VERIS#60
10-30-2016, 02:56 PM
Hello everyone, my name is Bruce Caplinger and I'm the chairperson for the Neil Johnston Fundraiser. I am going to have a dinner/auction on February 18th, 2017. The keynote speaker has yet to be named, but will be a big named sports figure. I am currently gathering as much memorabilia for the auction as I can. Neil Johnston lead the NBA in scoring for 3 years in a row starting in 1952. He was a key member of the 1955-56 NBA champion Warriors. Neil was the first true hook shot artist and innovator of this early unique shot. He passed away in 1978 at the age of 49. In 1990, Neil was inducted into the Naismith NBA hall of fame museum. However, in his hometown of Chillicothe Ohio, population 22,000, Neil Johnston is a virtual unknown. I live and graduated from the same high school as Neil did. Neil Johnston is the 10th best rated player in the history of the game according to the stat of Player Efficiency Rating. It is my goal to educate people who Neil was and also create a monument to honor his accomplishments. We are going to raise the funds to erect a 13 foot tall bronze statue. The statue is going to cost around $50,000 and is being completed by Brian Hanlon. Brian is the official sculptor for the Naismith hof museum. I have written permission from the Topps Sports Card Company to enlarge numerous cards of our local Chillicothe athletes that had cards made of them such as Neil Johnston, John Herrnstein, Greg Cook and Garin Veris. Each jumbo card, 24" x 36" will have an actual autograph of the player on the front including Johnston's 1957 topps rookie card. I will also have Pete Rose 1963 topps jumbo card autographed by all 4 players. I cannot post photos with my phone. Could someone please posts them for my by emailing me at brucecaplinger@yahoo.com? I have the artists rendering of the statue. This is a huge undertaking and I need all the help I can get! If you have any other ideas besides the dinner/auction please feel free to make suggestions. If you would like to donate anything for the auction it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much! Bruce Caplinger