TRAVERSE CITY -- The Traverse City Central High School Trojan Hall of Fame will induct five new members during a Hall of Fame reception at 6 p.m. June 5 in the Central High School cafeteria. A social hour in the main atrium includes desserts and refreshments and will be followed by the induction ceremony at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria. The 2009 inductees will also be recognized at graduation exercises at 9:30 a.m., Saturday, June 6, in Kresge Auditorium at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. The public is invited to both events.
The Trojan Hall of Fame was established in 2003 to honor past graduates and staff who have excelled in their fields, given back to their community and brought honor to Traverse City Central High School. This year's inductees are:
-- Glenn Wolff grew up in Traverse City and graduated from Central High School in 1971. He studied printmaking at Northwestern Michigan College, and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1975.
Moving to New York City in 1979, he established a career as a freelance illustrator and over the next decade his clients included the New York Times, Simon and Schuster, Alfred Knopf, The Village Voice, Sports Illustrated, Sports Afield, Audubon, the Central Park Conservancy and the New York Zoological Society.
In 1987 he returned to northern Michigan illustrating numerous books including the critically acclaimed "It's Raining Frogs and Fishes," by Jerry Dennis, and "Flight of the Reindeer," by Robert Sullivan. He now concentrates on fine art and his work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the U.S. and Canada.
He received the NMEAC Environmentalist of the Year, along with Jerry Dennis, in 2003. He is the artist-in-residence for the Wings of Wonder Raptor Education and Rehabilitation Project and painted two murals for the State Theatre renovation in Traverse City. He plays the bass in the Neptune Quartet.
Wolff has two daughters, Lilly and Sarah.
-- Jim Anderson, a 1961 graduate of Traverse City High School, has been married to Jan for 44 years and has two children, Deborah (Dave) Prichard and Mike (Allison) Anderson as well as four grandsons: Teddy, Tyler, Jack and Avery.
As a student athlete at Traverse City High School, Anderson was on the varsity football, basketball and track teams. He attended Northwestern Michigan University where he played basketball and tennis. He earned a bachelor's and master's degree in speech and language pathology from Central Michigan University and worked for the Mt. Pleasant Public Schools as a speech pathologist from 1966-67.
Anderson was employed by the TBA-ISD as a speech pathologist from 1967-1997. He has served as the TCAPS elementary athletic director, TC Central boys junior varsity basketball coach, Suttons Bay boys varsity basketball coach, TC Junior High girls basketball coach, TC St. Francis varsity boys basketball coach and the TC Central girls varsity basketball coach earning five district titles with an overall record of 159-64. He was also the TC Central football radio announcer and is currently the assistant girls varsity basketball coach at Traverse City West High School.
He has served as director of the Northwest Michigan Girls Basketball Team, the All-State Girls Basketball Camp, the Northwest Michigan Basketball Academy and was the coordinator of "The Road to the Breslin." He has been a MHSAA boys and girls basketball official for 20 years.
Continuing his father's passion for aviation, Anderson obtained his pilot's license in 1968, is a commercial pilot and is the assistant National Cherry Festival Airshow director. He established Anderson Aerial Photography in 1990.
-- Dr. Jim Bradford, a 1963 graduate of Traverse City High School, has been married to classmate Judy Robinson since 1964 and has two sons, Jim and John.
Bradford earned a Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from Michigan State University and completed his Ph.D. in 1976 at the University of Virginia. He has been a research assistant at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and has been chair of the Anne Arundel County Historical Preservation Commission and the London Town Public House and Garden Commission.
He is the recipient of the Marjorie Bridgman Memorial Award for Historical Preservation and the John Lyman Best Book in U.S. Naval History award for "Command Under Sail: Makers of the American Naval Tradition, 1775-1850." He has been a member of the faculty at the U.S. Naval Academy and the MARA Institute of Technology in Shah Alam, Malaysia, and served as visiting professor at the Air War College of the U.S. Air Force.
The North American Society for Oceanic History awarded Bradford the K. Jack Bauer Award for Scholarship and Service in 1990 and again in 2007. Other awards include Meritorious Service Award by the Society for History of the Early American Republic, Teaching Excellence Award by the Association of Former Students and the George H.W. Bush for Excellence in International Teaching.
Bradford has served as the executive director of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, series editor of the Library of Naval Biography, co-editor of New Perspectives in Maritime History and Nautical Archeology and president of the North American Society for Oceanic History.
He is currently the U.S. representative on the International Commission on Maritime History and has been a study abroad professor in England, Italy, France and Germany.
-- John and Leslye Wuerfel, graduates of Traverse City High School, married in 1970 and have three sons: Joshua, John and Jason.
John played varsity football for three years and attended Northwestern Michigan College before attending and playing football at Northwood Institute. Leslye was the 1969 All-Around Half-Arabian State Champion.
The couple served 28 years in the hospitality business in the Traverse City area, owning the Colonial Inn, Munson Motor Inn, Grand Beach Resort Hotel and Sugar Beach Resort Hotel before retiring to their 400-acre Cedar Creek Ranch.
The Wuerfels designed and built Wuerfel Park, home of the Traverse City Beach Bums and hosted their inaugural baseball season in 2006. John is CEO of the Beach Bums while Leslye is president and general manager.
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