Fergie Jenkins & Bill Greason

This is a photo of Fergie & Reverand Greason at the 2005 Banquet. They were fantastic and really enjoyed meeting the people of Seguin. They also liked what the City was doing to honor Joe Williams.

The players who have joined us have not only been great athletes but also great people. Past speakers have included local news celebrities, Monte Irvin, Buck O'Neal, Reggie Rivers (Broncos) and many others. One of the nice things about having this kind of event in a small town like Seguin is that you have a chance to get up close to the players and really talk with them. If we had the same players in San Antonio (35 minutes away and 1.5 million in population compared to our approximate 26,000), more than likely fans would not be able to get too close.

Another thing I love about helping Mark when he works on the Banquet is that we play host to these fascinating men and we get to know them as friends. We try to schedule press conferences, meet & greet opportunities particularly so they can talk with young athletes, dinners out and other activities which allow us to show them some good ol' Seguin hospitality. Mark and I are already working on an itinerary for Fergie and our keynote speaker Juan Marichal. So far, we're thinking of a Spurs game and also a tour of our steel mill, and of course an interview on the local radio station.

You can read more about Smokey Joe on the National Baseball Hall of Fame website and also on Mark's blog. Mark has been researching Joe Williams and his family for the past nine years. His research has become his passion and has taken us from Chicago to Washington, DC, to New York City and back to the court house here in town. It's been a fascinating adventure. There's not many people still living who knew Joe Williams so Mark's trying to find and interview as many as possible. There are no immediate family members left that he has found but he has been in touch with a second cousin of Joe Williams. We'll see where that takes us.