JCMAN320
October 25th, 2007, 04:37 PM
The Boss, Sinatra among first N.J. Hall of Famers
by South Jersey News Online Thursday October 25, 2007, 12:51 PM
By TOM HESTER Jr.
Associated Press Writer
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey is hoping The Boss, the Chairman of the Board, the Wizard of Menlo Park, the second man on the Moon and Yogi can help showcase its better side to the world.
Those five -- otherwise known as singers Bruce Springsteen and Frank Sinatra, inventor Thomas Edison, astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and baseball great Yogi Berra -- are among the New Jersey Hall of Fame's inaugural class announced Thursday by Gov. Jon S. Corzine at a Statehouse ceremony.
The goal of the yet-to-be-built facility: To highlight the often-derided Garden State's positive contributions, a lofty endeavor for a state renowned for corrupt politicians, belching refineries, stereotypical gangsters and novel smells.
"This state has just been filled with people who made enormous contributions, not just to the state but to the country and the world," Corzine said. "It is a great group of people who do, I think, capture the incredible power of this state."
Under the hall's rules, inductees must have lived in the state for at least five years.
The hall's first class of 15, chosen among 25 nominees by the public through online voting, includes:
-- Springsteen, Sinatra and actress Meryl Streep in the arts and entertainment category.
-- Edison, scientist Albert Einstein and famed nurse Clara Barton in the history category.
-- Berra, former Princeton University basketball player and U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, and football coach Vince Lombardi in the sports category.
-- Aldrin and business leaders Malcolm Forbes and Robert Wood Johnson II in the enterprise category.
-- Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, author Toni Morrison and abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the general category.
"This was a good civics lesson," said Sen. Joseph Kyrillos, R-Monmouth who sponsored the legislation that led to the hall's creation. "New Jersey needs an uplift, now and forever. We're a state that gets picked on. We pick on ourselves. We need to point out our great successes."
The New Jersey Hall of Fame plans a gala induction ceremony for May 4 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.
None of the living inductees attended Thursday's ceremony, but Corzine said he was certain they were busy and hopeful they'll embrace the idea.
The hall itself will exist only on the Web for an estimated three to five years while organizers try to raise $10 million to build a 50,000-square-foot museum at the Meadowlands sports complex.
Organizers said the online voting was especially welcomed by schools, many of which ran mock campaigns and elections for the inductees.
"The response from teachers and students reinforces our belief that the Hall of Fame will become an important educational experience for young people and families," said Bart Oates, the chairman of the Hall of Fame's commission. Oates also played center for the 1986 and 1990 Super Bowl champion New York Giants, who despite that moniker play in New Jersey's Giants Stadium.
Oates said annual inductions are planned, with the next vote set for the start of next school year. That will give some of the nominees who didn't make it this year -- such as Walt Whitman, Woodrow Wilson, Jerry Lewis, and F. Scott Fitzgerald -- another chance.
by South Jersey News Online Thursday October 25, 2007, 12:51 PM
By TOM HESTER Jr.
Associated Press Writer
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey is hoping The Boss, the Chairman of the Board, the Wizard of Menlo Park, the second man on the Moon and Yogi can help showcase its better side to the world.
Those five -- otherwise known as singers Bruce Springsteen and Frank Sinatra, inventor Thomas Edison, astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and baseball great Yogi Berra -- are among the New Jersey Hall of Fame's inaugural class announced Thursday by Gov. Jon S. Corzine at a Statehouse ceremony.
The goal of the yet-to-be-built facility: To highlight the often-derided Garden State's positive contributions, a lofty endeavor for a state renowned for corrupt politicians, belching refineries, stereotypical gangsters and novel smells.
"This state has just been filled with people who made enormous contributions, not just to the state but to the country and the world," Corzine said. "It is a great group of people who do, I think, capture the incredible power of this state."
Under the hall's rules, inductees must have lived in the state for at least five years.
The hall's first class of 15, chosen among 25 nominees by the public through online voting, includes:
-- Springsteen, Sinatra and actress Meryl Streep in the arts and entertainment category.
-- Edison, scientist Albert Einstein and famed nurse Clara Barton in the history category.
-- Berra, former Princeton University basketball player and U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, and football coach Vince Lombardi in the sports category.
-- Aldrin and business leaders Malcolm Forbes and Robert Wood Johnson II in the enterprise category.
-- Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, author Toni Morrison and abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the general category.
"This was a good civics lesson," said Sen. Joseph Kyrillos, R-Monmouth who sponsored the legislation that led to the hall's creation. "New Jersey needs an uplift, now and forever. We're a state that gets picked on. We pick on ourselves. We need to point out our great successes."
The New Jersey Hall of Fame plans a gala induction ceremony for May 4 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.
None of the living inductees attended Thursday's ceremony, but Corzine said he was certain they were busy and hopeful they'll embrace the idea.
The hall itself will exist only on the Web for an estimated three to five years while organizers try to raise $10 million to build a 50,000-square-foot museum at the Meadowlands sports complex.
Organizers said the online voting was especially welcomed by schools, many of which ran mock campaigns and elections for the inductees.
"The response from teachers and students reinforces our belief that the Hall of Fame will become an important educational experience for young people and families," said Bart Oates, the chairman of the Hall of Fame's commission. Oates also played center for the 1986 and 1990 Super Bowl champion New York Giants, who despite that moniker play in New Jersey's Giants Stadium.
Oates said annual inductions are planned, with the next vote set for the start of next school year. That will give some of the nominees who didn't make it this year -- such as Walt Whitman, Woodrow Wilson, Jerry Lewis, and F. Scott Fitzgerald -- another chance.