As this year's induction ceremony approaches, the historic Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame announced on Wednesday the creation of its 4 Kids partnership with three major charities in the state – Special Olympics Wisconsin, the MACC Fund and Make-A-Wish Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame 4 Kids will allow attendees of the 66th anniversary event the opportunity to donate 50 percent of their ticket costs to one of those three organizations. The 2017 ceremony will take place April 29 at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, the site of the first Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame enshrinement in 1951.
Funds raised by Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame 4 Kids will benefit multiple incredible causes, helping Special Olympics field games for intellectually disabled athletes, assisting the MACC Fund in its fight against childhood cancer and related blood disorder research, and aiding Make-A-Wish in granting the wishes of seriously ill children.
Tickets are available for $21, $33 and $80 and are on sale now at the Milwaukee Theatre box office, (800) 745-3000 or online here.
Starting today, 50 percent of ticket sales will be donated to those charities, with buyers using the corresponding promotional codes through Ticketmaster. The promo code "SOWI" will benefit Special Olympics Wisconsin, "MACC" will benefit the MACC Fund, and "MAW" will benefit Make-A-Wish Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame's 66th anniversary induction ceremony will honor Badgers Heisman Trophy-winner Ron Dayne, LPGA Legend Sherri Steinhauer and Green Bay Packers Super Bowl champion Charles Woodson. They will join 137 of the state’s greatest athletic icons such as Vince Lombardi, Hank Aaron, Oscar Robertson, Barry Alvarez, Al McGuire, Bud Selig, Junior Bridgeman, Herb Kohl, Bart Starr, Bob Harlan, Robin Yount, Bonnie Blair and Bob Uecker. Donald Driver, a 2016 inductee, will be the event's emcee this year.
The Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame's Walk of Fame contains bronze plaques located on 4th Street in Milwaukee’s Downtown sports and entertainment district. The iconic Hall of Fame is free and open to the public all year long. For more information on the institution's long, complicated and reviving history, click here.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
