Alumni Hall of Fame Members Speak to Student Body
September 28, 2022
From athletic achievements to fine arts to running for mayor there are hall of fame honors for all walks of life. Mount Vernon High School held its Alumni Hall of Fame ceremony at an assembly Friday announcing this year’s inductees.
First up, twin brothers Jerry and Larry Ringer won the achievement award. They won this award for their collective efforts and achievements in both sports and fine arts through high school. Jerry after high school went on to attend Cornell and University of Iowa and was also a US Army medic after college. He is now a resident at Iowa in the Department of Ophthalmology.
“Go Mustangs!” Jerry Ringer said to the crowd of students.
Twin brother Larry attended Iowa State University for college and post college headed down to Texas. In Texas he became a community leader and now has a library named after him in College Station, Texas. Larry also joined the Statistics Department faculty at Texas A&M University serving for forty years.
When it comes to unique speeches Dan Bern wins. There was no speech, he sang instead. Bern won the Fine Arts award for the alumni hall of fame. Bern loved his time at Mount Vernon High School giving its fine arts programs props for giving him avenues to grow on.
“Chase your dream,” said Bern, who also serenaded students at lunch with a song about Tristan Wirfs.
The athletic alumni hall of fame award went to Steve Goodall. Goodall was a four-sport athlete participating in wrestling, football, track and baseball. Throughout all those he had eleven varsity letters and was named First Team All-District eight times. Goodall attended Cornell college and wrestled. He was an NCAA All-American, who was also inducted into the Cornell Hall of Fame.
When it comes to helping out the community, Scott Petersen is the guy. He was the recipient for the community impact hall of fame award. He attended and graduated from the naval academy. He served in the military for 26 years and he was always actively involved in the community and once he was out of the military served as both a city council member and Mayor of Mount Vernon.
Service Hall of Fame recipients are Jeri Neal and Barbara Thomsen Neal. Jeri fought in Vietnam as an infantry man and also has three purple hearts. Barbara fulfilled her lifelong dream of getting a college education at the age of seventy.
In an acceptance letter from Barbara, her son Todd Neal read her advice to “Be a lifelong learner.”
Jeri Neal advised the student body that,“This High School is your building block, soak it in”.
