February 21, 2008

St. Louis Hawks Championship Tribute Night Coming to UMSL

The University of Missouri-St. Louis Athletic Department is a proud sponsor of “St. Louis Hawks Championship Tribute Night” to be held on Thursday, April 10 at the Touhill Theater on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus.

Members of the 1957-58 NBA World Champions will be in attendance, including Hall of Famers Bob Pettit, Ed Macauley, Cliff Hagan, and Slater “Dugie” Martin. Other guests include team captain Charlie Share, Al Ferrari, broadcast legend Buddy Blattner and the family of owner Ben Kerner, including his wife Jean and sons Ben, Jr. and Kyle.

Other special NBA guests include Harry Gallatin, who was a Hall of Famer as a player and also served as a coach of the Hawks, and the Big “O” – Cincinnati Royasl and Milwaukee Bucks star Oscar Robinson.

In addition, video presentations from past NBA superstars will be shown as well as a message from the NBA office.

This on-stage program will also include a dramatic presentation to the Hawks’ Hall of Famers – the unveiling of a new world championship banner to be hung in St. Louis.

KSDK Channel 5 Sports Director Rene Knott will be the evening’s host, with KSDK sports reporter Frank Cusumano and KTRS sports reporter John Marecek conducting interviews.

Robertson will be a featured speaker and never before seen video or heard audio play by play will be part of the program. Greg Maracek, Hawks’ author and historian will also be on stage.

Fans will have the opportunity for photos with the 1958 World Championship trophy both before and after the event.

Tickets are on sale at the Touhill Performing Arts Center ticket office on the UMSL campus Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased online, by phone or in person. Call the ticket office at 314-516-4949 or toll free at 866-516-4949. To order online, Google the Blanche Touhill Theater. Some tickets are also on sale at Authentic Sports Gems, 8790 Watson Road in
Crestwood.

Prices for the Hawks Tribute Night at Touhill range from $25 to $100, with some tickets including a limited backstage pass to meet the players or a copy of the beautiful new coffee table book, “The St. Louis Hawks—A Gallery of Images and Memorabilia”. All attendees will receive a commemorative gift.

A reception will be held in the lobby at 6:15 p.m., with the program beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Other sponsors of this event are KSDK-TV Channel 5, Anheuser-Busch Companies and Greg Marecek’s Authentic Sports Gems.

For each ticket sold, a donation will be made to The Buddy Fund, Bud Blattner’s
charity, helping kids in St. Louis for over 50 years.

For more information contact Greg Marecek at 314-753-1570 or Jim Miller at 314-843-4367.

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