The Switzerland County High School athletic department will hold its fourth annual Pacer Varsity Club Dinner on Thursday, November 2nd. The event will again be held at Belterra Casino and Resort. Doors open at 5 p.m., with dinner served at 6 p.m.
Tickets are $40 each, and includes a dinner of prime rib, stuff chicken, green beans, potatoes, macaroni and cheese, salad, and desserts. There will also be a silent auction with a wide variety of items for bidding.
The featured speaker for the evening will be Devon McDonald, a former pro football linebacker who had stints with the Arizona Cardinals and the Indianapolis Colts. McDonald played collegiately at Notre Dame, where he was a co-captain on the Irish’s National Championship team in 1988. He was the MVP of the Cotton Bowl while at Notre Dame, and was Honorable Mention All American.
As a member of the Colts, McDonald was Indianapolis’ Special Teams Player of the Year in 1994; and was voted by the fans as the team’s “Unsung Hero” that year.
Since retiring, he has traveled the country as a motivational speaker for young people; and is heavily involved in community work. McDonald recently stopped by Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis to visit with Switzerland County football player Colton Schirmer.
Tickets, as well as information on sponsorship packets, are available at the high school. For more information, call (812) 427-2626.
*
Once again highlighting this year’s dinner will be the induction of three more members of the Switzerland County Sports Hall of Fame.
This year, those being honored include: John Collier, John “Mickey” Lamson, and Jim Stultz.
• Coach Collier coached the Vevay Warriors from 1951-1956. He coached all boys sports at the high school during that time, and his basketball coaching record was 73-41. He coached the first sectional championship team in Switzerland County schools, and he then turned that into back-to-back sectional championships.
Coach was twice named Southeastern Indiana Coach of the Year. Upon leaving Vevay, he won 153 games at Brookville High School before becoming the head coach at Hanover College, where he won over 600 games and was named the NAIA National Coach of the Year in 1974. Coach Collier has been inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
• Mickey Lamson was a standout basketball player and track athlete at Vevay High School, graduating in 1955. He was the counties first state qualifier in school history when he qualified in the 880 yard run, where he earned seventh place at the state meet with a time of 2:00.18.
His senior year he was the outstanding player on the basketball team that won the school’s first sectional title; and he then received a basketball scholarship to play at Florida State.
He left there after one semester to attend Hanover College, where he ran track and cross country and played basketball. He set records at Hanover in track and he was team MVP his senior year on the basketball team.
After graduation Mickey was a teacher and a coach. He has been inducted into the Hanover College Hall of Fame.
• Jim Stultz excelled in basketball at Vevay High School, graduating in 1965. He was a consistent scorer, averaging 12.5 points per game as a sophomore; 14.8 as a junior; and 13.1 as a senior. Jim was known for his rebounding prowess as he averaged 10 rebounds a game his junior and senior year.
Jim played on teams that were very balanced, and he was described as the “backbone” of the teams. He not only lettered four years in basketball but did the same in cross country and track where he was instrumental in teams that won the conference in each of these sports.
After graduation Jim joined the U.S. Marine Corps where he achieved the rank of Sergeant before coming back home to Vevay.