WILKES-BARRE — The Luzerne County Arts and Entertainment Hall of Fame has announced the inaugural class of 2023.
The inductees will be honored on October 14th at a dinner at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
The Luzerne County Arts & Entertainment Hall of Fame was created in 2022, with a press conference announcing the formation held in October in the lobby of the FM Kirby Center for the Performing Arts on the Public Square.
The members of the Luzerne County Arts & Entertainment Organizing Committee are:
Joe Nardone Sr., Gallery of Sound
Bill O'Boyle, Times Leader
Lindsay Griffin-Boylan, President/CEO Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber;
Tony Brooks, Wilkes-Barre City Council/Wilkes-Barre Conservation Society;
Mayor George Brown, Wilkes-Barre City
Constance Wynn, RACETeam — Rediscovering ancestry through culture and education
Alan K. Stout, Visit Luzerne County
Jody Busch, musician/recording engineer;
The organizing committee issued the following list of entrants:
Arts category:
• Adrian Pearsall, architect and furniture designer — designed hundreds of distinct furniture designs between 1952 and the mid-1970s. His furniture epitomized classic American mid-century modern design.
• Barbara Weisberger, founder of the Pennsylvania Ballet — founder of the Pennsylvania Ballet in 1961. She was a protégé of George Balanchine and his first American student as a child.
• C. Edgar Patience, coal artist — took the ordinary piece of coal and sculpted it into something extraordinary. The anthracite sculptor, who lived from 1906-1972, created works that were given as gifts to US presidents and exhibited in museums.
• George Catlin, Native American painter — born near Public Square in 1796. The world-famous Native American painter is the first American to hold a large-scale exhibition at the Louvre in Paris. His collection is now in the Smithsonian.
• Hammond Edward “Ham” Fisher, comic book writer and cartoonist — was an American comic book writer and cartoonist born in Wilkes-Barre in 1900. He is best known for the popular newspaper comic, Joe Palooka.
• Sue Hand, artist — is best known for her watercolor artwork and her hexagonal historical mining illustrations, “The Anthracite Miners and Their Hollowed Ground.” Hand is the founder of the national miniature art organization, Cider Painters of America.
• Jack Palance, actor — was an American actor known for playing tough guys and villains. He was born in Hazleton in 1919. He was nominated for three Academy Awards and won an Academy Award for Best Actor in City Slickers.
• Santo Loquasto, producer and costume designer for stage, film and dance — is a Tony Award-winning production designer, set designer and costume designer for stage, film and dance. He was born in Wilkes-Barre in 1944.
Entertainment class
• Lee Vincent — formed the Lee Vincent Orchestra after returning from World War II and rose to prominence shortly after playing locally and nationally. In February 1951, along with several other jazz bands, they performed in downtown Wilkes-Barre from 6:00 p.m. until the early hours of the next morning in what would be the beginning of the Newport Jazz Festival. He was not only a musician, but also a band leader, talent agent, radio sales manager and played for Natalie Cole, Johnny Mathis and Aretha Franklin to name a few.
• Joe Nardone & The All Stars — Joe Nardone Sr. has dedicated his entire professional life to music. As the leader of Joe Nardone & The All-Stars, he has entertained thousands of people throughout Northeasters Pennsylvania. As a concert promoter, he brought the likes of Neil Diamond, Billy Joel and KISS to the area when they were still young and up-and-coming artists, and continues to promote shows with some of the most legendary Doo-Wop acts of all-time. As a retailer, he is the founder of Gallery of Sound record stores, which have been a haven for music lovers for five decades. He will be joined by core members of Joe Nardone & The All-Stars.
• Eddie Day Pasinski — has devoted much of his life to music. He spent 35 years as a music teacher in the Greater Nanticoke Area School District, where he shared his love and knowledge of music with many generations of students. He was the band leader of the highly successful regional acts, Eddie Day & TNT and Eddie Day & The Starfires. These acts have entertained thousands of people at hundreds of shows over the decades.
• Jimmy Harnen — hails from Plymouth and, with the song “Where Are you Now,” is the only Luzerne County artist to score a Top-10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Following his own career as a recording artist, Harnen began a successful career in the music industry and has held positions at DreamWorks Records, Capitol Records, Republic Nashville and is currently President/CEO of BMLG Records. He is credited with developing and signing dozens of gold and platinum artists and is considered one of the most respected and influential people in the music industry.
• Breaking Benjamin — This explosive modern rock band has sold over 19 million albums in the United States and earned three platinum and two gold albums. They are the only band with roots in Luzerne County to have a No. 1 album hit on the Billboard album chart. Much of the group's early success came from its weekly live shows at the former Voodoo Lounge in Luzerne and the airplay it received on Wilkes-Barre's 97.9X radio. The band continues to successfully record and play major concert venues and arenas across the country. The Luzerne County Arts & Entertainment Hall of Fame joins founder Ben Burnley and five past/current members with roots in Northeastern Pennsylvania: Aaron Fink, Mark James Klepaski, Jeremy Hummel, Chad Szeliga and Aaron Bruch.
• Bobby Byrd — took his first trumpet lesson 88 years ago and his career has spanned nine decades. A well-known local entertainer — known for Bobby Baird and the Dixieland Band — his career is filled with memories of Julius La Rosa, Arthur Fiedler, Harry Truman, Ed Sullivan, Esther Williams, Milton Shapp, Harry James, Louis Armstrong, Al. Hirt, Peggy Lee, Rosemary Clooney and countless others. At age 18, Baird was playing solo trumpet in the US Navy Band — playing at the inauguration of President Harry S. Truman. He and the Navy Band toured the 48 states and Canada and appeared on the coast-to-coast show, “The Navy Hour.” Baird has worked with Skitch Henderson and Doc Severinson, of NBC's “The Tonight Show.”
• Bruno Kryger/The Kryger Brothers — played polka music from 1937 to 1996 locally and nationally. They were inducted into the International Polka Association Hall of Fame and had both records and local radio and television airplay.
• The buoys — one of the first acts from Luzerne County to land a national recording contract and achieve national success. Known for their flawless harmonies, the group signed to Scepter Records in 1971 and scored a Top-20 hit with the song “Timothy.” Other notable tracks include “Give Up Your Guns”. Two members of the group, Billy Kelly and Jerry Hludzik, went on to form the Jerry-Kelly Band and Dakota, both signed to national recording contracts. But the beginning of this, and everything that followed, started with The Buoys and they remain one of the most important and iconic bands in Luzerne County history.
• Mel Wynn & the Rhythym Aces — perhaps the most impressive band on the local music scene in the 1960s and 1970s. Melvin Samuel Wynn, the front man of the Rhythm Aces, was known for his electrifying stage presence. They were truly a house band that started in people's homes only to become one of the top bands in Northeastern Pennsylvania. They started with their voices known as the Shalamar's in Doo Wop and became one of the top Rhythm and Blues bands in the area, making five very popular records in the 50's and 60's. But what they were really best known for was incorporating our local dances. Most dances until the 1950s were segregated. But this was a big step the band took together and weathered the storm.
• The Badlees — this critically acclaimed roots-rock band signed two national recording contracts and scored national hits with the songs “Angeline Is Coming Home” and “Fear of Falling.” They have released nine full-length studio albums, three EPs and shared the stage with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Bob Seger and The Allman Brothers. They also appeared on VH1. Prior to their first national record deal, the band developed a strong local following throughout the state of Pennsylvania, particularly Luzerne County, where they received significant radio airplay. Several of the band's albums were recorded in Luzerne County, and the band continues to play here.
The organizing committee issued the following statement:
“After years of discussion and wishful thinking, a committee has been formed to discuss establishing a Hall of Fame to honor and commemorate all those who have left their mark in the world of arts and entertainment by enshrining them in this prestigious Hall.
“And there are many more that will be secured in the coming years.”
