Cunningham proud of tenure as BCSHOF president
CENTER TWP — Having only served on the board of directors for a couple of years, Dan Cunningham was met with a challenge.
And ran with it.
Cunningham, now 76, was elected by the board to serve as president of the Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. He maintained that position for 11 years before retiring from it following the organization’s 2022 banquet.
Cunningham will be recognized for his dedicated years of service to the now Butler County Sports Hall of Fame during its induction banquet at 6:30 p.m. April 27 at Butler County Community College’s Founders Hall.
“There’s three things I’m most proud of during my tenure as president,” Cunningham said. “We changed the name to the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame. Butler High School was starting its own Hall of Fame, so we wanted to recognize people from all over the county. Changing the name helped us do that.
“I got a website started for our Hall of Fame and that was something we sorely needed. We also pushed through the team recognition award, which has been going on for about eight years now. There’s been a lot of great sports teams in Butler County and this was a way to honor them.”
Cunningham and his wife, Jeannie, were married in 2021. One of the reasons he stepped down as president was to do some traveling with her.
“It was just time,” Cunningham said. “I’ve done a lot over the past 25 years or so. I’ve umpired numerous games, coached in the Eagle County League, had things going on with my work, did the (Saturday morning) radio show. It’s time to retire.
“One of the biggest reasons I retired is my grandson plays high school baseball in a town near Nashville (Tenn.) and this gives me time to go down and watch him play.”
Cunningham replaced Ed Wadding as the Hall’s president. Dess Schnur is succeeding Cunningham at the helm.
“I’ve worked with some great people over my years as president,” Cunningham said. “Nobody can do that job alone. Merrill Moses, Jim Lokhaiser, Art Bernardi ... I could go on and on. We’ve had a lot of dedicated people on that board.”
He is proud of the history and tradition of the Hall of Fame as well. Cunningham is a member of the Hall of Fame himself.
“Ever since it started with the first inductee (Ed Vargo) in 1966, it’s been a special night,” Cunningham said. “I love it when past inductees come back to honor the new inductees. The night is about the people going in and its nice to see past inductees come back to share their night and show respect for their accomplishments.
“We used to being guest speakers in for the banquet, but soon realized they were taking too much of the night away from the inductees. We take pride in putting the spotlight on the people we honor each year.”
Tickets to the BCSHOF banquet are available at www.butlersportshall.com or at the Butler Radio Network on Pillow Street in Butler, Parker Appliance in Chicora, Saxonburg Drug or Maddalon Jewelers in Zelienople.
