News, Notes, Events, Announcements Made with Xara TWELVE  INDUCTED INTO ASJ HALL OF FAME SUNDAY OCT 30, 2011 Induction ceremony held at St James Hotel in Red Wing MN This year’s induction ceremony, our fifth, was held a bit earlier than the past few years, and that may have been a factor in bringing a full house to enjoy the event.  Bryan Sanders once again was our Master of Ceremonies, and he had created an interesting slide show with pictures of many of the inductees, which were played as he read their bio information (text and photos Bryan’s presentation below). Jerry Borgen began the program with a few remarks, followed by Sen John Howe, Red Wing Mayor Dennis Egan, Red Wing historian Fred Johnson, and selection committe chair Wally Wakefield.  Then it was on to the induction ceremony.  Many friends and family members came to partake in this celebration, and it finished up with traditional Norwegian goodies served in the Board Room.            ***  VIDEO LINKS (YouTube):     Bryan Sanders, Jerry Borgen   Wally Wakefield  YOU CAN BLAME IT ALL ON A COUPLE CRAZY, MIXED-UP KIDS FROM RED WING, MINNESOTA - by Bryan Sanders That's how the Iron Mountain (MI) News described the birth of ski jumping in America. In its 1956 Olympic Tryout edition, which ran several days prior to the 1956 Olympic trials in Iron Mountain Michigan, the paper and other local media were speculating that a jumper would break the 300- foot distance mark. Readers also learned a little about Mikkel and Torjus Hemestvedt. The two Norwegian brothers, who lived in Red Wing, Minnesota, are credited with bringing the sport of ski jumping to America. Mikkel is also credited with the first American distance record of 37 feet in 1887.  Media predictions were right: 68 years after Mikkel and Torjus started building ski jumps in Red Wing, Rudy Maki of Ishpeming, Michigan would be the first to jump 300 feet at Giant Pine Mountain in the 1956 Olympic trials. Moving ahead to October 30th, 2011 in Red Wing, MN, home of the American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame: A crowd of nearly 100 ski jumping alums (including six U.S. Olympians) and friends of the sport gathered from throughout the United States to celebrate the 5th Annual American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the historic St. James Hotel in Red Wing. In addition to being the birthplace of ski jumping in the United States, Red Wing also hosted the U.S. National Ski Jumping Championship in 1928 and 1936.  Among this year's inductees were a group of exceptional U.S. Ski Jumpers, coaches and important pioneers for women’s ski jumping. Here are some brief summaries of the 2011 Hall of Fame class: ERIC “JUNIOR” HIATT   Video:  Eric   (Bryan Intro) Eric is a 39-year old Yooper from the Kiwanis Ski Club in Iron Mountain, Michigan. Eric was remarkably just 13 years old when he won junior class for the first time in 1986.  He is a three-time U.S. Junior National Champion and member of the U.S. Ski Jumping Team 1989-1994. After completion of his competitive jumping years, he dedicated time to coaching national junior ski jumping training camps and junior Olympic teams throughout the U.S. and Canada.  He currently serves as Chief of Competition for the annual Pine Mountain Ski Jumping Tournament each winter. He is responsible for ensuring that the hill meets all FIS requirements, a complicated task with today's long list of competition standards. Eric dedicates countless hours each winter to preserving the highest level of international ski jumping in the United States and has helped preserve one of the nation’s finest “big hill” ski jumping tournaments to date. TIM “TIMO” DENISSON     Video:  Tim 1  Tim 2  (Bryan & Greg Windsperger intro) Timo was introduced to the sport in 1950 at age 2 by his father Pete, and he became a member of the St. Paul Ski Club soon thereafter. Timo quickly became an accomplished ski jumper and developed into a top Central Division junior ski jumper. He has been connected to the sport ever since. In 1959 at age 11, he was the youngest ski jumper to compete at the historic Battle Creek Ski Jump in St Paul, MN and would later set the hill record there in 1968  (the photo at right is Timo at Battle Creek in 1969 ... click to enlarge).  In 1964, as a member of the Junior National Team, he received a full scholarship to University of Wyoming where he became a three-time All-American NCAA Ski Jumper and had a personal best 2nd place finish in the NCAA Championships. From 1968 to 1976, Timo also competed as a member of the U.S. Ski Jumping Team.  He gave back to the sport he loves as an Assistant National Ski Jumping Coach from 1980-1988 and covered the World Ski Flying Championships for ABC’s Wide World of Sports in 1988. Timo was inducted into the U.S. Masters Hall of Fame in 2006 and the University of Wyoming Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.  He is a staunch supporter of Master’s ski jumping around the world and gracefully earned his place in Red Wing’s American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame.  MIKE DEVECKA     Video:  Mike  (Bryan & Greg intro) A native of Oregon, Mike compiled an impressive record of accomplishments during a career that took him to the Olympics four times. Although he is primarily known as a Nordic Combined athlete, he won the U.S. National Championship in ski jumping in 1978 at the age of 30 and that same year was the top American finisher in ski flying at Copper Peak in Ironwood MI, where he achieved a 10th place finish  (click photo to enlarge) Summary of Mike's accomplishments: 1968, ’72, ’76, ’80 U.S. Olympic Team, Nordic Combined 1968, ’69 NCAA All American Ski Team member 1968-77 1979-80 U.S. Ski Team Member 1970,’74 FIS World Championships Ski Team 1972,’75,’79 US Nordic Combined Champion 1974 US Ski Champion 30 km Cross Country 1978 US Ski Jumping Champion 10th Place – Copper Peak Int’l Ski Flying – top American BOB KECK     Video:  Bob  (intro missed) Bob is a native of Oconomowoc, WI and a retired architect. He and his wife, Carol, continue to reside in Oconomowoc. Highlights of his competitive career include: 1960 Class “A” Central Division Champion 1962 United States FIS team member  (Bob is at lower left in team picture at right ... click to enlarge) 1963 11th place at Olympic Team tryouts at Ishpeming, MI 3rd place North American Championships, Iron Mountain, MI Bob has been a tireless worker in the sport and a lifelong supporter of both men’s and women’s ski jumping. He was strongly committed to providing opportunities for women in the sport and mentored his daughter Karla (2009 SSJHOF inductee), helping her become one of the sport’s true women pioneers.  His son John was also an outstanding competitor, and is now an FIS judge.  Bob continues his efforts to support women’s ski jumping and looks forward to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games where women’s ski jumping will be included ed for the first time. VIC METHOD     Video:  Vic 1  Vic 2  (intro missed) A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Vic is a sales and marketing executive responsible for raising over $800K in sponsorship for Women's Ski Jumping USA (WSJUSA) and has also worked with individual athletes.  In 2004, he became a member of the WSJUSA Board of Directors, overseeing the management of sponsorship and press relations, which led to a report on women’s ski jumping by ABC World News Tonight and Good Morning America.  The story supercharged the fight for including women ski jumpers in the World Championships and Olympics.  In 2006, he secured a sponsorship with VISA through 2010, the first for WSJUSA.  Vic also managed press contacts during the Torino Olympics, leading to stories on channels including NBC, BBC, ABC and Newsday. Other involvement includes: 2008 Developed and secured billboard at VANOC’s headquarters “Let the Women Ski Jump 2010 - Implementing the Olympic Principle of Equality for Men and Women” 2009 Attended FIS World Championship as representative of WSJUSA during Lindsey Van’s historic performance, where she became first-ever Women's World Champion 2010 Secured WSJUSA corporate sponsorships with VISA and USANA through 2014 Olympics 2011 Representative of the WSJUSA at the 2011 Oslo World Championships DAVE NORBY   Video:  Dave 1   Dave 2  (Bryan intro)  Dave was elected to the Blackhawk Ski Club Board of Directors (Madison WI) in 1965 and continues serving today.  From 1965-69, Dave was a Central Division Champion and a member of the U.S. Ski Jumping Team and 1968 Olympic Team. In the mid 1970’s he took over the First Flight ski program at Blackhawk with 40 young skiers and a handful of volunteer instructors. In 2006, the First Flight program was turned over to a professional instructor, and today there are over 500 kids involved in downhill racing, learn to ski programs, ski jumping, snowboarding and the biathlon. Dave is the author of the most commonly used ski jump scoring software in use in the U.S. today (Bill Bakke and Dave at the 1968 Olympic Tryouts in Iron Mountain ,,, click photo to enlarge). PETER JEROME Women’s ski jumping likely would not have been accepted into the Olympic family for 2014 if not for the efforts of one man: Peter Jerome. Peter is an airline pilot whose daughter, Jessica, found purpose and passion on the ski jumps in their hometown of Park City, Utah. Jessica, now 24, Lindsey Van and Alissa Johnson were members of that same club team, but if they wanted to compete against the world's best women ski jumpers, their families had to send them overseas. But those competitions were sporadic and unofficial. Armed with “Nonprofits Kit for Dummies,” Peter consulted an accountant and an attorney and began to set up Women’s Ski Jumping USA. They received initial approval in November 2003. With the inception of the FIS Women's Continental Cup series, there was at last an official international series for women. Thanks in large part to the early and continuing efforts of Peter Jerome, women from all over the world will be participating in the 2014 ski jumping event in the winter Olympics. DEEDEE CORRADINI Deedee is the former mayor of Salt Lake City and serves as President of Women's Ski Jumping USA (WSJUSA). She's a tireless mover and shaker who developed a passion for gender equity in the sport of ski jumping. Under her leadership, VISA was secured as the team's main sponsor and increasing support for WSJUSA athletes and programs has come from attracting additional corporate sponsors, grants and private donations. Deedee led a highly visible campaign to get women's ski jumping included in the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver, including taking legal action against the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) in Canadian courts. That effort fell short, but the publicity generated was clearly a factor in the International Olympic Committee approving women's jumping for inclusion in 2014 in Sochi. WSJUSA has invited the Russian women's team and their coaches to a friendship and training camp in Park City during the summer of 2012. Deedee has been a vital contributor to female ski jumpers’ progress, not only in the USA, but globally as well. WSJUSA continues to be a worldwide leader in the women's ski jumping movement. KEN ANDERSON     Video:  Ken 1   Ken 2   (Bryan intro) Born and raised in Norway, MI, 10 miles from the then biggest jump in the USA, Pine Mountain. As a youngster, Ken attended his first tournament around 1950. He began jumping for fun during his school years, developing a love for the sport. He was away from it for a few years while teaching downhill skiing but got re-connected when his son, Kris, was a junior jumper in the late 1980s. As a communications professional in the 1990s, he desired to make ski jumping more visible and understandable to more people in the USA, where the sport struggled to survive. He happened into web design, finding a way to make ski jumping more visible. He believes that building public awareness is needed to attract more athletes, families, fans, media and sponsors and that these are all necessary to re-develop the sport in the U.S. Anderson’s website, SkiJumpingUSA.com, went online in 2001, and it rapidly became the most visited English language ski jumping site on the web. As of fall 2011, it has served 1.25 million visitors at an average of 350 visits per day, with each visit averaging just under 7 minutes. He has developed and continues to maintain several other sites for ski clubs and organizations related to ski jumping, including this website for American Ski Jumping and the Hall of Fame  (Lindsey Van, Ken, & Anette Sagen, Park City, 2004 Continental Cup ... click to enlarge). PHILLIPS T “DOC” BLAND    Video:  Bland family  (Bryan intro) Born in Cumberland, WI on September 2, 1923; died April 15, 2011. “Doc” attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, becoming a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha honor societies and graduating from the University of Wisconsin Medical School in 1947. He was a community servant, as evidenced by his contributions as Medical Director of the Norseland Nursing Home, President of the Westby Area District School Board, three-time President of the Snowflake Ski Club, Westby City Health Officer, Vernon County Coroner, team physician to the U.S. Ski Team, Medical Director of Vernon Memorial Hospital, Medical Director of the Hospice Committee at Vernon Memorial Hospital, member of the State Medical Society, member of the Commission on Scientific Medicine, President of the WI Medical Alumni and team physician to the Westby High School football team for many years.                                              (click photo to enlarge) Doc was equally regarded in the ski jumping community. He was head of the USSA Jump Engineering Committee and a member of the FIS Ski Jump Engineering Committee. He designed over 30 ski jumping hills around the world, a self-taught avocation that developed out of a desire to reduce injuries in the sport. Along with his professional pursuits and love of ski jumping, Doc found time to be an avid reader, do the New York Times crossword puzzle every day, enjoy a good joke, listen to great jazz, smoke a good cigar and enrich the lives of everyone he met. SELMER SWANSON     Video:  Swanson family  (Bryan intro)  3 second clip,  hope we can obtain a better video Born on October 5, 1900, in Minneapolis, MN but moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where in high school he lettered in many sports. Beginning in 1934, for nearly 57 years, he actively coached young ski jumpers in the Minneapolis-St Paul area. His coaching produced 21 National Nordic Ski champions and a host of Olympic and National team members. In 1942, the first National Champion, Jack Pauley, emerged from Swanson’s program. Swanson continued with the Minneapolis winter program at Wirth Park and coached numerous skiers who went on to international competition. Over the years, he coached some 16,000 youth in the Minneapolis-St Paul area program. Selmer was an active member of the Norwegian-American Athletic Club and a forerunner of the Minneapolis Ski Club. He helped found the Minneapolis Ski Club, developed the National Junior Chamber of Commerce downhill, directed the cross-country and ski jumping program from 1947-1953 and was a member of the Central Division of the U.S. Ski Association from 1946-1970. A columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune once wrote:  “Swanson is a genius of the playgrounds, a natural coach. He has no degrees in recreation, physical education, psychology or anything else. But his native tongue is kid.” BARNEY RILEY Known as “The Flying Irishman” or “The Wild Irish Rose,” Barney was born in 1909 in Coleraine, MN.  At age 18, he won his first championship, the National Amateur, and was the 1910-11 National B-Class champion, where he out jumped the professional class. In 1917, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, Sixty-First Engineers Division, serving two years as a railway engineer in France.  He passed away at the age of 47 in February 1939.   Click any photo to enlarge!