Some legacies are continually cemented.

Such is the case with Mike Surkalo.

The former Butler Eagle sports editor was inducted into the Butler Area School District Athletic Hall of Fame Friday night.

Surkalo was never an athlete at Butler. He never even attended school there.

But he belongs in that Hall of Fame.

The man was synonymous with Butler athletics for four decades, 1946 through 1985, the years he worked in the seat I now occupy.

Surkalo documented sports history in this town and became a walking historian in that regard.

The day I began my tenure at the Eagle, Surkalo made it a point to come to the building, come upstairs and introduce himself to me.

He asked me to describe myself, my sports interests, my goals with the newspaper, my ideas about coverage, features and in what tone to write about high school kids.

It was a downright interrogation.

And I was fine with it — because he cared.

Long after his retirement, Surkalo took pride in the Butler Eagle sports department — and the newspaper in general — and wanted to do what he could to help maintain quality in its product.

The day I met him, Surkalo offered his background and knowledge of Butler sports to me anytime I had a question about the past. I took him up on that offer many times.

He didn’t even have to look anything up.

The man just knew.

Again, years after his retirement, Surkalo came up to the press box at the stadium for every home Friday night Butler football game.

He was there the night of my first Butler game, the 1997 opener against Penn Hills.

With two radio stations broadcasting the game and an out-of-town reporter on hand, no chairs were empty when I walked into the booth.

No big deal. I’ve stood up during many a game in my day.

Surkalo spotted me standing there and asked why I had no seat. When I pointed out there were none available, he directed the athletic director to get me a chair.

Told there were none available, Surkalo’s face reddened and he said, in a calm tone: “Get the man a chair. There will always be a chair for the Butler Eagle in this box because the Butler Eagle will always be here.”

And with that, a chair was found and I had my seat.

Surkalo pointed out the principle of the situation.

“We have to take care of each other ... and be proud of who we’re representing,” he said. He winked, smiled and walked away.

I’ve never forgotten that.

Mike Surkalo and longtime small-town sports editors like him are heroes to me.

He is a Hall of Famer — in the truest sense of the word.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle