USATT Hall of Fame Dinner Highlight 2015 National Championships Week
Courtesy of USA Table Tennis
Induction Ceremonies Set for Thursday, December 17th at the Flamingo Hotel
October 20, 2015 (Colorado Springs, CO) – USATT Hall of Fame President Donna Sakai announced today that the annual Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony has been set for Thursday, December 17, 2015 at 6:30pm in the Mesquite Ballroom at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
The highlight of the evening’s events, which are hosted by USATT Hall of Famer Tim Boggan, will honor the 2015 inductees, including Dean Johnson (contributor), Jack Huang (contributor), Eric Owens (player), Wang Chen (player), and Tahl Leibovitz (player). The Hall of Fame Committee will also award the Mark Matthews Lifetime Achievement Award to Si Wasserman.
“We are very pleased to welcome this outstanding class of inductees into the Hall of Fame,” commented Sakai, herself a member of the Hall of Fame and the 2014 recipient of the Mark Matthews Lifetime Achievement Award. “The dinner is also a great chance to honor those that have been instrumental in the past, present and future of our great sport.”
Tickets to the annual Hall of Fame dinner are $50 and can be purchased on-line by emailing Andrew.Horn@usatt.org or by calling Andrew Horn at (719) 866-4583 (x. 5). Seating is limited, so advance purchase is strongly recommended.
About the USATT Hall of Fame
Founded in 1966 but revived in its current form in 1979, the first USATT Hall of Fame Dinner was held in Nassau County, New York at the 1979 US Open. The dinner honored the first “class” of inductees, which included “the original five” from 1966 (Dick Miles, Leah Thall Neuberger, Sol Schiff, Jimmy McClure, and Ruth Hughes Aarons), along with Abe Berenbaum, “Buddy” Blattner, Emily Fuller, Dolores Kuenz, Lou Pagliaro, Sally Green Prouty, Jesse “Jay” Purves, and Mark Matthews (Schussheim). Also named were two officials, Elmer Cinnater and Coleman Clark, and two contributors, General Sportcraft and Detroit Wood Products. The Hall of Fame has inducted 142 members, honoring players, contributors, and officials, at its annual ceremony.
About the Mark Matthews Lifetime Achievement Award
Established in 1999, the Mark Matthews Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually by the USATT Hall of Fame Committee to recognize outstanding life-long commitment and dedication to table tennis in the United States. The award is named in honor of Mark Matthews (known in the U.S. table tennis world as Marcus Schussheim), who in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s was the dominant player in the country, winning two National Championships before becoming the first US player to represent the country in the World Championships (Paris, 1933)
