Dapper Dan Charities

The Dapper Dan Charities were founded by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editor Al Abrams in 1936. It is one of the oldest non-profit and fundraising community sports club in the world, and the oldest in Western Pennsylvania. The foundations fundraises for its charities primarily through the annual "Dapper Dan Banquet". Started in 1936 the first few banquets honored such regional figures as Art Rooney, Jock Sutherland and John Harris. In 1939 the banquet began an annual tradition of naming the region's "Sportsman of the Year" and in 1999 the "Sportswoman of the Year". In recent decades all charitable contributions raised by the banquet go to the Boys and Girls club of Western Pennsylvania, which directly funds activities and equipment for nearly 7,000 youths annually. The organization also presently sponsors the annual Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic.^[1]

Previous fundraisers included the occasional Dapper Dan Open golf tournament in the 1930s and 1940s, World Heavyweight Titles hosted at Forbes Field in the 1950s and 1960s and the Roundball Classic hosted at the Civic Arena from 1965 until the 1980s.

Through Pittsburgh Pirates broadcaster Bob Prince's friendship with Fred Hutchinson the Dapper Dan Charity awarded Major League Baseball's annual Hutch Award at the annual banquet until at least 1993.^[2][3][4][5]

Dapper Dan awards

Year	Sportsman	Sport or Team	Sportswoman	Sport or Team	Lifetime Achievement	Sport or Team	Venue
1939	Billy Conn	boxing					William Penn Hotel [6]
1940	Fritzie Zivic	boxing					William Penn [7]
1941	Aldo Donelli	Steelers					William Penn [7]
1942	Bill Dudley	Steelers					William Penn [7]
1943	Rip Sewell	Pirates					William Penn [7]
1944	Frankie Frisch	Pirates					William Penn [7]
1945	Billy Conn	boxing					William Penn [7]
1946	Bill Dudley	Steelers					William Penn [7]
1947	Ralph Kiner	Pirates					William Penn [7]
1948	Bill Meyer	Pirates					William Penn [7]
1949	Ralph Kiner	Pirates					William Penn [7]
1950	Joe Geri	Steelers					William Penn [7]
1951	Murry Dickson	Pirates					William Penn [7]
1952	Red Dawson	Panthers					William Penn [7]
1952	Stan Musial	Cardinals					William Penn [7]
1953	Lew Worsham	golf					William Penn [7]
1954	Dudley Moore	Dukes					William Penn [7]
1955	John Michelosen	Steelers					William Penn [7]
1956	Dale Long	Pirates					Penn-Sheraton [7][8]
1957	Dick Groat	Pirates					Penn-Sheraton [7]
1958	Danny Murtaugh	Pirates					Penn-Sheraton [7]
1959	Elroy Face	Pirates					Hilton [7]
1960	Arnold Palmer	golf					Hilton [7]
1960	Dick Groat	Pirates					Hilton [7][9]
1961	Roberto Clemente	Pirates					Hilton [7]
1962	Lou Michaels	Steelers					Hilton [7]
1963	John Michelosen	Steelers
1964	Delvin Miller	horse racing
1965	Vernon Law	Pirates					Hilton [10]
1966	Roberto Clemente	Pirates
1967	Baz Bastien	Penguins
1968	Steve Blass	Pirates
1968	Dick Hoak	Steelers
1969	Red Manning	Dukes
1970	Danny Murtaugh	Pirates
1971	Willie Stargell	Pirates
1971	Danny Murtaugh	Pirates
1971	Roberto Clemente	Pirates
1972	Chuck Noll	Steelers
1973	Johnny Majors	Panthers
1974	Joe Greene	Steelers
1975	Terry Bradshaw	Steelers
1976	Tony Dorsett	Panthers
1977	Franco Harris	Steelers
1978	Dave Parker	Pirates					Hilton[11]
1979	Willie Stargell	Pirates			Stan Musial	Cardinals	Hilton
1980	Hugh Green	Panthers
1981	Jackie Sherrill	Panthers			Art Rooney	Steelers	Hilton [12]
1982	Joe Paterno[13]	Lions			Joe Schmidt[14]	Pitt	Hilton[15][16]
1983	Dan Marino	Panthers			Franco Harris	Steelers	Hilton[17]
1984	John Stallworth	Steelers					Hilton
1985	Louis Lipps	Steelers			Bill Dudley [18]	Steelers	Hilton
1986	Mario Lemieux	Penguins					Hilton
1987	Syd Thrift	Pirates
1988	Mario Lemieux	Penguins					Hilton
1989	Roger Kingdom	Panthers (track)					Hilton
1990	Jim Leyland	Pirates					Hilton
1991	Bob Johnson	Penguins					Hilton[19]
1992	Bill Cowher	Steelers					Hilton [2]
1993	Jay Bell	Pirates
1994	Bill Cowher	Steelers
1995	Jaromir Jagr	Penguins
1996	Kurt Angle	wrestling					Hilton[20]
1997	Jerome Bettis	Steelers					Hilton[21]
1998	Joe Paterno	Lions					Hilton[22]
1999	Mario Lemieux	Penguins	Suzie McConnell-Serio	Rockers/Oakland Catholic	Dan Marino[23]	Pitt	Hilton
2000	Jason Kendall	Pirates	Dori Anderson	Blackhawk High	Mike Ditka[24][25]	Aliquippa	Hilton
2001	Kordell Stewart	Steelers	Carol Semple Thompson[26]	golf	Chuck Noll[27]	Steelers	Hilton[28]
2002	Ben Howland	Panthers	Swin Cash	UConn Huskies	Lanny Frattare	Pirates	Hilton[29]
2003	Larry Fitzgerald	Panthers	Kelly Mazzante	Lady Lions	The 1979 Champion Teams	Pirates Steelers	Hilton[30]
2004	Ben Roethlisberger	Steelers	Lauryn Williams	olympics	Arnold Palmer	Golf	Convention Center[31]
2005	Jerome Bettis	Steelers	Agnus Berenato	Panthers	Joe Paterno	Penn State	Hilton[32][33]
2006	Sidney Crosby	Penguins	Swin Cash	Detroit Shock	Dan Rooney[34]	Steelers	Convention Center
2007	Sidney Crosby	Penguins	Agnus Benerato	Panthers	(None bestowed)		Convention Center[35]
2008[36]	Mike Tomlin	Steelers	Shavonte Zellous	Panthers	Dick LeBeau	Football	Petersen Events Center
2009	Evgeni Malkin	Penguins	Penn State Volleyball	Lions	Bruno Sammartino	wrestling	Petersen Events Center [37]
2010	Jamie Dixon	Panthers [38]	Suzie McConnell-Serio	Dukes	Joe Greene	Steelers	Convention Center [39]
2011	Dan Bylsma, Marc-Andre Fleury[40]	Penguins	Pittsburgh Passion[40]	Women's football	Mike Ditka[41]	Panthers	Convention Center
2012	Andrew McCutchen[42]	Pirates	Taylor Schram[42]	PSU Women's soccer	Hines Ward[42]	Steelers	Convention Center
2013	Clint Hurdle[43]	Pirates	Patrice Matamoros[44]	Pittsburgh Marathon	Franco Harris[45]	Steelers	Convention Center
2014	Antonio Brown	Steelers	Christa Harmotto	Penn State (Volleyball)	Jim Kelly	Football	Convention Center

Banquet festivities

Various years the Dapper Dan Banquet has been a who's who of Western Pennsylvania sports, and attracted national and even international stars and entertainers. In 1993 George Wendt and David Lander hosted the event.^[2] Howard Baldwin, Craig Patrick, Lanny Frattare, Marty Schottenheimer, Rod Woodson, Ambassador Dan Rooney, Art Rooney, Mark May, John Brown, Sal Sunseri, Hank Aaron,^[46] Myron Cope, Lou Holtz,^[47] Terry Francona, Pat Mullins, Dave Robinson, Len Dawson, Lou Groza, Bud Wilkinson,^[48] Bob Prince, Governor Lawrence and Todd Blackledge^[12] have all participated in recent events.

References

1. "Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic". Wrestlingclassic.com. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
2. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eIRIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=x24DAAAAIBAJ&dq=dapper-dan%20hutch&pg=1412%2C4624886
3. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-YNIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WG4DAAAAIBAJ&dq=dapper-dan%20dinner&pg=1862%2C1482828
4. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YHspAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xtgEAAAAIBAJ&dq=dapper-dan%20dinner&pg=2760%2C3236585
5. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NRIhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4XQFAAAAIBAJ&dq=dapper-dan%20dinner&pg=5800%2C2899172
6. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=y8BRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qmkDAAAAIBAJ&dq=dapper%20dan&pg=4931%2C4844444
7. "Dapper Dan Dinner Set at Hilton Feb .3: Big Sports Party to Hit Town for 27th Anniversary". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 12, 1962. Retrieved 2015-06-23. "The coming Dapper Dan Dinner will mark the fourth year in succession that it has been held in the huge Hilton Ball Room. The previous 23 fetes were staged at the old William Penn Hotel, later the Penn-Sheraton."
8. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=D8ZaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3msDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7105%2C3094682
9. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-Z1RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=O2wDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3559%2C1235000
10. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1p1RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kmwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7101%2C4265236
11. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yQIOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MG0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2910%2C3561930
12. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SkUuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MNoFAAAAIBAJ&dq=dapper%20dan&pg=1588%2C3376463
13. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FtFRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9G0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7107%2C2329267
14. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=F9FRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9G0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6863%2C2835680
15. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/13730469/
16. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CqM0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=mm0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6975%2C1841804
17. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=W-gNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p20DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2401%2C1120339
18. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CINIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PG4DAAAAIBAJ&dq=dapper%20dan&pg=5404%2C545803
19. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EbJRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SW4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5414%2C1895465
20. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QtNRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zm8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3157%2C1346458
21. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MYRIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OG8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4851%2C8721924
22. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NoRIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=P28DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5003%2C4829592
23. http://old.post-gazette.com/sports_headlines/20000213dapper1.asp
24. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2004&dat=20010211&id=e7UiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7LQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6267,2815220
25. http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/020901aaa.html
26. http://old.post-gazette.com/sports/other/20011225wdapper1225np4.asp
27. http://old.post-gazette.com/steelers/20020209noll0209p4.asp
28. http://old.post-gazette.com/sports/other/20020210dapper2.asp
29. http://old.post-gazette.com/sports/other/20030210dapper0210p3.asp
30. http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/other-sports/2004/02/22/Magic-of-No-1-takes-the-spotlight-at-Dapper-Dan-dinner/stories/200402220209
31. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=q-dRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CXIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5951%2C1328500
32. http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/other-sports/2006/05/01/Honorees-Paterno-Berenato-Bettis-share-Dapper-Dan-spotlight/stories/200605010110
33. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rodIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MnIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6473%2C93617
34. http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2007/04/22/Rooney-Cash-Crosby-honored-at-Dapper-Dan-Dinner/stories/200704220167
35. Finder, Chuck (2008-04-02). "Dapper Dan: Crosby, Berenato humble winners - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Post-gazette.com. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
36. Dvorchak, Robert (2009-02-15). "2009 Dapper Dan Awards: Mike Tomlin & Shavonte Zellous". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
37. Dvorchak, Robert (2010-03-26). "Dapper Dan: Malkin, Sammartino, Penn State volleyball claim awards - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Post-gazette.com. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
38. Fittipaldo, Ray (2010-12-26). "Dapper Dan Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year: Jamie Dixon and Suzie McConnell-Serio - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Post-gazette.com. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
39. Sanserino, Michael (2010-12-05). "Dapper Dan Dinner: Ganassi chosen for new award 2011 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Post-gazette.com. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
40. Anderson, Shelly (2012-01-22). "Dapper Dan 76th Honorees: Bylsma, Fleury, Passion headline 2012 dais". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
41. Sanserino, Michael (2012-01-01). "Dapper Dan Honors - Ditka, doctor to receive awards". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
42. "McCutchen honored as Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 30, 2012.
43. Brink, Bill (2013-12-21). "Pirates manager Hurdle humbled by pick for Dapper Dan - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Post-gazette.com. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
44. Werner, Sam (2013-12-21). "Dapper Dan Sportswoman gave marathon new life as director - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Post-gazette.com. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
45. Fittipaldo, Ray (2014-02-01). "Dapper Dan: Franco Harris a player for all times - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Post-gazette.com. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
46. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-4NIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WG4DAAAAIBAJ&dq=dapper%20dan&pg=5106%2C1985277
47. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xesNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rG0DAAAAIBAJ&dq=dapper%20dan&pg=7112%2C1848087
48. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rD0NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XmwDAAAAIBAJ&dq=greater%20pitt%20runway&pg=7079%2C193511

External links

• Dapper Dan history page
• Award history at the Wayback Machine (archived June 2, 2010)