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A Brief History of the Hall Of Fame |
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In
The Beginning
Legend has it that the first Hall of Fame in the Wabash Valley was
instituted in Terre Haute, Indiana, in the 1970’s by Harry Weger, a
local musician, radio host and music shop proprietor. People who
remember Harry’s radio show reported that he focused on country
music. However, this Hall of Fame appears to have existed for just
a short time, and very little information about it exists. It
is possible that it could have had some influence on the formation
of the current Hall of Fame, but no one knows for sure.
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Creation of The Hall of Fame
It is widely accepted that at least three people were involved with
starting the Hall – Bill Akers, Alva Grindle and Terry Haughee – but
all have passed away, and their families disagree about what role
each person played. However, interviews with Terry Haughee
shortly before he passed away, and with many area musicians
who knew Bill or Alva,
strongly
suggest that the Hall of Fame came about in the following way:
Bill Akers had an idea of forming a Musician’s Hall of Fame. He
developed the following requirements for inductees: They must be at
least 50 years old, have performed for at least 25 years, and must
be a country musician. Some local musicians have reported that Bill
had meetings with them to discuss his ideas.
Alva Grindle also had an idea of forming a Musician’s Hall of Fame.
Musicians who played in his club reported that he talked with them
about wanting to create a Hall of Fame. While he didn’t come up
with any specific ideas, he did dedicate a wall in BJ’s Lounge,
which he owned and operated, to local bands.
Sometime in late 1993 or early 1994, Bill and Alva began talking to
each other about their ideas for a Hall of Fame and decided to work
together. Terry Haughee reported in February 2009 that he was
living upstairs at BJ’s Lounge when these talks began and was present during
many of the early discussions between Bill and Alva and contributed
his own ideas, but his memory of who contributed what was somewhat
fuzzy.
Bill’s guidelines on age and years performed were adopted (and are
still in use today), but Alva favored having a Hall of Fame for all
musicians, not just country musicians. The bands Alva hired for his
establishment played many genres of music, and he didn’t want to
favor any particular one. It’s clear that they reached a compromise
on this issue because: (1) There are inductees from other genres in
nearly every induction class, including the very first Class of
1994, and (2) They did not include “Country” or “Country Music” in
the name or on any of the induction plaques or certificates. Even
though it was not uncommon to hear the Hall of Fame referred to as
the Country Music Hall of Fame in the early days, it was officially named the Wabash
Valley Musicians Hall of Fame. All of the induction plaques,
including the one for the first Class of 1994, were engraved this
way. Certificates dating back to 1996 are the same (we have not yet
located certificates from the first two years to verify that they
say the same thing). However, in what was likely a concession to
Bill, the majority of inductees were country musicians.
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The
Hall of Fame 1994-2002
The Hall of Fame held its first induction ceremony in 1994 at BJ’s
Lounge in Terre Haute, IN, hosted by Bill Akers and Alva Grindle.
Alva donated the use of his establishment, donated money for the
food, plaques and certificates, and he and his family put on the
banquet at the ceremonies. Bill was heavily involved with
selecting musicians for induction. Alva soon converted his picture room
into an area for displaying the Hall’s plaques, pictures and
memorabilia.
During this time period, the Hall of Fame’s area of coverage was
fairly small, with the majority of inductees coming from Vigo County, but occasionally
including musicians from nearby areas.
Induction ceremonies were held annually until 2002, with the
exception of 2001, when there was no ceremony. Hall of Fame
activities ceased when BJ’s Lounge was razed in late 2002 as part of
the Hulman Street renovation project, but Alva kept the plaques,
pictures and memorabilia.
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The
Hall of Fame 2005-2007
Bill Akers passed away in 2005.
Alva Grindle wanted to revive the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies,
but he knew that he couldn’t do it alone, so he formed a committee consisting of Arley Price,
Stacey Wagle, Tom Smith, Terry Haughee, Rick Waggoner and Gayle
Pruitt. Terre Haute American Legion Post 346 agreed to donate their
facilities to hold the event, and the induction ceremonies were
restarted in January 2006. Again, Alva and his family worked hard
to put on the event.
Also in 2006, the Hall became a non-profit corporation named the Wabash
Valley Musician’s Hall of Fame, Inc. The committee that Alva had
formed, which had expanded to include more local musicians, became the Board of Directors, and Alva served as the first
President.
Alva became ill later in 2006, and was unable to attend the induction
ceremony in January 2007. He passed away later that year.
Rick Waggoner assumed the office of President.
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The Hall of Fame 2008-Present
It was clear after
the 2007 induction ceremony that the crowds had grown too large for
Post 346. Terre Haute V.F.W. Post 972 agreed to host the induction
ceremonies starting in 2008.
In 2009, the Hall expanded its area of coverage to include 11
counties – Vigo, Clay, Sullivan, Vermillion, Parke, Greene, Putnam
and Owen in Indiana, and Clark, Edgar and Crawford in Illinois.
While the Hall of Fame's main focus has been recognizing and
awarding outstanding local musicians, the Board of Directors
recognized the need to become more involved in the community, and
started taking steps to do this in 2008. Since that time, the
Hall has:
* Instituted the annual Picnic and Jam, with a car show,
great food, and lots of live music.
* Instituted the annual Musician's Swap Meet.
* Made contributions to worthy Wabash Valley institutions.
* Established a fund to support music programs in Wabash
Valley schools.
* Encouraged our members to donate their time and talents
to various fund raising events.
Visit our Community Involvement page for
more information on the Hall's community activities.
With the passing of Alva Grindle, the Hall was given possession of
the plaques and is actively searching for a public place to display
them. However, special posters have been created and are on display
at Rick’s Smokehouse, Texas Roadhouse and other locations.
The Wabash Valley Musician’s Hall of Fame is dedicated to
recognizing local musicians, promoting live music in the community
and giving back to the community. We are grateful to all who
participated in creating and sustaining the Hall. We are
particularly grateful to Alva Grindle. It may not be clear who
first thought of the idea for the Hall of Fame, there is no doubt
about who made it a success. Alva brought the Hall through tough
times and made sure that it was in a position to thrive long after
the original members passed on.
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