Jim was an Oildale boy through and through.  Born August 1, 1942, he resided in Oildale until he left for college.  He spent his early educational years in the Standard School system in grades K thru 8.  In 1956, he entered North High as a freshman.

Jim participated in football all four years at North;  baseball in 1957 and 58, and, track and field in 1959 and 60.  As a lineman on the SYL Championship team in 1957, he earned second team all-league honors.  In 1958, Jim was selected to the all-league team as well as the all-valley team.  Following his senior year in football,  Jim was selected to the all-city and all-valley teams.  He was the Stars’ Most Valuable Player that season as well as being named an Honorable Mention All American player nationally. During his senior year, he received the Sam Lynn Trophy as the Most Outstanding Male Athlete at North High School.  Upon graduation, he was off to the University of California at Berkeley on a full-ride football scholarship.

At Cal, Jim was the captain of the 1960 freshman team and, in 1963, the captain of the varsity squad.  At the end of his senior year, he earned the “Brick Muller Award” as the Most Valuable Lineman.  He also received All-Coast Honorable Mention and was selected to play in the 1964 Hula Bowl.  While at Cal, Jim got involved with their Rugby squad playing from 1962 thru 1965.  The 1965 squad was number one in the nation.  From 1967 thru 1985, he played on the Bay Area Touring Side team getting to play in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and England.  In 1968, the Bay Area Side was number one in the world.

Jim’s greatest memory of North High is being a starting tackle on the 1957 team that won the school’s first SYL football title.  He relished being the captain of the first football team to defeat the mighty Bakersfield High Drillers as well as having the privilege of playing for coaches Eliades and Allen.  He is especially grateful for having grown up with teammates and classmates who have become life-long friends.

Jim’s adult life has been spent working in the Labor Relations and Human Resources field with such large companies as Kaiser Gypsum and Bethlehem Steel.  However, Jim claims his best job was working for the Hilton Group as their Head of Labor Relations.  He and his wife Pat are enjoying his semi-retirement in Thousand Oaks, California, although he sometimes still takes consulting jobs in his area of expertise.

Ken Barnes won the first of his eight career individual World Championships by taking the .410 bore title in 1966.  It was only the seventh perfect score of 100-out-of-100 shot up to that time with the 410. At the 1967 Western Open Championships, he broke the first perfect 400-out-of 400 score in history using four gauges at one shoot, and, is still the only shooter to do so with pump action guns.

Between 1966 and 1969, Ken captured eight individual nationwide high averages for the year, five of which were world records at the time.  He is the first shooter to carry a 99% all around average for the year, and again, the only to do so with pump guns.  Ken was selected to the Sports Afield Magazine’s All–American Team twelve times between 1966 and 1978, being selected team captain twice.  Between 1966 and 1969 he won 12 individual California State titles including the All-Around four consecutive years.  He still holds the California State record of 27 individual titles won.

In 1974, Ken won his second world .410 title with his ninth perfect score with the Winchester Model 42 Pump gun, seven more than anyone else in history.  That gun is enshrined at the Hall of Fame in San Antonio, Texas.  After winning the 12 gauge title in 1975, Ken became one of only five shooters in history who have won a world title in each gauge.

Ken was inducted into the National Skeet Shooting Association Hall of Fame in 1979, and, the Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame in 1972. He is also a charter member of the California Hall of Fame.   For the last thirty years, Ken’s only competition has been at the event named for him annually at the Kern County Gun Club.

Born and raised in Bakersfield, Ken was introduced to skeet shooting in 1962 by his friend, Pete Lokey, owner of Westchester Bowl.  His first registered target shot at the old Kern County Gun Club below the Panorama bluffs was declared lost because the safety was still on. He fondly recalls that “I only broke four targets out of 25 the first time I shot”.

Ken and his father built and operated the tire store on Garces circle where he is remembered for putting up the “Big Indian” in the 1960’s.  During the mid-70’s, he managed the gun department at Vincent’s  Sporting Goods entering the real estate profession in 1978 until his recent retirement.

Ken feels very fortunate to have the shooting career that he has had and credits the support of his family and friends. Ken and his wife Loretta still live in Bakersfield and are blessed with five children and eight grandchildren.

Sam is a 1946 graduate of Delano High School.  He started and lettered all four years at the varsity level in both football and baseball.  He was elected to the Delano Football Hall of Fame in 2010.  In 2000, Sam was inducted into the Bob Elias Sports Hall of Fame for his achievements as a baseball coach in Kern County.

In 1949 Sam signed a professional baseball contract with the Pittsburg Pirates Organization.  After one season, Sam was released and began playing semi-pro ball in the Bakersfield area.  In 1950, the team won the California State Tournament where he set a record for back to back home runs and was selected to the All State Team as an outfielder.

Sam began his coaching career at Bakersfield High School in 1950 as “B” reserve football coach, and, a Frosh/Soph baseball coach.  His tenure at BHS didn’t last long as he was drafted into the armed forces and proudly served his country during the Korean War.  After the war, Sam returned to the Kern County area and later attended San Jose State University where he earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Physical Education with a minor in Health Education in 1955.

In 1957, Sam began his teaching career at North High School where he coached the  varsity line in football.  This team won its first South Yosemite League title.  Also that year, he coached the “D” Class basketball team.  Sam started coaching baseball at North in 1958 at the Junior Varsity level.  In 1959, his J.V. team won the SYL title, and, he coached at that level for seven years. From 1961 to 1967, Sam coached the “C” Class football team.  In 1968 he took over the “B” Class team and won the league championship.

Sam became the Varsity Baseball coach in 1965 and retired from that position in 1978.  During his career, Sam’s teams won over 300 games and won or shared SYL championships seven times. From 1972 to 1977, his baseball teams won six straight league titles, and, in 1976, he won his first Valley Championship.

Sam was the Department Chairman of the Physical Education Department from 1965 to 1971. He is also the former President of the Kern Chapter of the California Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

Born in October 1919 in St. Joseph, Missouri, Win spent his early years in the Midwest.  He graduated from Benton High School at the age of 16.  He then attended a local Junior College, playing in a semi-pro football league.

He enlisted in the Navy and served in the Pacific Theater, ending his military career as a Lt. Commander.  During his stint in the Navy , he took up boxing. Following the war, he was stationed at the Alameda Naval Base and Moffet Field.  On the G.I. bill, he attended the University of California at Berkeley.

While spending this time in northern California, he met and married Patricia after a two month courtship.  He was employed by the Southern Pacific Railroad during this time, as well as going to school.  His two sons were born while “Boot” was “on the rails”. It was during this time he felt a need to settle down.  It was his father-in-law who encouraged him to come to Bakersfield, telling him that “the area will remind him of his early days in Missouri”.

The family moved to Bakersfield in 1957 and Boot fell in love with the area the moment he arrived.  He started his teaching career, and, took over the wrestling program that same year at North High.  Having never trained nor coached wrestling before, he read every book on wrestling he could get his hands on, and, attended any clinic he could.  He actively recruited young men on campus to build up the numbers in the program.  During his time as coach, he helped develop the North of the River youth program, which acted as a feeder for the high school program.

His coaching career was highlighted by the relationships he had with his wrestlers.  He enjoyed the updates from his former student-wrestlers and was pleased when hearing about their successes in life.  In 1968, Boot concluded his coaching tenure after creating one of the premier programs in the Kern High School District.  He continued to be associated with wrestling in the area, doing some officiating and supporting the Coyote Club when it was established.

Twenty years after his arrival at North High, Boot completed his Masters Degree in History at CSUB in 1977.  After 33 years as a teacher, he retired in 1990.  He often remarked that he loved every day on the North High campus.  After retirement, he and his wife, Pat, enjoyed many years of traveling the United States and abroad, along with the joy of three kids and eight grandkids.  Knowing that life was a gift each and every day, Boot passed away in 1997 at the age of 78.  His children would like to thank the North High Athletic Hall of Fame Committee for honoring their father.  He would be humbly proud.

Vernon Burke attended North High School from 1955 to 1959.  In 1958, this “Star” was named to both the All-League football and basketball teams, was MVP of the basketball team, and was the school’s leading scorer.  He was the MVP of the basketball team and the schools leading scorer that year.  Burke continued his athletic excellence during his senior year being named to the All-League and All-Valley football teams in 1959.  After this impressive senior campaign, Burke was selected to play in the Senior Bowl.  Burke moved immediately into his senior basketball season where he was the SYL’s leading scorer and once again named to the All-League basketball team.  Burke was honored with the Jim Tyack Award, as the best athlete in Kern County in 1959.

Upon graduation, Burke continued his football career at Bakersfield College.  During his freshman year, Burke played end for the Renegades, a team that went on to win the National Championship and Junior Rose Bowl. Burke was named second team All-American and Junior Rose Bowl MVP.  During his sophomore year, Burke was named first team All-American and played in the All-American Football game.

Burke quickly caught the eye of Oregon State football coach Tommy Prothro.  Despite playing only two seasons at OSU Burke broke every important passing record at Oregon State including most catches in a career (117), most yards in a career, (1,799), most catches in a season (69) and most touchdowns in a season (10).   He led the team in both receiving and scoring in 1962 and 1963.  Burke broke the NCAA record in both pass receptions (69) and pass yardage (1007) in 1962.  Oregon State won the Liberty Bowl that year.  He was named the Oregon State Rookie of the Year and was a second team All-American.  He was drafted by the San Francisco 49’ers in the 5^th round and by the Oakland Raiders in the 15^th round of the NFL draft after the 1962 season.

Burke went on to play his senior season at OSU where he was named the team MVP.  Burke was a consensus All-American selection and was named to both the Kodak and Look Magazine All-American teams. Burke was honored with the Voit Memorial Award for the most outstanding senior football player on the west coast and the Pop Warner Award for the most outstanding player on the west coast.  He was a Hula Bowl recipient and played in the East-West Shrine game where he was named MVP.

After leaving Oregon State, Burke play four seasons in the NFL with the San Francisco 49’ers, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints until a knee injury ended his career.

Burke went on to become a successful real estate developer and general contractor in seven states.

Burke has since been inducted into the 1978 Bob Elias Hall of Fame, 1982 Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, 1991 Oregon State University Hall of Fame, 2001 Bakersfield College Football Hall of Fame, 2012 Oregon Sports Hall of Fame (Oregon State Liberty Bowl Team) and 2012 Oregon State University Hall of Fame (Oregon State Liberty Bowl Team).