Cleveland International Hall of Fame to welcome 10 new inductees - The News-Herald
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Joseph Valencic, a well-known figure in the Slovenian-American community, will join nine others in being honored by the Cleveland International Hall of Fame on June 7.
The Hall of Fame recognizes those individuals who have made valuable and lasting contributions to the multicultural city and region and who motivate new generations of leaders, according to a news release.
Being inducted will be 2022 honorees:
• Anda Cook, (Latvian)
• Carl Robson, (Ethiopian community)
• Victor Ruiz, (Puerto Rican)
• Taras Szmagala, (Ukrainian).
In addition, the Hall of Fame will recognize the 2020 inductees who missed out on their ceremony due to the pandemic. In addition to Valencic, they are:
• May Chen (Chinese)
• Margaret Lynch (Irish)
• Valarie McCall (African-American)
• Ramesh Shah (Indian)
• Berj Shakarian (Armenian).
TV-3 anchor Russ Mitchell will be the emcee and Cleveland Bishop Edward Malesic will be the guest speaker and give the invocation at the induction event which will take place at Windows on the River.
Doors open at 5 p.m. with dinner and a program at 6.
To purchase tickets, place an ad in the commemorative book, or be a sponsor, contact 216-406-6954 or Info@ClevelandInternationalHallOfFame.com.
Valencic is a founder and past president of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame, the attraction that showcases the genre of American dance music that emerged from the city’s Slovenian and nationality neighborhoods. He currently is vice president and directs the museum and music archives and promotes music events. He also produces the Polka Music Awards stage shows.
He also serves as the long-time president of the Cleveland Federation of Lodges of the Slovene National Benefit Society, America’s largest Slovenian organization, which operates the SNPJ Farm recreation center in Kirtland.
Every Saturday, Valencic broadcasts in Slovenian and English with music and news from Slovenia at 1 p.m. on the Polka Hall of Fame show on WINT 1330 AM and 101.5 FM and streaming on 247PolkaHeaven.com. He also emcees special events as varied as Slovenian Independence Day at Cleveland City Hall, Slovenian Culture Day presentations, and even the Haiku Death Match for Heights Arts.
For Slovenian television, he hosted the annual awards ceremony of the Slovenian Academy of Arts and Sciences.
He attended Collinwood High School and Phillips Andover Academy and holds degrees from Kent State University.
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