Inductees

The great thing about sports is that you can make a positive impact even if you’re not the star slugger or the veteran coach shaping young lives.

In fact, in the northeast Missouri community of Hannibal, the story of one organization’s outreach might leave you teary-eyed and beaming with pride.

The Hannibal Regional Foundation for years has enhanced the area’s quality of living in a number of ways and through a number of events, including one called the Shoeless Joe’s Celebrity Golf Classic.

The all-out effort certainly deserves praise from the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, which proudly honored the Hannibal Regional Foundation with the John Q. Hammons Founder’s Award during the 2021 Enshrinement in St. Louis presented by Great Southern Bank.

The award is given to an organization that champions the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and supports athletics in the state. It’s named in honor of Hammons, a hotelier and philanthropist who built the museum in 1994.

Think the Shoeless Joe’s event is a big deal? It began in 2010 with a partnership with the Hall of Fame and, since, has allowed the Foundation to gift nearly $900,000 toward local causes.

“We are honored to be recognizing the Hannibal Regional Foundation with the Founder’s Award,” said Jerald Andrews, CEO & Executive Director of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. “The Foundation’s work continues to lift up its community. To hear about the positive impacts, it inspires us, too.”

The Foundation launched in 1993. CEO and President Wendy Harrington arrived in 2009, with she and her team immediately rolling up their sleeves to build on the Foundation’s successes. The goal was to enhance a mission that now has helped thousands.

Around that time, Randy Park and local businessman Stevens Plowman had met with Andrews in Springfield to discuss ways the Hall of Fame could enhance a potential golf event in Hannibal. Soon, they called Herrington, and the Shoeless Joe’s Celebrity Golf Classic came to life. Park is the son of Med Park, the first Executive Director of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

The tournament name was in honor of the mascot of a local semi-pro collegiate baseball team, the Hannibal Cavemen. The mascot is a reference to Joe Boyd, a character from the musical “Damn Yankees” in which Boyd makes a deal with the devil, becomes an outstanding big-leaguer named Joe Hardy and helps the Washington Senators win the pennant.

“Each year the event raises funds for our annual campaign,” Harrington said, listing off what the funds have gone toward.

Those would be the creation of inpatient rehab on the local hospital campus, cancer center improvements, new fitness trails, surgical expansions, women’s care expansions, cardiology networks and more.

“These directly benefit our patients and families, allowing us to grow our services and better serve our region,” Harrington said.

It’s no wonder, then, that about 80 businesses and donors support the event. Additionally, about 60 volunteers turn out to work the tournament.

The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to assist. The Hall of Fame works throughout the year to secure celebrities and ensure their participation.

The list of celebrities includes former University of Missouri and Oakland Raider Gus Otto, former big-league closer Tom Henke, Mizzou and St. Louis Football Cardinals Mel Gray and Johnny Roland and more. They are all inductees of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

Otto played in a Super Bowl with the Raiders. Henke was on the Toronto Blue Jays’ 1992 World Series-winning team. Roland is an inductee of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Additionally, former Mizzou basketball coach Norm Stewart has turned out for several events and entertained crowds. He, too, is an inductee of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, which honored him as a Missouri Sports Legend in 2000 – meaning the Hall of Fame showcases his bronze bust on the Legends Walkway. A larger-than-life statue of Coach Stewart was unveiled in 2011.

“Every single celeb that has joined us for this event has been so professional and fun,” Harrington said. “They are all so compassionate and energetic and we thank them so much for being a part of this. We couldn’t do it without them!”

In turn, the celebs help create lasting memories.

“One of our bank presidents was so excited to play with Mel Gray a couple years back – as a kid playing football with friends, he used to pretend he was Mel. The signed team pic now hangs in his office,” Harrington said. “We have one business that has requested the same celeb for nearly five years because he’s ‘like a brother to us.’ There are so many stories of the connections made on the course that carry over to work and family, sporting events, etc.”

The celebrities typically enjoy a get-together the night before the early June event. For several years, the Foundation lined up an autograph session at a nearby home game of the Hannibal Cavemen, a semi-pro collegiate summer league team.

“Our golf classic is a great example of partnerships and generosity,” Harrington said. “Our partnership with the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is invaluable, and the partnerships we have developed together with our businesses, donors and volunteers is priceless!

“When we started the event, we didn’t know if we would be able to do it every year, weren’t sure if our donors would grow tired of it and now, 12 years later, we are going strong, selling out every year and looking for ways to grow and expand,” Harrington added. “Our thanks to Jerald and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame for investing in this golf tournament, in our partnership and in the health of our region!”

The tournament isn’t the Foundation’s only endeavor.

For instance, the Hannibal Regional Foundation hosts the Hannibal Cannibal, a 5/10/15k walk and run that recently celebrated its 26^th year. It brings in approximately 2,000 participants during the July 4 Independence Day holiday.

The Hall of Fame applauds the Hannibal Regional Foundation for that successful event, too, considering it helps bring families together through a sports activity – and could inspire individuals to take up running or exercise in general.

The Founder’s Award? It’s a perfect fit for the Hannibal Regional Foundation as it goes above and beyond in helping its community be an even better place.

“We think of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame as a partner, a great partner,” Harrington said, “so to be recognized with this award is a huge honor, and we are humbled by this recognition.”