By By Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
When William H. “Bill” Evans Jr. steps forward Saturday night to accept the honor of being inducted into the Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame he will be facing the camera rather than standing behind it as he has done for most of his adult life.
Evans, 72, has filmed and video taped Hartselle High School football games for nearly 50 years, and for several years has been the cameraman behind HOF induction ceremonies.
The Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame’s 2009 class will be honored Saturday at a banquet at the Decatur Holiday Inn. Joining Evans in the newest class will be former Hartselle’s Earl Warren and Jim Eidson, who played at Mississippi State and with the Dallas Cowboys, Eugene Page, Randy Morgan, Tina Chairs, Mike Smith and Evans.
The retired NASA engineer will have another “face the camera” moment at the 2009 induction ceremony. He was chosen from among the seven inductees to give an appreciation response following the presentation of awards.
Evans knows firsthand what he’s talking about. He retired from his 44-year engineering career on January 3, 2007, and four days later embarked on a new career as an assistant voluntary baseball coach at Grissom High School.
Evans said it came as a surprise when he was chosen for the Hall of Fame.
In addition to football, he played baseball at Morgan County High School from1950 to 1954.
He began filming MCHS football games, using 16mm film and later analog video and digital video. For about 25 years he worked with Joe Groover and currently works with Morgan County Circuit Judge Glenn Thompson as a partner.
For his support of Hartselle athletics he was honored as recipient of the Richard Grammer Memorial Award in 1975.
He managed and coached Hartselle youth baseball teams from 1975 to 1983, girl’s 17-18 softball in 1987 and 1988, Little League baseball teams in Huntsville from 1996 through 2004, baseball at Whitesburg Middle School in Huntsville from 2003 to 2006, travel team baseball teams from 2004 to 2006 and baseball at Grissom High School from 2007-2009.
Evans and his wife Sara Ann reside in Hartselle.
In spite of his years, Evans is sill going strong and doesn’t plan to give up sports anytime soon
“I was privileged to throw batting practice to the high school varsity on my 70th, 71st and 72nd birthday,” he said. “And when I no longer can climb the steps at J.P. Cain Stadium, I’ll put in a request for an elevator.”