Considered one of the best umpires in baseball history, Ed Vargo's greatest accomplishment might have occurred off the field.

A testimonial dinner for Vargo in 1966 quickly blossomed into the Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame.

"Eddie knew everybody in baseball and he worked a lot of big games in the major leagues," said retired Butler Eagle sports editor Mike Surkalo. "We thought we should do something for him locally.

"He was agreeable to our plans for a testimonial dinner, so we went ahead with it."

Surkalo, longtime Butler sports radio personality Jim Lokhaiser, current Hall of Fame treasurer Guy Travaglio and Merril Moses spearheaded the dinner, which was a huge success.

The birth of the Hall of Fame soon followed.

"We got to thinking, why stop here?" Travaglio said. "Why not do this for a lot of our other athletes? We enlisted a group of people involved in sports at the time, formed a large committee, put together a constitution and off it went."

As time went on, guidelines for induction were set. Candidates had to be out of high school for 10 years to be inducted. Four categories - one for deceased candidates, three others covering different decades - were used as induction periods to ensure old-time athletes and coaches get a fair shake when compared with their modern-day counterparts.

On April 30, the Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame will celebrate its 40th anniversary. The seven inductees that night will swell its membership to 290.

Included among that membership are NFL players, professional baseball players, Olympians, pro boxers, golfers, race drivers and world-class runners.

From gymnastics to fencing, weight lifters to tennis players, this Hall has it covered.

And it is one of the longest-running Halls of Fame of its kind.

"It's my understanding that we're the oldest county Hall of Fame in Pennsylvania," said Don Cavalero, Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame president. "Most organizations like ours fade away or lose interest after 12 to 15 years.

"Our board of directors have been loyal and hard working. That's what has kept us going."

One board member, Rene Keck, is 90 years old and still sells advertising for the Hall of Fame banquet program.

"I think we put in the right amount of people every year," Keck said. "They had a Hall of Fame in Leechburg, for example, that inducted 15 to 20 people a year. There's no way any area can sustain that."

Lokhaiser will be master of ceremonies at the April 30 banquet for the 38th time in 40 years. Ed Codi was emcee the other two years.

"There have been a lot of influential people on that committee over the years," Lokhaiser said. "Other areas have asked for our help in developing their Hall of Fame.

"Armstrong County followed our lead in structuring one and I was master of ceremonies there for the first seven years. Beaver County asked for our help the year they inducted Joe Namath."

Butler's early Hall of Fame banquets were held at the Knights of Columbus Hall. St. Michael's hosted a few before the banquet was moved to its current home, the Butler Days Inn.

Hall of Fame memorabilia and pictures had been on display at the Butler Days Inn, but remodeling of that facility has forced their removal - at least temporarily.

"We may wind up there again," Cavalero said. "I'm sure something could be worked out."

There is some sentiment to move the Hall of Fame to the renovated Pullman Park once that project is complete. Displaying it somewhere along Main Street in downtown Butler has also been discussed.

When the Hall of Fame was formed, its original intent was to honor only Butler High School graduates.

"It was that way for 10 years or so," Lokhaiser said. "I believe Marty Cypher (West Winfield) was the first non-Butler graduate to be inducted."

For years, guest speakers were invited to the Hall of Fame banquet. Lokhaiser recalled one banquet at St. Michael's that had numerous Pittsburgh Pirates in attendance.

"Al Oliver was the last one to leave the place that night," Lokhaiser said. "He signed every last autograph and said hello to every table. I'll never forget that.

"But after a few years, we decided guest speakers took away from the purpose of the evening - to honor our local athletes."

Banquet attendance has dwindled over the years. There were 700 people on hand to see the Saul brothers inducted years ago. Attendance in recent years has ranged between 300 and 350.

Corporate sponsorship has tailed off and many of the early supporters of the Hall are no longer around.

"I used to have three tables at this banquet," Keck said. "But people have died off. Now I'm down to one table."

Attendance may have fallen off, but interest in the Hall of Fame hasn't. Cavalero said the committee received 16 new nomination resumes for induction over the past year.

That adds to the 100 resumes the committee already has on file.

"That banquet is a friendly get-together of old-timers and younger athletes," said former board member Walter Lonchena. "The old-timers are getting older, but there are a lot of good athletes in this county.

"Younger guys are joining the board and are doing a lot of ground work. This banquet will sustain itself. It's a community celebration."

Cavalero said a commemorative souvenir recognizing the Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame's 40th year will be given to those attending this year's banquet.

"The Hall's doing just fine," Travaglio said. "There's no need to change what we're doing. If we hold the course, our Hall of Fame will be around for another 40 years."