(click on photo to start a slideshow of the ten nominees)

On Wednesday, April 6, ten more faces will be smiling down on Ballard High students from the Wall of Recognition in the lobby of the high school's main entrance.

Created by the Ballard High School Foundation in 1997, the Wall of Recognition honors BHS alumni who have been recognized by their peers for their achieved preeminence in their respective field.

Ballard High Foundation's founding president, C. David Hughbanks, said the original purpose of recognizing alumni was to show students what previous BHS students have accomplished and to inspire them.

"When the foundation was founded it was really about getting back to the basics - to learn the Alma Mater and to celebrate our alumni's achievement," Hughbanks said.

The purpose of the Ballard High School Foundation is to provide resources to enhance the educational experience of students and to honor the school's past.

"We are the most giving and successful public high school foundation in our area," said Richard Lee, Interim Executive director of the foundation. "To date we've put 2.1 million dollars back into the school."

Nominees to the Wall of Recognition are elected by their peers every two or three years and the nominees are celebrated during the Ballard High School Foundation Assembly. This year's celebration will be held at 9 a.m. on April 6th in the Earl Kelly Auditorium.

"What's interesting is that many of them are not well-known names but have gained so much achievement in their fields of expertise," said Lee.

The following ten BHS alumni will be honored:

Deann Beideck Olson, Class of 1957
Deann Beideck Olson began what was to be a life-long passion for figure skating on a pair of skates she purchased for twenty-five cents when she was twelve. By the time of graduation she was spending up to eight hours per day at the skating rink perfecting routines which would eventually lead her to the 1958 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Minneapolis. The following year she traveled to Sun Valley, Idaho where she competed and earned a gold medal passing eight levels of testing in what was considered record time. That same year she also took the Northwest Senior Ladies' championship title as well.
At the age of twenty, Deann married and ended her career in competitive skating. She never lost her love of the ice and eventually launched a successful career in professional coaching. She was skating director, coach and manager in Denver; Sun Valley; Tri-Cities as well as Palm Springs where she directed for Ice Capades Chalet. Deann was successful in taking skaters to all levels of USFSA competition including Nationals as well as being rated a Master in the Professional Skaters Association Freestyle, Figures and Precision.
In further recognition of her achievements, the Deann Beideck Olson trophy is awarded annually by the Skating Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs to the winner of the Northwest Pacific Juvenile Girls ice skating competition.

Dennis Burns, Class of 1962
Dennis Burns is one of the most talented, inventors, entrepreneurial and business persons to graduate from Ballard High School. He currently holds ten patents to his name as a result of his many great ideas and inventions. It started with the hockey mask he created while teaching art at the University of Washington from 1971 through 1973. Hockey masks did not exist at the time as the National Hockey League rule book prohibited facial protection. The following year masks were required for all amateurs. He later revolutionized an entire industry with the invention of the Toric lens, which caught the attention of the US Military. Burns also developed a wine bottle cork made of urethane compound. This synthetic cork eliminated the leakage common with bark cork as well as the mold in the cork itself. This would change the course of the wine industry and quality of the wine. In 1998 he and his son Jared established Revelry Vinters, a successful winery located in Walla Walla Washington.

John Epler, Class of 1958
After graduating from the University of Washington in 1965, Epler served two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic, helping poor communities construct schools and water systems. He then joined Peace Corps staff as a Trainer for new Volunteers. His love for and commitment to the Dominican Republic would follow him the rest of his life as would his dedication to international peace and poverty issues. 
Seeking a job in poverty programs, Epler landed in San Francisco with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He transferred to the Seattle office of HUD in 1979, heading the Community Development Division until leaving in 1995 to start a consulting firm to assist cities and states to develop effective programs to end homelessness. He served on the Governor's Advisory Council on the Homeless for 10 years.
Epler also served as President of Ploughshares, a non-profit peace activist group focused on ending the Cold War. In 1987, the year President Reagan called the USSR the "evil empire", the family worked in the Soviet Union on construction of the Seattle-Tashkent Peace Park.
In 2004, he created the Community Challenge Fund, which he and his wife seeded to match donations. Epler manages the Fund, is President of the Friends of the Dominican Republic and is currently a 2011 nominee for the national John F. Kennedy Service Award.
"John was always empathic to the have-nots," said Judy Olson Rikansrud, current president of The Ballard High Foundation. "To learn that he has dedicated his life to this who have not is great."

John Goodman, Class of 1971
John Goodman started Goodman Real Estate in 1980 in Seattle. Today his company has expanded into six major real estate companies, managing $22 billion in assets. Goodman Real Estate has expanded to 42 states, 50 cities and seven countries, employing 5,000 people. John is the chairman and majority owner of six real estate companies, one being Pinnacle Management, the largest apartment manager in the United States.
Goodman is a generous donor, giving to numerous charities in Washington and across the United States and contributing millions of dollars through the Goodman Foundation. They provide matching funds to vital organizations including American Red Cross, Ballard Boy's and Girl's Clubs, Ballard High School, Ballard High School Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of King County, Bishop Blanchet High School, Children's Hospital, The Moyer Foundation, and Northwest Kidney Center.
He was a million dollar donor to Ballard Boys and Girls Club in 2009.

Tom McAdams, Class of 1950
Thomas D. McAdams joined the US Coast Guard right out of high school and served for 30 years. 27 of which were active duty. Many of these years were devoted to the Search and Rescue field. He was personally involved in over 5,000 calls for assistance and is credited with personally saving the lives of more than 100 people. He has been upside down or pitch-polled over 9 times in various CG Motor Life Boats ranging in lengths from 36-52 feet.
Among the award and medals McAdams has received are Legion of Merit Medal from the President of the United States, Coast Guard Medal from the Secretary of the Treasury, Gold Lifesaving Medal from the Commandant U.S. Coast Guard, Coast Guard Achievement Medal from the Commandant U.S. Coast Guard. He was the first enlisted man to be a delegate to the International Lifeboat Conference in New York City in 1970.
He has been a public speaker to thousands in Community Clubs and other organizations speaking to groups on boating safety from Puerto Rico to Alaska. McAdams has been featured in many national publications including Life Magazine and National Geographic.
After a career in saving lives for the Coast Guard, he moved on to saving lives with the Fire Department. He is now a Captain in the Newport Oregon Fire Department where he has served for thirty years.
"Tom played football in high school. He was 145-pound guard but played like a 200 pounder," Hughbanks said. "He was small but tough and I assume he still is."

Charles Mullavey, Class of 1948
At Ballard High School Chuck was an All City Athlete in football, track and basketball. He attended Stanford University on an academic and athletic scholarship but when a shoulder injury ended his football career at Stanford, Mullavey returned to Ballard and finished college at the University of Washington. He went on to graduate from University of Washington School of Law and by the time Mullavey set up his office on Ballard Avenue, he had a family with three children. To make ends meet, he worked mornings at a sheet metal factory and as a lawyer, Mullavey took nearly every case that walked in the door. One steady source of income was tax return preparation, which fed into a general estate planning practice, which ultimately resulted in a thriving probate practice. Mullavey has developed the largest probate practice of any individual attorney in King County and probably in Washington, and has given back to many Ballard organizations. A longtime client summarized Mullavey extraordinary commitment to his clients and his profession as follows: “Chuck is one of the most appreciated and respected professionals in the Northwest. His kindness and special assistance to senior citizens and all those in need emphasize the goodness of this man.”

Dick Scheumann, Class of 1952
After high school graduation, Richard Scheumann received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington and served in the Air Force for three years.
His professional career was in heavy construction. He served as president and co-owner of Constructors Pacific Company, a Seattle based heavy construction firm building public works projects in the Western U.S. including Alaska. He was involved in the building of bridges, dams, powerhouses, pipelines and tunnels.
He has served as a consultant to the Government of China and the City of Portland and used his position to provide temporary employment to many promising students as well as teachers on summer leave. Scheumann has served on numerous boards of directors, including ten years at Crista Ministries, ten years at Seattle Youth Symphony, twenty three years at Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, Alaska and twenty years at University of Washington Medical Center. He was also a Trustee for Sheldon Jackson and a founding member of the University of Washington Medical Center Cardiac Research Council, where he continues to serve. Richard was a founding member of the Ballard High School Foundation and was instrumental in getting the greenhouse and the flagpole funded and built at Ballard High School.

Neil Twelker, Class of 1938
Twelker earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington and after three years teaching at UW, he joined the Army Corps of Engineers. In his nine years with the Corps, he was responsible for soil engineering on projects including the Chief Joseph Dam, still one of the largest earthen structures ever built.
From 1953 to 1956 Neil worked on the largest caisson ever sunk on the North American continent, in the Saint Lawrence Seaway, as well as on military airfields in New England and the Rance River Tidal Power Dam in St. Malo, France. Along the way, he earned his A.M in Soil Mechanics and Ph.D. in Soil Mechanics with a minor in Geology, both from Harvard University, in 1954 and 1958.
The ensuing forty one years saw Neil engaged in over 6500 professional assignments in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, including soils and foundation management for buildings, bridges, roads, dams, and breakwaters. Around Seattle, Neil's projects included the Crown Plaza Hotel, Westin Building, Fourth and Blanchard Building, Warwick Hotel, Market Place North, Seattle Aquarium, Museum of Flight, Restoration of Pike Place Market, the Sedgwick James Building (the "Darth Vader Building") the stabilization and construction of the entire Inverness neighborhood, and many other projects. He was also involved in the construction of much of downtown Portland.
In his last years, Neil was a leader in proposing that the Alaskan Way Viaduct could be saved by retrofitting. He never gave up his lifelong dedication to trying to solve engineering problems in an efficient and sensible way, at a reasonable cost - for any and all of us.

Jim Vatn, Class of 1962
Known as "Mr. Ballard" Vatn dedicated his life to the Ballard community. Literally countless voluntary public service hours were recognized and appreciated both locally and internationally.
Organizations which benefited from Jim's participation included Seafair where he was a past-president, Ballard Rotary and the Seattle Mariners RBI Club. Fiercely proud of his Norwegian heritage, Jim immersed himself in all things Scandinavian, including Ballard's Sytennde Mai Committee (serving as parade chair for thirty years), Swedish Medical Center Board of Governors, Sons of Norway, University of Washington Department of Scandinavian Studies, Nordlandslaget Femboringen, Norwegian American Chamber of Commerce and the Nordic Heritage Museum.
Jim never forgot his Ballard High School experience and gave freely of his time and talents to his alma mater. He was an active member and chair of the Ballard High School Athletic Committee and Ballard High School Foundation. He served as chair of the very successful annual Foundation Golf Classic. Attendees of football and basketball games could hear the "Voice of the Beavers" - and came to recognize it as none other than Jim's.
The title of "Sir" was bestowed on Jim in 1997 by his majesty King Harold VI, King of Norway as he knighted Jim with the Royal order of St. Olaf's medal for all of his efforts in promoting relationships between Norway and the United States. August 4, 2009 was declared as Sir Jim Vatn Day in Seattle by the Seattle City Council.

Norm Werner, Class of 1957
Upon high school graduation, Captain Norm Werner followed his heritage to a career as a master mariner. He graduated from California Maritime Academy, went to sea, and traveled the world. When he achieved his Capitan's rank he decided to become a "Ship Pilot."
He served as a ship pilot for forty years in three different stations. He spent twenty one years in the Panama Canal Zone, six years in Gray's Harbor and twelve years in Puget Sound.
At one point he was chosen to be the first merchant marine officer to be trained in Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation at John Hopkins University under the scientist who discovered GPS. He was also granted top secret clearance by the Navy.
He was elected president of the Panama Canal Pilots at the time legislation for the Panama Canal treaty was being formulated. He traveled from Panama to Washington D.C. on many occasions, representing the people who operated the canal and moved the ships. The results of these meetings facilitated the transition of the canal.
He retired from the Puget Sound Pilots in January and now works as a consultant on piloting matters.

To learn more about the Ballard High School Foundation, please visit: www.bhsfoundation.com