BUTLER TWP— The Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame family swelled to 305 Saturday night.

And family was a recurring theme as Ken Minnear, Aysha Dellen, Wes Blaine, Don Spinetti, Mark Maier and Jamie Smith accepted their inductions during the Hall's 42nd annual banquet at the Butler Days Inn.

Traci Alfera — accepting on behalf of her late father Bill Dunn — and Lifetime Achievement Award winner Merril Moses stayed with the family theme as well.

"I see my father's athleticism in my own children,"Alfera said. "What a great gift their grandfather passed on to them.

"I was 8 years old when my father died. I knew him as a father, not as an athlete. Now, because of this induction, I've uncovered many more wonderful memories of him."

Dunn died in March of 1974 at the age of 44. Banquet master of ceremonies Jim Lokhaiser referred to him as "one of the five greatest running backs to ever come out of Butler."

Moses was honored for his competitiveness as an athlete and his ongoing contributions to local sports in terms of sideline work, sponsorship and promotion.

"My wife, Jane, raised our six kids while I was out messing around playing ball,"Moses said. "What a family I have."

Asking his family members in the crowd to stand, Moses said:"This is my true Hall of Fame."

Longtime softball player, coach and Senior Olympics gold medalist Dellen lauded her family for encouraging her to compete in athletics.

There was no varsity girls sports programs when she was in high school.

"They gave me the encouragement to not give up,"Dellen said. "As long as I enjoyed playing, I was going to continue to play. I'm so proud of my family.

"I know my dad is very proud of me," she added, looking skyward. "This is for you, dad."

Spinetti has spent four decades training boxers through the Butler Cubs program. He treats the kids who come through that program as his second family.

"Kids come in and learn self-discipline,"he said. "Not all the kids who come through there box, but they do learn self-respect that helps them later in life.

"There are a lot of my old boxers here. ... Don't anybody ring a bell or we all may be in trouble,"Spinetti joked.

Minnear played on winning football teams from junior high to high school to Slippery Rock University to the Canadian Football League.

His face lit up most when he talked about his five children and their achievements.

"Football, basketball, baseball, track, volleyball, softball, cheerleading, we've had team captains and/or MVPs in all of them,"Minnear said. And (daughter)Lindsay's on her way to the rugby national championships with Penn State Wednesday.

"There were three key cogs in coaching me. Dick Collodi was my track coach at Moniteau, a disciplinarian and motivator. Doug Klinger was my defensive coordinator at Slippery Rock who put together state and nationally-ranked defensive squads.

"My mom and dad had a lot vested in my success. They taught me the hook shot so I could shoot over people. Dad threw a lot of baseballs at me to make me a better catcher.

"You can't expect to soar with the eagles if you hang out with turkeys,"Minnear added.

Blaine, a center on the great Butler football teams of 1966-67, talked about the playground system at Butler and how organized basketball, volleyball and softball games there produced friendly rivalries.

"When it wasn't summer, we grew up at the YMCA for 12 dollars a year," he said. "The Midget Football League was community-based with really qualified coaches and it's still that way. I didn't learn any new techniques in college. I learned all the basics in Butler.

"We didn't run many reverses or throw many passes in Butler, but it was solid football.

"Athletics played a big part in my life and our children's lives. My oldest daughter coached her high school swim team to three consecutive state championships. I'm as proud of that as anything,"Blaine added.

Smith was a three-year starter at quarterback for Butler and was a record-setting QBat Geneva College.

He recalled his parents riding 12 hours on a school bus to watch him play in a collegiate playoff game in Wisconsin.

"I don't think their backs and legs have ever been the same,"Smith said.

He remembered backyard games with his brothers Jeff and Bill.

"My kids are active in sports now and I have fun being involved with them," Smith said. "Through sports, I learned a good work ethic, how to work with people as a team, and a positive attitude. Athletics really opened a lot of doors for me."

Maier was the first 1,000-point scorer in Butler basketball history and wound up being a 1,000-point scorer at Indiana University of Pa. as well.

"My wife Jill and I began dating a month before I scored my first point in high school basketball,"Maier said. "She experienced all my ups and downs as an athlete. There aren't many girlfriends who would rebound jump shots for their boyfriends.

"Dick Hartung was instrumental in my development as a basketball player. He was never my coach at any point, I never played a game for him, yet he spent a lot of his personal time in making me better. He was selfless."

When he and his brother were kids, Maier said his father "wouldn't steal the ball off us in the driveway if we dribbled with our left hand. He wanted us to improve that way."

Of Maier's 75 high school games, his parents missed one. Of his 108 college games, they only missed eight.

"And the ones they missed, they would drive to Kittanning, sit in a parking lot on top of a big hill, get the game in on IUPradio, listen to the game, then go home,"he said.

"That was a wild and crazy Saturday night in their life."

Notes:Lokhaiser has been master of ceremonies for 41 of the 42 Butler Area HOF banquets. ... Rene Keck, 93, is the oldest of the 22-member Hall of Fame committee. ... Dellen became the 15th woman inducted. ... There are 172 living members of the Butler Area HOF.