55 Hastings athletes to be inducted into hall of fame; tickets now available for banquet on Jan. 15

For 50 years, the Bierstube in Hastings has been the place to go before and after a football game at McNamara Stadium at Todd Field. Boosters obviously are there more often than just those few Friday nights, sipping on suds and getting their fill. The Bierstube sponsors youth teams, bowling teams and softball teams, among others.

So restaurant ownership began considering ways to commemorate their 50th year in business and honor that athletic boosterism. The result is the Hastings Athletic Hall of Fame.

One of the rooms at the Bierstube’s location here is called the Raider room. The room features framed memorabilia and information on some of the athletic achievements in Hastings. That room is now destined for a makeover of sorts.

It will become the hall of fame room now, too. There will be 50 athletes inducted in the inaugural group. An additional five have been chosen as the 2013 inductees.

“This is something I’ve been impressed with that Mancini’s has done (in St. Paul),” said Bierstube owner Jim Yanz. “I’m a little envious of that. I thought, ‘Geez, Hastings has a tremendously rich tradition of athletics over the years.’ I thought we should have something like this.”

Yanz got to work with a number of Hastings athletic boosters, including Jake Moore. They formed a committee that began to pick through the top 50 athletes in school history, who would serve as the inaugural inductions.

The committee got its 50 athletes and now a banquet is planned to honor them. The banquet is set for Tuesday, Jan. 15, at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings. Tickets are $25 each and are available by calling the Bierstube at 651-437-8259 or by calling Yanz at 612-868-1305. The Bierstube is catering the event.

The night will be emceed by Dick Jonckowski, who is the public address announcer at Gopher basketball and baseball games.

Going forward

Every year, up to five more Hastings athletes will be added to the hall of fame. Banquets won’t be held on a yearly basis, Jim Yanz said, but something will be done each year to commemorate the inductions.

Inductees named

Here are the first 55 inductees into the Hastings Athletic Hall of Fame:

Thad Amundson

Michael Bauer

Patty Becker

Edie Boyer

Dan Campbell

Dan Carey

Craig Crosby

Tom DeSautel

Erin Ditty Ahneman

Gil Dobie

Aaron Fox

Adam Gerlach

Kelsey Gergen

Craig Greenslit

Nick Harris

Mitch Horsch

Bob J. Johnson

Brian P. Johnson

Mark Johnson

Jay Johnson

Tom Johnson

Keith Karpinski

Katelyn Kasel

Scott Kelly

Kermit Klefsass

Tory Kraftson

Marty Kranz

Sue Litschke

John Majeski

Josh McLay

Erica McKenzie

Bob McNamara

Pinky McNamara

Monte Meier

Lesley Miller

Jamie Nelson

Kurt Pederson

Pat Pohl

Jim Reissner

Tom Saggisor

Aubrey Schmitt

Josh Schumann

Katie Seleskie

Mike Seleskie

Philip Seleskie

Marty Sieh

Tom Sieh

Jerod Stewart

Jeff Taffe

Dean Talafous

Ben Utecht

Dan Welch

Joe Welch

Russ Welch

Lindsay Williams

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