Joins Dwight Clark, Ken Caminiti, Mark Marquess, and Danielle Slaton

The cowboy, Hollywood stuntman, pilot and philanthropist to be honored at induction ceremony in November

By Allen Payton

The San Jose Sports Hall of Fame will mark its 23^rd year of honoring South Bay sports legends when it inducts five new members on Thursday, Nov. 9, at the SAP Center at San Jose.  The inductees hail from the upper echelon of collegiate, professional and/or Olympic competition. Although from different sports in different eras, they have made a lasting impact both on and off the field of play.

The San Jose Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2017 Inductees are:

• Jack Roddy:  Rodeo Hall of Famer, Collegiate and Professional Steer Wrestling Champion
• Ken Caminiti: Baseball All-Star, Gold Glove Winner and 1996 National League MVP
• Dwight Clark: San Francisco 49er Wide Receiver, Super Bowl Winner and Humanitarian
• Mark Marquess: All American Player/Gold Medal and NCAA Championship Coach
• Danielle Slaton: National Champion Soccer Player, Olympic medalist

Roddy is a five-time champion steer wrestler, once in each decade of his life from his 20’s through his 60’s, and a six-time World Champion. He was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1979. Born Oct. 3, 1937, in San Francisco, Roddy competed in his first Rodeo Cowboy Association (RCA) rodeo at the age of 14 and won $90 in the wild horse race.

Early participation in rodeo was not unusual for the youngster who grew up on the family ranch in San Jose where he attended elementary and high school, and spent time on his father’s rodeo grounds near Colma, Calif., riding and roping with his father’s friends in the rodeo business. In 1956, he joined the RCA and competed around the country, entering all the events.

His lanky, 6-foot, 5-inch frame didn’t fit the usual cowboy mold, but it didn’t keep him from becoming college rodeo’s all-around Intercollegiate World Champion Cowboy in 1959 representing Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where Roddy has been instrumental in the survival of the Cal Poly Rodeo Team. That same year he was the World Champion Steer Wrestler, as well. Adding weight to his height, Roddy became a powerful force in steer wrestling in the early 1960s.

He went to the National Finals Rodeo for the first time in 1962. In 1966 and 1968, he won the professional world championship in steer wrestling, in 1966 set a record for total earnings in the event.

In 1991 and 1992 Roddy was the Seniors Steer Wrestling World Champion.

He went on to serve on the RCA as Steer Wrestling Director for over 16 years and in 1997 Roddy was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.

He also won the Steer Wrestling title at the California Rodeo in Salinas in 1962, 1964 and 1966 and was inducted into the California Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2010, as well as the California State Fair Hall of Fame. Today, he mentors future rodeo champions and carries on the traditions of the West.

Roddy and his wife Donna are the owners of the Roddy Ranch just outside the Antioch City limits, where he continues to run cattle on the property he sold to the East Bay Regional Parks District a few years ago. He is the former owner of the Golf Club at Roddy Ranch where he could be seen golfing in his special pair of spiked cowboy golf boots. He has been very involved in the Antioch community through Rotary and the Delta Advocacy Foundation, among others. Roddy has been a singer, a pilot and as a Hollywood stuntman, he worked in four movies, two of which won Academy Awards.

He did the stunts and bronc riding in the movie, “The Horse With The Flying Tale” by Disney which won an Oscar in 1962. Another movie, part of which was filmed in Martinez, “The Great American Cowboy” was an Academy-award winning documentary about one of his bulls named Oscar which lived on his ranch in the Antioch and Brentwood area.

Roddy also had parts in the film, “J. W. Coop” in which, he did the “bull dogging” and then “Twister The Bull From the Sky” another Disney movie, in which he also had a small acting part. Finally, another documentary, “Cowboys in Ireland” about Roddy’s life was shown on TV three years ago. Roddy’s father was born in Ireland and it tells why a lot of Irish have been cowboys.

“It’s a great honor to be in the Hall of Fame with Ken Caminiti and Dwight Clark,” Roddy said when reached for comment at his ranch. “I think it’s the first time rodeo is being included in the hall of fame. I’m from San Jose so I’m very proud to be in there.”

In addition to the documentary, a woman is now working on a book about his life, he shared. Photos of Roddy’s rodeo career can be seen inside the bar at Vic Stewart’s restaurant in Brentwood and on a website someone else created about him, www.jackroddy.com.

Jeff Severson, a cowboy friend of Roddy’s and former NFL football player in Super Bowls 7 and 14, will be introducing the champion steer wrestler at the installation dinner.

Each inductee will be recognized with a bronze plaque permanently installed on the concourse at the SAP Center at San Jose. Including the 2017 inductees, there will be 106 South Bay sports icons enshrined in the Hall of Fame. The annual induction is an event of the San Jose Sports Authority, San Jose Arena Authority, SAP Center Management/San Jose Sharks, and the City of San José. The event benefits Special Olympics Northern California and high school sports programs.

“San Jose’s incredibly rich and diverse sports history makes the Hall of Fame selection process very difficult each year,” said Charlie Faas, Chairman of the San Jose Sports Authority Board of Directors.  “The Class of 2017 is a wonderful representation of the deep and meaningful impact athletes and coaches with South Bay connections have made in their respective sports, locally, nationally and internationally. We are excited to welcome these five remarkable individuals into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame.”

The November ceremony kicks off with a reception followed by dinner and induction ceremony. Individual tickets begin at $300 each; sponsorship and table packages are available starting at $3,000. For information and to purchase event tickets call (408) 288-2936.

About the San Jose Sports Authority

The San Jose Sports Authority is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the City of San Jose’s economic development, visibility, and civic pride through sports. Serving as the City’s sports commission since its inception in 1991, the Sports Authority has provided leadership and support to attract and host hundreds of sporting events in San Jose and the South Bay.  The Sports Authority also supports and operates community, youth and amateur sports programs, including the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame and the REACH Youth Scholarship Program. To learn more, visit www.sjsa.org.

Want to know what services and resources Antioch has to offer its residents? Join us, as the City of Antioch presents its annual, “Senior Resource Fair” in collaboration with the Antioch Senior Citizens Club. The “Senior Resource Fair” will be held at the Antioch Senior Center located at, 415 West 2nd Street, Antioch, CA. The date is set for Friday, September 29th, 2017. The event will run between 9:00-11:00 am.

This event will be full of information for seniors, such as senior services, housing, medical practices and various vendors that will display their products and provide informational pamphlets. We will provide refreshments and snacks to all attendees at no cost, although, a monetary donation will be asked, with all proceeds being donated to the Antioch Senior Citizens Club. While this is tailored to our older, mature residents, we welcome all interested residents to our event.

“The Annual Antioch Senior Resource Fair is a great opportunity for the community to meet and network with service providers,” said Anibal Hidalgo. In 2016, we had a great turn out and our goal is to always improve year after year. Among the many benefits of sharing resources within the community, Hidalgo says that “this event creates a bridge between residents of Antioch and local business and organization.”

As an incentive to those that visit us, free Tote Bags embroidered with the City of Antioch and the Antioch Senior Citizens Club logos will be available to the first 150 visitors.

The City of Antioch Department of Recreation strives in unifying and strengthening our community by creating quality experiences that inspire lifelong learning. Through our partnership with the Antioch Senior Citizens Club, we create year-round events that promote community engagement and fun-filled moments as well as hold strong to the values of the Recreation Department for the City of Antioch. The Senior Resource Fair is one of the many events that we coordinate to support and give back to the community. So please join us.

Interested in being a vendor at our Senior Resource Fair, please contact Anibal Hidalgo, Recreation Coordinator, at ahidalgo@ci.antioch.ca.us or 925-779-7076.

The Arts & Cultural Foundation of Antioch is proud to present the works of artists living in and around the Delta at the Lynn House Gallery. With the many hills and valleys, along with East Bay Regional Park properties, artists have an abundance of opportunities to capture nature and all its wonders in many art forms. The Nature’s Canvas Exhibit will have many works of art in clay, watercolor, oils, acrylic, mixed media and photography.

The Lynn House Gallery is located at 809 West 1st Street in Antioch’s historic, downtown Rivertown in a quaint 1907 Victorian. The exhibit will showcase approximately 60 artworks and opens on Saturday, September 23rd, with a free artist reception from 2-4 PM. The exhibit continues through October 14th on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 1-4 PM. The artist reception and exhibit are free to the public.

Registered artists are: Mahnaz Azarafrooz, Lori Azzolino, Gloria Cannon, Prudence Capelle, Anna Chunn, Eloine Chapman, Chelsea Colbert, Nina Collosi, Trudy Couch, Clyde Cox, Dianne Curtain, Becky Decierto, Paul Duggan, Michele Eakin, Betty Espindola, Chelsea Sarah Evans, Mary Evans, Linda Fead, Art Garcia, Yoshiko Gobbell, Easy Gonzalez, Catherine Hanson, Jennifer Johnson, Beverly Knight, Roswitha Kress, Paulette Lagana, Ellen LaVaccare, Ryan Lutes, Colleen Madge-Stevens, AnnMarie McGill, Sarah Moore, Beverly Prather-Martinez,  Mike Nelson, Barbara Rausch, Paul Schorr, Joel Summerhill and Beverly C. Turner.

For more information visit www.Art4Antioch.org, call (925) 779-7018 or email Diane@Art4Antioch.org

East County Veterans and Homes for Our Troops make it happen

Thanks to the efforts of the East County Veterans Support Services (ECVSS) and Homes for Our Troops, Antioch resident and wounded military veteran Daniel Fye and his family are getting a new home. It will be able to accommodate his needs, having lost part of his left leg and sustaining sever damage to his right during an explosion while serving in Afghanistan.

Daniel Fye and family will be moving into their home on Saturday, September 23 in Washington State, we cannot all attend to celebrate with them in person, so, his mother Janis Fye and family and ECVSS will be holding a Community House Warming Open House this Sunday, Sept. 17 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. at 1023 W. 2nd Street, in Antioch’s historic, downtown Rivertown.

All are welcome to drop in, sign a card, have some light snacks and refreshments. Gift suggestions: Gift cards. Janis and family will take all of your gifts and love to Danny and the family.

During his third combat tour on May 27, 2011, Air Force Tech Sergeant Daniel Fye, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team Leader with the 466 Bravo EOD Flight, was severely injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion during a route clearance mission in Mushan, Afghanistan. The blast resulted in the loss of his left leg and severe damage to his right.

During his three-month stay at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Dan underwent multiple surgeries for his amputation, burns and several limb salvage procedures on his right leg. After his release, he endured three years of physical therapy. He now wears a prosthetic on his left leg and a brace on his right leg.

These days Dan can be found in the garage working on cars, in the gym lifting weights or at home spending time and traveling with his four children and wife Nicole. While he may lead an active lifestyle, there are several challenges he faces daily.

A single-story Homes For Our Troops home with an accessible bathroom, Dan says, will make daily life more comfortable and “less of a chore.” Having the financial burden of a mortgage eliminated, he says, will open up many doors for him and his family. He will be able to build a large, detached garage where he can work on cars. He would like to race cars and raise money for Veteran organizations. He has dreams of entrepreneurship too, and would like to build a home gym, where he could teach others with physical challenges how to weight lift.

Originally from Antioch, Dan and his family are choosing to build their home in Bremerton, Wash. After being stationed in the area, he says it feels like home.

Dan says the gift of a specially adapted home will be life-changing.

“It will give me a comfortable home to live in while allowing me to pursue dreams that I thought wouldn’t have been possible,” he said.

“After a very long road of constant recovery, my son Danny and family are moving into their blessing miracle home from Homes for Our Troops in two weeks in Bremerton WA, built to accommodate his special needs,” Janis Fye wrote in a post on Facebook. “Since Danny and Nicole’s home town is too far away to attend, Josie Monaghan and East County Vets are holding a Community House Warming Open House next Sunday, 9/17 1:00 – 4:00 where those who have prayed and loved Danny through his healing since Afghanistan can come mingle, sign cards, bring gift cards, etc. eat cake and see photos of his journey showing Danny his home town & friends still care and love him. Danny has had such a long, difficult road to recovery and still has many obstacles to climb. Please come out and show him we care. Thank You Josie and Joey and East County Vets. Thank You Homes for Our Troops.”

For more information about Homes for Our Troops and the home for Daniel Fye and family visit www.hfotusa.org/building-homes/veterans/fye/. For more information about East County Veterans Support Services visit www.ecvss.org or https://www.facebook.com/ECVSS/.

Allen Payton contributed to this story.

Looking for volunteers

The 33rd Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day, the state’s largest volunteer event, is going to take place this Saturday, September 16, 2017 from 9 AM to Noon. The Kayak trip will be on Friday, September 15 (Click here for details).

The event is expected to draw more than 70,000 volunteers who will combat marine debris at over 800 locations throughout the state by removing the trash that has accumulated on California’s beaches and inland shorelines over the past year.

Get out there, join the effort in Antioch. There are three locations to choose from: Antioch Marina, Prewett Park and Fulton Shipyard. Select your location when you complete your registration on the City’s website.