Hamilton Fine Arts Hall of Fame Class of 2011

Fine Arts Hall of Fame members

Dr. Clinton J. Bean, Mr. and Mrs. Dave Belew, Kari Stitsinger Brumbach, Bess-Arlene Crase Camacho, Sara Carruthers, Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Carruthers, Henry Cepluch, Jeremy Cummins, Shawn Daniels, Christina Di Staola, Irvin C. Hamilton, William Honeycutt, Judy Jarvis, Sarah Joseph, Kelly Fox Mackenzie-Thurley, Janet Markoff, Bradley Morgan, Paula Lambros Norton, Jack Armstrong, David Baker, Raymond Combs, Rosalie Jendrek Goertemiller, Ronald Hamilton, Mary Lou Coyle Hughes, Nolwenn Leroy, Emily Beckett Reed, Jack Schaff, Joyce Bland St. John, John Bercaw, Patricia A. Ganz, Susan Joseph, Janet Manley, Patricia Miller, John Sandor, Louise Schotts, Bruce Stegmann, Herman Torge and Janet A. Westrick

To nominate someone for future induction, call the Fine Arts Office at (513) 887-4816. A nomination form will be mailed to you.

HAMILTON — The Hamilton Fine Arts Hall of Fame Class of 2011 includes retired teachers, professional musicians, broadcasting arts pioneers, artists and businessmen.

“No matter where they are or what they are doing, they have all walked the halls of our schools as students or teachers in our schools,” said Laurin Sprague, director of fine arts.

“All of the inductees will continue to impact our students,” he said. “Their pictures and biographies from the program will be added to our Hall of Fame display at Hamilton High.

Kevin D. Duncan – Class of 1989

Kevin Duncan not only received many visual art awards and was the cartoonist for the Big Blue Bulletin while at Hamilton High, but he was also the state tennis doubles champion for two consecutive years. He attended Miami University and studied airbrushing at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

Duncan has been commissioned for hundreds of airbrush jobs throughout Butler County including the Fitton Center for Creative Arts, Miami Valley YMCA, Hamilton Boys and Girls Club and a plethora of Hamilton City Schools groups.

In addition to airbrushing, Duncan is a supervisor at the Butler County Juvenile Detention Rehabilitation Center. He lives in Hamilton with his wife, Penny, and daughter, Anna, a senior at Hamilton High, and Rebekah, a sophomore.

Del Anthony Gray – Class of 1986

While a student at Hamilton High, Del Gray was a member of the Big Blue Marching Band and was voted most likely to be a rock star.

He is a founding member of the band Little Texas, which has sold over seven million CDs and has won numerous awards including Academy of Country Music’s Vocal Group of the Year, Country Music Association’s Album of the Year, and Country Music Television’s Album of the Year, Video of the Year, and Group of the Year and has been nominated for many Grammy awards. The band has had 15 Top Ten and three No. 1 singles.

Gray’s current band performs over 80 shows annually and is working on a new CD and live DVD, due to be released later this year.

As a songwriter, Gray’s songs have been recorded by Trace Adkins, Gretchen Wilson, Colin Raye, Tracy Lawrence, Billy Ray Cyrus and John Rich.

Gray and his wife, Tina, have been married 16 years and have a 9—year—old daughter Rayne. They live in Franklin, Tenn.

Steven B. Herrman – Class of 1978

Steven Herrman was a member of the Taft High School marching band, concert band and jazz band. He was selected to be a member of the All—State Band and was voted Most Likely to Succeed in Music.

Herrmann received his bachelor’s degree in music in 1985 from North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas), one of the premier jazz schools in the country, and was the featured soloist with the renowned One O’Clock Lab Band.

Herrman is the published author of “Amazing Phrasing—50 Ways to Improve Your Improvisational Skills.” His song “Funky Chester” is currently playing at BOSE Surround Sound kiosks worldwide.

As a professional musician, he has toured with Delbert McClinton, Waylon Jennings, Lyle Lovett and Kenny Chesney. His television performances include appearances on David Letterman’s and Jay Leno’s talk shows, the Espy Awards, “The Grand Ole Opry,” “Austin City Limits,” “The Road,” “Nashville Now,” “American Music Shop,” “On Stage,” “Music City Tonight” and “Prime Time Country.”

Herrman lives with his wife, Sue, in Nashville, Tenn.

George P. Mehas — Class of 1944 — In Memoriam

George Mehas was born in Hamilton in 1926 and graduated from Hamilton High School in 1944, where he played saxophone in both orchestra and band. At age 13, he became a professional musician to help support his family during the Great Depression. As early as 13, he would travel by train several times a week to play gigs in Cincinnati.

Mehas holds the distinct honor of being both the marching band’s drum major and the school’s boxing champ at the same time.

Following high school, he joined the war effort and was assigned to play in the prestigious Army Air Corps Band. In 1946, he began his formal music studies at the College Conservatory of Music. However, in April 1949, with only a month to go before he graduated, he was offered the opportunity to play with another Hamilton sax great, Ray Brandhoff, in the Johnny Long Big Band. Two months into the tour, he met his future wife, Dorothy Keenum, during a performance in Dallas.

Moving back to Hamilton two years later, for the next 38 years Mehas played clarinet and tenor sax in venues all over the region, considered to be one of the top jazzmen in the area, playing with such local legends as Al Frankey, John Bercaw, Frank Vincent and Cal Collins.

In 1959, Mehas took over the reins at Mehas Music, started by his brother, Mike, in 1946.

Mehas passed away in 1989 at the age of 63.

Mark Ott – Class of 1978

At Hamilton High, Mark Ott was was a member of Big Blue Marching Band, concert band and jazz band. He also was active in broadcasting arts and received the “Broadcasting Arts Outstanding Student” award as a student broadcaster on WHSS, TV—11, and “The Mike McGuire Show.”

Ott earned an associate degree in electronics from Cleveland Institute of Electronics in Cleveland, and a bachelor’s of science degree in broadcast technology from Ashland University in in 1991.

He has held TV production jobs as supervisor, director, and editor at stations in Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland, Little Rock, Ft. Myers, Tulsa and Las Vegas, beginning his professional career in television production as both an editor and camera operator on “The Jerry Springer Show.”

Since 2002, Ott has started and operated a number of successful businesses since 2002, including The Ott Group, Las Vegas Legal Video, 702 Productions, and now 808 Post & Production.

He also is an active pilot and is a volunteer Search—and—Rescue Pilot with the Civil Air Patrol, and a volunteer pilot for Young Eagles.

Ott lives in Las Vegas with his wife, Simona Mitrica—Ott, and their 2—year—old daughter, Alexandra.

Ron Purvis – Class of 1956

Ron Purvis was a member of both band and orchestra at Hamilton High School, and after graduation became an instructor in the Army/Navy School of Music in Washington, D.C.

Purvis directed the Seven Mile High School Band, was the last band director at Hamilton Catholic High School, and was the first band director at Badin High School.

As a professional musician, Purvis played with several big bands, including Buddy Morrow, Bob Crosby, Les Elgart, Les Brown, Henry Mancini, Johnny Long and Sammy Kaym, and in shows starring Bob Hope, Mel Torme, Shirley McClain, Tony Bennet, Rosemary Clooney, Jimmy Durante and Glen Campbell, among many others. He has also played trumpet for James Brown’s recordings.

He was staff trumpet player on WLW—Radio and TV with Bob Braun, Paul Dixon and Vivian Delaquiasa.

Purvis owned and operated Hamilton’s Weaver Music Store, Music Mart, and TPI Music.

He lives in Hamilton with his wife of 50 years, Carolyn. They have two daughters, Jennifer Hershner and Susan Purvis, and two grandchildren, Katelyn and Brett Hershner.

Dan Reed – Class of 1979

At Taft High School, Dan Reed was a two—year letterman in football, a member of student government and a staff member of WHSS Radio Station.

Reed’s claims to fame including being the singer of Hamilton’s first punk rock band, Chem Dyne, which recorded one album, “Bad Luck With Fast Food,” in 1985.

He earned his bachelor’s of arts degree in communications from Ohio University in 1984.

After college, he was program director at the influential alternative rock station WOXY 97X in Oxford. Reed then worked as a concert promoter in Cincinnati, including booking the 1,000—seat showcase club, Bogart’s. Reed returned to radio in 1991 at WNKU at Northern Kentucky University, where he was responsible for implementing a new music format.

Since 2004, Reed has been in Philadelphia at WXPN as music director and operations manager duties. He hosts the weekday afternoon drive show and books the musical artists for the “World Café” — a nationally syndicated radio show heard on more than 200 radio stations nationwide and distributed by National Public Radio. Reed has received multiple nominations for National Program Director of the Year and was just named the National Music Director of the Year by FMQB for 2010.

Reed lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Ann.

Sue Samoviski

Sue Samoviski retired from the Hamilton Schools in 2006 after teaching for 30 years. For 23 years she taught in a number of elementary schools, and her last five years of teaching were spent at Hamilton High, where she started an Art Club and began participation in the Governor’s and Scholastic Art Competitions, and in the Taft Museum Art in the Classroom program.

She also taught an evening art class for elementary classroom teachers at Miami University.

In 1997, she was named the Ohio Art Education Association’s Outstanding Art Teacher for the Southwest district. In 1999, she received the Ambassador Award for Art Educator from the Fitton Center for Creative Arts. In 2007, Sue co—chaired the County Seat Project, a fundraising effort for the City of Sculpture. For this project, Samoviski won a Vision Award from Hamilton’s Vision 2020 Commission.

She has served on the board of the Hamilton—Fairfield Arts Council and was an original board of directors member for both the Fitton Center for Creative Arts and the City of Sculpture.

During her tenure as president of City of Sculpture, Samoviski presided over the installation of several new public sculptures, was the sponsorship chairwoman for the 2011 IceFest.

She has sung with the Hamilton—Fairfield Symphony Chorale for more than 10 years.

She and her husband live in Hamilton and have two daughters, Kim and Karin, and three grandchildren, Tyler, Casey and Hana.

David P. Spurrier

David Spurrier began working as a broadcasting arts instructor for the Hamilton City Schools in 1979 after more than seven years working in various production and talent capacities at radio and television stations throughout Ohio.

While training hundreds of Hamilton entertainment marketing students, Spurrier facilitated thousands of hours of broadcasting for Hamilton High School’s WHSS 89.5 FM, Big Blue Television, and TV11. He recorded and broadcast nearly two thousand sporting, fine arts and academic events sponsored by Hamilton City Schools.

He assisted Big Blue Theatre as house audio engineer for several years and was honored in 1995 as an honorary member of Chapter 1980 of the Thespian Society. He was the public address announcer for Big Blue football, Band—O—Rama and Blue Heaven track meets. He was been the voice of the on—hold messages for Hamilton City Schools.

Spurrier and his wife, Linda, live in Hamilton and have two children, James and Katherine.

Michael Wallick

Michael Wallick began his lifetime pursuit of music with piano lessons at age 6 and violin lessons at age 10. He graduated from the Ohio State University with a bachelor’s of music education degree in 1976 and was immediately hired by the Hamilton City Schools to help build a strings program and begin an orchestra at Garfield High School, started his teaching career with just three students in his orchestra.

Wallick became the orchestra director at Taft High School in 1979 and also was appointed coordinator of strings in the Hamilton City Schools. In 1980, he was assigned the position of orchestra director at the new Hamilton High School, where he remained until his retirement in 2007.

Wallick’s orchestras received numerous superior ratings at competitions throughout his teaching career.

During his tenure as the high school orchestra director, he conducted 28 Fine Arts Department musicals and 25 annual presentations of Handel’s “Messiah,” featuring combined community and high school singers and orchestras.

He, along with his wife Diane, a retired Hamilton vocal music teacher, and children, Bryan and Becky, have performed together for many civic and community events during their 35 years in Hamilton.

His son Bryan Wallick also is a member of the Fine Arts Hall of Fame.

(Biographical information provided by the Hamilton City School District’s Fine Arts Department.)

Contact this reporter at (513) 820—2188 or rjones@coxohio.com.