They came, they talked, they enjoyed the night.

The BRS was fortunate to have six of its eight new honorees on hand at the St. Louis Parish Center in Nokomis for the Induction Day ceremonies on Saturday, November 13. Dave Kane, Kevin Koslofski, Stan Royer, Eric Weaver, Jayson Werth and Dennis Werth took turns at the microphone as they shared stories of their days playing baseball; or in Kane’s case, covering it as a sportswriter. All of those individuals, along with two unable to attend—Ken Oberkfell and Kevin Seitzer, hitting coach for the newly crowned World Series champion Atlanta Braves — comprised the eight-person class that capped the BRS Museum’s 40th anniversary celebration. Those new entries push the total number people honored by the BRS for contributing significantly to the game of baseball up to 119. The honorees in attendance all were able to visit the museum prior to the ceremony, and they came away summarily impressed by the collections.

At the St. Louis Parish Center, site of the ceremony, more than 100 people enjoyed the meal, which was catered by Milanos Catering, Hillsboro. While everyone finished their meal, approximately 20 door prizes were awarded; all of the prizes were baseball cards of the Class of 2021 Inductees. Master of Ceremonies Brian Barnhart, who regularly takes the microphone as the University of Illinois play-by-play announcer, adroitly navigated through the honoree lineup.

What started in a restaurant window in 1981 has blossomed into an expansive attraction for the central Illinois region. Joe Kempe and Merle “Butter” Wright founded what originally was just the Bottomley-Ruffing Museum in 1981 — the Schalk portion was added later.

The idea was to honor three players from the first half of the 20th century that had ties to Nokomis and Montgomery County who each made the National Baseball Hall of Fame — Jim Bottomley, Red Ruffing and Ray Schalk.

The museum has had four homes in Nokomis during its 36 years of existence and we are excited today to bring in six more honorees, pushing the total to 111 central Illinois people who have been honored for significant contributions to the game of baseball. Congratulations and welcome!