Among inductees: Ritter Collett, Roz Young
DAYTON - Eight notable Dayton area figures, two of them stillliving, were inducted Wednesday to the city's Walk of Fame.
The induction ceremony took place in a tent on South WilliamsStreet, behind the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center and not far fromthe West Third Street sidewalk where commemorative stone slabs willbe installed for those honored. Eighty had been named earlier to the'Walk,' which began with the Wright brothers in 1995. Educator,author and journalist Roz Young, 91, and community leader John E.Moore Sr. both brought smiles as they thanked the nominatingcommittee and the audience of about 200 people.
'You have honored me more than you know and I hope you will walksoftly on me,' said Moore, 80, who retired in 1979 as a civilianpersonnel director at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and startedseveral new careers in community volunteer work.
Young told the audience that well-meaning friends had relieved herof her coat and pocketbook and her eyeglasses were in the latter. 'Ican't see a thing without them,' she exclaimed.
Saying she was grateful and 'highly pleased,' Young thankedeveryone with a special appreciation of her late cat, Edith, aboutwhom she wrote prize-winning stories.
'I think that I have said enough. Thank you very much,' Young thenadded. Her trim acceptance was worthy of another great non-talker andone of her many biographical subjects, Orville Wright.
Dayton Daily News sports editor and Baseball Hall of Fame memberRitter Collett, who died Sept. 25, 2001, was represented by hiswidow, Jean, and their daughter, Rhea. The daughter, who is blind,gave a moving tribute that she'd delivered at Collett's memorialservice: 'Thank you for being a hall-of-fame dad.'
Family and friends of several other inductees were present, withthe exception of attorney and Congressman John A. McMahon (1833-1923), who was represented by heirs of his law firm, now calledBieser, Greer & Landis.
The other inductees are federal Judge Lester L. Cecil (1893-1983); military aviator Major Dominic S. Gentile (1920-51); inventorJacob O. Joyce (1823-1905) and aviator Neil V. Loving (1916-98).
Contact Benjamin Kline at 225-2222.
