Cunningham Announces Lehigh County Hall of Fame

Every year or so, Morning Call columnist Bill White inducts some poor soul into his Hall of Fame, making that person an object of ridicule and scorn for the rest of his or her life. White even continues to take digs after the "winner" passes into the Great Beyond.

It's a really horrible and mean thing to do to another person.

I wish I had thought of it.

Lehigh County Exec Don Cunningham, in the course of getting ready for Lehigh County's Bicentennial on March 6, has announced an Inaugural Hall of Fame, too. But unfortunately, this is a nice list of twenty four prominent current and former residents of Lehigh County. are attached.

Honorees will be formally inducted at 6:00 p.m. on Community Celebration Day, March 10, an all-day event at the Agri-Plex building located on the grounds of the Allentown Fairgrounds.

The Bicentennial Committee still needs about a dozen volunteers to help coordinate on the day of the community celebration. Anyone interested in helping can go to www.lehighcounty.org and click on the bicentennial logo, or call (610) 782-3001.

In addition to the Hall of Fame induction, the community celebration will feature more than seventy-five community groups, businesses, historical societies and ethnic and cultural groups with interactive, educational and historical displays including a live bison visiting from the Lehigh Valley Zoo Food and drinks will be available on a cash basis. The day will end with a fireworks display and a bicentennial performance by the Allentown Symphony Orchestra at Allentown’s Symphony Hall.

J.B. Reilly will be juggling all day, while Mayor Edwin Pawlowski has volunteered for the dunk tank. Marcel Grown will collect all the trash.

Allentown is imposing a 200% sales tax on all food and beverages sold. City Council will pass a law later making it all legal.

All proceeds that do not go into the NIZ will fund the George Taylor House in Catasauqua, one of only a handful of remaining homes of one of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence.

Below are the Inaugural Hall of Famers:

Lehigh County Hall of Fame Inaugural Class

Athletics

Curt Simmons, baseball         Phillies Whiz Kids/World Series Champ            Whitehall

Chuck Bednarik, football      NFL Hall of Fame                                            Coopersburg

Matt Millen, football               NFL Super Bowl Champ 4x                             Whitehall

Andre Reed, football             NFL Super Bowl participant 4x                        Allentown

Dan Koppen, football            NFL Super Bowl Champ 2x                             Whitehall

Larry Seiple, football             NFL Super Bowl Champ 2x                             Allentown

Ed McCaffrey, football          NFL Super Bowl Champ 3x                             Allentown

Marty Nothstein, cycling        Olympic Gold Medalist                                    Emmaus

Michelle Marciniak, bball        NCAA National Champ/WNBA                         Macungie

Arts and Entertainment

Carson Kressley                    TV Personality                                                  Weisenberg

Amanda Seyfried                  Actress                                                            Allentown          

Christine Taylor                    Actress                                                            L. Macungie

Michaela Conlin                    TV Actress, Bones                                            S. Whitehall

Business

Ed Donley                          Former Air Products & Chemicals CEO               U. Macungie

Raymond “Chip” Mason      Founder of Legg Mason financial firm                 Bethlehem

Lee Iacocca                        Former Chrysler Corp. CEO/Author                  Allentown

Government and Military

Brig. Gen. Anna Mae Hays           First woman general in US military             Allentown

Gen. Thomas R. Morgan              Four Star General/Asst. Marine                  Slatington 

                                                   Commandant                                 

Innovation and Philanthropy

Joel Spira                                    Founder of Lutron Electronics/                  Coopersburg

                                                  Inventor of dimmer switch             

Literature and Communications

David Zinczenko                        Editor of Men’s Health/Author                     Emmaus

John Grogan                             Author of Marley and Me/Columnist            Coopersburg

Charles Bierbauer                      Network White House correspondent          Allentown

Billy Packer                               Network basketball broadcaster                   Bethlehem

Rich Lerner                               Golf Channel broadcaster                             Allentown