the parents of two children.

Michael A. Poddany (Distinguished Citizen) attended Holy Rosary School, Cardinal Stritch High School and Owens Community College. He is also a graduate of the Toledo Police Academy.

After a year working in the Lucas County Sheriff’s office, he joined the Oregon Police Department, where he worked for 34 years until he retired in 2011.

His first five years in Oregon were with road patrol, then he went to the detective bureau, and after some layoffs in the early 1980s, he went back to the patrol division. For 20 years, he served as the department’s DARE officer.

Poddany was also the coordinator for Oregon’s representation of the Northern Border Initiative through the Ohio Department of Public Safety, working alongside U.S. Border Patrol and coordinating crossings on the U.S.-Canadian border. 

While in school, he was a member of DECCA and was selected State Champion in 1971. He also participated in track and cross country, and helped form the first Hockey Club in 1971. Many schools followed suit, leading to the creation of the Northwest Ohio Hockey Association.

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