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Third American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame Induction --- Dec 6, 2009 in Red Wing MN
The induction ceremony for the 2009 class of inductees to the American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame was held on
Sunday, December 6, at the historic St James Hotel in Red Wing MN. Norwegian treats were provided for guests by
the Sons of Norway ... and for anyone who missed them, it’s a great reason to attend this event in the future!
Included in this year’s group of inductees are four women, three FIS World Champions, one unofficial World Champion,
holders of more than 20 national championships, pioneers in the sport, jumping specialists, Nordic Combined athletes,
and a journalist. You can see the names of this year’s inductees by clicking the Hall of Fame link, above.
After opening remarks by Jerry Borgen, who talked about the organization, and Fred Johnson, who spoke about the
early days of American ski jumping, Wally Wakefield explained the selection process, and pointed out that there were
nomination forms available at the event, and that they can be downloaded and printed from the website.
Jerry then introduced the Master of Ceremonies, 1992 Olympic ski jumper Bryan Sanders. Two of this year’s inductees
were present, Therese Altobelli-Olsen, and Karla Keck. Both came forward as their bios were being read, and thanked
the organization for recognizing their careers and contributions to the sport. Bryan read the bios of the inductees for
which bios have been completed ... and you can read them via links on our Hall of Fame page.
We did something new this year ... one of the inductees who was unable to be present was Jim Brennan, the 1960
National Champion. He lives in Bend OR, and we connected with him via the communications program Skype. We
were able to see him on a large screen as he watched while Bryan read his bio. He was then able to offer some
remarks, which everyone could hear. It was a great way for someone to actually participate without being there,
and we expect to make this a more common feature for future inductions.
To those who were in attendance, and to one of our inductees, your webmaster owes an apology. We’d hoped to
have a Skype connection with another inductee, Johnny Spillane, a jumper who competes in Nordic Combined,
which includes both jumping and cross-country racing. Johnny is a two-time US National jumping champion, and
a member of the last three Olympic teams in Nordic Combined. He also has been on the last three FIS World
Championship teams, and won a gold medal ... a World Championship ... at the FIS Worlds in 2003.
He was in Lillehammer, having just competed in his first World Cup meet of the season, in which he had captured
sixth place on Saturday and fourth place on Sunday ... with the longest jump of the event, at 137 meters, in the
jump round. He graciously found the time to get set up to wait for us to connect ... but your webmaster missed a
step on this end, and didn’t realize Johnny was waiting. It would have been great to have Johnny online to hear
the presentation of this honor ... and it would have been an honor for us to see and hear from one of our World
Champions him after such an outstanding start to the season. I got a note from Johnny, and he asked that this
passed along to the folks in attendance ... “ Let everyone know that I am honored to be inducted, and I will
continue to work hard to make all of you proud! Thanks again, Johnny Spillane.”
The last bio read, as we did them alphabetically, was that of Lindsey Van, who earlier this year became the first-ever
Women’s World Champion at the FIS Worlds in Liberec CZE. She was not going to have access to a computer
during the ceremony, but asked that we call her when her presentation was being made ... so she was able
to hear her bio being read, and Bryan relayed her appreciative comments to the crowd.
We hope that in the future we can be better prepared to handle “remote attendance” for those who are unable to
be there in person. The Skype and phone connections were a first step in that direction, and I want to thank the
audience for being patient while we tried out some new technologies at this year’s event.
View and print a copy of the Dec 6, 2009 program ... click here!
Club Memorabilia Sought for Display
We'd like to acquire pins, patches, and stickers with the identity of various ski jumping clubs, including those no
longer active. They'll be included with the historical display in Red Wing MN, the "Birthplace of American Ski
Jumping.” Please contact Jerry Borgen via e-mail if you have such artifacts and would be willing to donate them
for this purpose. Jerry's e-mail address can be found on the “About / Contact” page via link button above.
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