Hollister
– Six new inductees have been chosen for San Benito High
School’s ‘Baler Hall of Fame, which honors alumni, faculty and
volunteers for their contributions to the school and the
community.
Hollister – Six new inductees have been chosen for San Benito High School’s ‘Baler Hall of Fame, which honors alumni, faculty and volunteers for their contributions to the school and the community.
The honorees, selected by the Baler Education Foundation, were nominated by community members and chosen to represent every decade from the 1940s through the 1990s.
“We are looking for well-rounded people. They’ve done a lot in our community and they’ve done a lot for the students from the high school,” said Elaine Kovanda, who serves on the foundation.
The 2007 honorees are James Bidegary, Allen Dunn, Randy Logue, Juan Robledo, Virginia Samuelson and Pauline Valdivia.
The hall of fame is a way to acknowledge the contributions of the individuals and the connection between San Benito High School and the Hollister community.
“You always get that ‘I don’t deserve it’ type of thing, because there’s so many deserving people,” said Robledo, who has taught at the high school for more than 30 years and also serves as the school’s activities director. “What a great big compliment to everything we do in the community.”
This year’s inductees include three people who have been involved in San Benito High School’s track program: Dunn, who coached the track team for more than 15 years and continues to volunteer with the team; Samuelson, who was the primary force behind creating the girls’ track team at the high school; and Logue, who also served as the track coach for several years.
Iran White, a SBHS graduate who is currently the school’s boys’ track coach, worked with or was coached by all three of the inductees. He said he thought it was fitting that all three should enter the hall of fame in the same year.
“I learned a lot from them,” White said. “They’ve given so much to the school and to the program.”
The three track coaches all worked together at some point during their years with the high school’s track team.
“There are a lot of people in the hall of fame now that I learned a lot from when I was a young teacher and young coach,” Logue said. “So hopefully a lot of what they did will rub off on me and maybe a little of what I learned will rub off on someone else.”
The inductees will be honored at the third annual Baler FameFest on May 12. The proceeds from the tickets will go to the foundation, which provides grants to teachers at the high school for educational purchases. For information about sponsorships for the event or tickets, call Elaine Kovanda at 637-3293.
Alice Joy covers education for the Free Lance. She can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 336 or at aj**@fr***********.com.
