Madison County Sports Hall of Fame
News for You
Madison County Sports Hall of Fame Welcomes Bill and Jane Clouse as Newest Board Members
The Madison County Sports Hall of Fame is excited to welcome Bill and Jane Clouse to the Board of Directors. The addition of the well-known Richmond couple brings the board membership back to 13 members as they replace Bart Bellairs, who moved to Savannah, GA, and David Shew.
Bellairs, had served as chairman of the executive board. He is replaced by Karl Park who had been serving as vice chairman.
The other ten members of the Board include: Donna Lovell, secretary; John Hamilton, treasurer; John Lovell, historian; Jack Frost, founder; Lee Browder, Eugene Estelle, Hubert Broaddus, Karen Kenezvich, Sylvia Powell, and Keith Taylor
This local group of men and women has been working and planning behind the scenes since last summer to host the second annual Madison County Sports Hall of Fame Induction Dinner and Ceremony on May 20 that will bring recognition and honor to nine more individual athletes and coaches, and two teams of distinction that have brought local, regional, statewide and national recognition to Madison County.
The Board is also accepting sponsorships from individuals and businesses to help support the Madison County Sports Hall of Fame. Three levels have been established and each level affords a package of benefits which include banquet tickets, a listing on the website, and a listing in the banquet program. The levels include: MVP Club ($500), All-Star Club ($250), and Fan Club ($100).
Members of the public can nominate deserving candidates by visiting the Madison County Sports Hall of Fame website at www.MadisonCountySportsHoF.com where they can find the nomination form and directions for completing and submitting the form.
Individual nominees must be a Madison County native, or have earned deserving recognition while residing in Madison County. Categories and examples for individual nominations are:
ATHLETE (All-State, All-Conference, All-Region, career, single season or game record holder, MVP, college or professional career).
COACH / ADMINISTRATOR / OFFICIAL (Career record, honors received such as coach of the year, championships won, major contributor to school athletics, leader on local, state, or national levels, total years of service, etc.) .
MEDIA (radio/TV, sportswriter/SID) (Professional awards and honors received, years of service, contributions to profession, etc.).
COMMUNITY LEADER / SUPPORTER (booster club organizer or officer, fundraising leader, youth league officer or coach, etc.).
TEAM (For a team to be nominated, it should have achieved a special recognition for capturing championships, or for historical significance. Examples for team nominations are: Has historical significance, State or Regional Championships, or set a school, state, or national record.
Hall of Fame Formation was
Idea of Richmond Native
Jack Frost in 2019
Richmond native Jack Frost had been thinking for several years that Madison County needed to honor the outstanding athletes, coaches, administrators and community leaders who have brought recognition to the area through sports.
And so, when Frost first approached former Richmond Mayor Jim Barnes in the Fall of 2019 about starting a Madison County Sports Hall of Fame, the idea that had been floating in Frost's mind for so long began to take root and now it has become a reality. A group of Madison County citizens along with Frost, now a resident of Rock Hill, South Carolina, is developing plans to induct its first class of Madison County Sports Hall of Famers in April of 2022..
Once Frost got Barnes on board with the idea, he next approached two men who he thought would be instrumental in the Hall of Fame's formation.
He first reached out to John Lovell, a local historian, who knows Madison County's history and its people probably better than any living person. His next call went to Bart Bellairs, a longtime Richmond resident, who has returned to Central Kentucky following a successful career as a college basketball head coach and athletic director.
Like Frost, who helped establish the Winthrop University Athletics Hall of Fame, Bellairs has also been deeply involved in the formation of a college sports hall of fame during his tenure as athletic director at Savannah State University. It didn't take much convincing for Bellairs to jump on board. When he agreed to take on the role of Hall of Fame Board chairman, the concept for the Madison County Sports Hall of Fame was ready to take off.
The current membership of the Madison County Sports Hall of Fame Founding Board of Directors is as follows:
Karl Park, chairman
Donna Lovell, secretary
John Hamilton, treasurer
Jack Frost, founder
John Lovell, historian
Lee Browder
Eugene Estelle
Karen Knezevich
Sylvia Powell
Keith Taylor
Bill Clouse
Jane Clouse
Hubert Broaddus
Madison County
Sports
Hall
of
Fame
Members of the Madison County Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors in 2023 are pictured, front row, from left: Jack Frost, Lee Anne Browder, Karen Knezevich; Jane Clouse, Bill Clouse; standing, John Lovell, Eugene Estelle, Karl Park, John Hamilton, Keith Taylor and Karl Park. Not pictured are Donna Lovell, Sylvia Powell and Hubert Broaddus.
Dr. Jim Coy accepts the Hall of Flame plaque on behalf of inductee Freddy Ballou from the 2022 MCSHoF Board Chairman Bart Bellairs.
Three of Earle Combs' grandchildren, Don, Jr., Craig, and Cathy Combs Delaney accept the Hall of Fame plaque from MCSHoF Board Chairman Bart Bellairs
Nancy Evans, widow of Billy Evans, and family friend Erik Samaro accept the Hall of Fame plaque for Mr. Evans from MCSHoF Board Chairman Bart Bellairs.
Ralph Hacker accepts his Hall of Fame plaque from MCSHoF Board Chairman Bart Bellairs.
Hannah Vaught accepts the Hall of Fame plaque on behalf of her grandfather Turkey Hughes from MCSHoF Board Chairman Bart Bellairs.
Lee Anne Browder accepts the Hall of Fame plaque on behalf of her father Don Richardson from MCSHoF Board Chairman Bart Bellairs.
Roy Kidd, with wife Sue at his side, accepts his Hall of Fame plaque from MCSHoF Board Chairman Bart Bellairs.
Tony Shanks accepts the Hall of Fame plaque on behalf of his father Irvine Shanks from MCSHoF Board Chairman Bart Bellairs.
Wendy Mils, along with her family, accepts the Hall of Fame plaque for her father Don Mills from MCSHoF Board Chairman Bart Bellairs.
