Capacity Crowd Cheers BARHOF Class Of 2008

An overflow crowd of fans, friends and colleagues was on hand to welcome the latest group of inductees into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame on October 1 at the Doubletree Inn on the Berkeley Marina.

Sixteen of the seventeen members of BARHOF's Class of 2008 were represented at the gala luncheon, including Broadcast Legends Red Blanchard and Don Klein.

New inductees Rosie Allen, Alex Bennett, Renel Brooks-Moon, Bob Fouts, Mickey Luckoff, Terry McGovern and Dave Sholin were all present for the ceremony.

(That's me between Messrs. McGovern and Bennett après the ceremony.)

Roy Storey, who could not be present, was represented by his sister Marcia Johnson, while Bill Gavin, Hap Harper, Mikel Hunter Herrington, Russ Hodges, Dude Martin, Doug Pledger and Russ "The Moose" Syracuse, inducted posthumously, were represented by friends or family members.

Presented under the auspices of the Broadcast Legends, the BARHOF 2008 program was emceed by David Jackson, executive director of the Bay Area Radio Museum. Joe Starkey, radio voice of 49ers and Cal football, inducted the four legendary local sportscasters -- Hodges, Storey, Klein and Fouts -- into the Hall of Fame.

NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts, a successful sportscaster in his own right, presented his father, Bob Fouts, with a funny and heart-warming speech. "We've all worked for a variety of stations with a variety of call letters -- KFRC, KCBS, KPIX," Dan Fouts commented. "But this is one set of call letters that's for life -- BARHOF."

The senior Fouts, early voice of the 49ers on radio and television as well as a longtime sportscaster on KSFO and KCBS, regaled the audience with tales of his the Niners ... and pro wrestling!

Other presenters included Bill Faust (for his step-father, Doug Pledger), Bob Matheson (for Red Blanchard), Ed Baxter (for Rosie Allen), Ronn Owens (for Mickey Luckoff), Dana Jang (for Mikel Hunter), Mike Preston (for Dave Sholin), Ted "Hezzie" Johnson (for Dude Martin) and Al Newman (for Terry McGovern).

Ben Fong-Torres and Tommy Saunders presented their memories and an audio montage of their friend, Russ Syracuse. New Hall of Famer Dave Sholin presented his former boss, Bill Gavin, for induction.

More than 6,000 votes were cast in the BARHOF 2008 balloting. Renel Brooks-Moon, host of 98.1 Kiss FM's morning show and voice of the Giants at AT&T Park, was named on more than 25% of all ballots -- most of any nominee -- and, along with KGO's Rosie Allen, was one of only two women to be inducted this year.

Other notable guests in the capacity crowd included sportscaster Barry Tompkins, KGO production superstar Mike Amatori, popular KYA disc jockey Chris Edwards (now an account exec with KFRC), legendary R&B disc jockey John "Bouncin' Bill" Doubleday, longtime radio personality Ward Glenn and voice artist Gary Mora (now hosting Classic KYA Radio).

But it was Celeste Perry, Dave Sholin's partner on KFRC's morning show, who got off the line of the day. During his acceptance speech, Sholin introduced Perry, noting that she, too, will someday be inducted into BARHOF.

Perry quickly replied "I'm not old enough!" and was met with raucous laughter and applause from the multitude.

Photograph by courtesy of Robert Mohr.