Mackinac Island Stone Skipping Hall of Fame Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 5, 2011
W. T. “BILL” RABE AND COMMANDER E. M. TELLEFSON, RET. INDUCTED INTO THE MACKINAC ISLAND STONE SKIPPING HALL OF FAME
MACKINAC ISLAND, MI – Stone Skipping legends W. T. “Bill” Rabe and Commander E. M. Tellefson, Ret. were inducted into the Mackinac Island Stone Skipping Hall of Fame at the organization’s annual induction ceremony staged as part of the Mackinac Island Stone Skipping and Gerplunking Club’s annual Winter Rules Committee meeting on Saturday February 5, 2001 at The Heather’s Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. “We are thrilled and inspired to kick-off the Stone Skipping Hall of Fame with these two legends”, says Hall of Fame director Karl Rabe, “Together they played a key role in turning this pastime into a sport in North America.”
Bill Rabe and Commander Tellefson were inaugural inductees into the Hall of Fame and as such bypassed the normal election process. Nominees for future inductees will be cast in October and then inducted if they receive a minimum of two Plinks (affirmative votes from the Screening Committee) and six Pitty-Pats (affirmative votes from the Honors Committee).
Bill Rabe founded the Mackinac Island Stone Skipping and Gerplunking Club (MISS&GC) with the inaugural Mackinac Island 4th of July Stone Skipping Contest in 1969. He continued to be the tournament director and for the next 23 years, until his death. Bill endlessly promoted Mackinac Island, Grand Hotel and Stone Skipping nationally and internationally through broadcast and print media. Bill published The Boulder, the avant guard journal of stone skipping. He also established and presided over the MISS&GC Winter Rules Committee Meeting.
Commander Tellefson was known as the “The grand old man of stone skipping” and was a legendary ambassador of the sport. His 17-skip stone at Mackinac Island’s Point Aux Pins in 1932 stood unchallenged for 25 years and was the inspiration for the founding of the Mackinac Island Stone Skipping and Gerplunking Club. The Commander opened the Mackinac Island 4th of July Stone Skipping Tournament annually with his traditional and now famous cry: “Let he who is without Frisbee cast the first stone.”
Formed in 1969, the Mackinac Island Stones Skipping and Gerplunking Club has hosted the annual stone skipping contest on Mackinac Island for over forty years. The Mackinac Island Stone Skipping Hall of Fame is dedicated to recognizing competitors, officials, and others who have made a significant contribution to the sport of Stone Skipping. Visit the Hall of Fame online at misshof.com.
