The board of directors of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame has chosen six individuals for enshrinement at its 31st annual induction dinner on Feb. 20 at the Lakewood Rod and Gun Club.
The six inductees are Betty Bartkowiak, the late Ben Bishop, Jim McElrath Sr., John O'Neil, Greg Peterson and Bob Schmitt.
Bartkowiak was an outstanding high school and collegiate athlete. The Dunkirk native was inducted into the Western New York Softball Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Brockport State Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.
She is a professor emeritus from Oswego State, where she taught health and physical education and coached a variety of sports.
Bishop was the club champion at Moon Brook Country Club 12 times and the Chautauqua County Amateur champion four times. He established the MBCC amateur record with a 6-under-par 66.
While attending Wooster College, Bishop set four school records in track. An accountant at the firm of Ruland and Bishop, he died in 1970 at the age of 54.
During a seven-year coaching career at Panama, McElrath won four sectional basketball titles in the days before the state tournament was established. A stellar high school and college basketball player, McElrath was inducted into the Mercer County (Pa.) Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Mercer High School Hall of Fame in 2002.
Upon his retirement as principal at Jamestown High School, the students requested the newly-constructed gymnasium be named in his honor.
Kentucky native O'Neil first made Jamestown his home when he played for the 1941 Jamestown Falcons of the PONY League. He went on to play at every level of professional baseball from the Class D Falcons to the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League.
O'Neil also served as a manager, general manger and scout in a baseball career that lasted 45 years.
Peterson, along with his friend and fellow inductee Russ Diethrick, was the driving force that convinced Rich Baseball to locate its Niagara Falls Rapids franchise to Jamestown to become the Jammers in 1994. He was the impetus for the 1998 book Across the Seams that chronicles the history of professional baseball in Jamestown.
Peterson is well-known as an advocate and historian of local sports. He has interviewed hundreds of sports personalities and shared their stories on the local cable channel. He is a partner in the Phillips Lytle law firm and president of the Robert H. Jackson Center.
In 13 years as the baseball coach at Frewsburg Central School, Schmitt compiled a 239-82 record and led the Bears to three state championships. An outstanding basketball and baseball player at Jamestown Community College, Schmitt also played for the powerful Jock Shop softball squad that won national titles in 1984 and 1985.
Schmitt is a retired teacher from Frewsburg.
More details about the induction dinner and expanded inductees' biographies will be released later.
For more information, contact Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame president Randy Anderson at 640-6219.