FOOTBALL LEGEND FEATURED AT GNY “BOOK CLUB” LUNCHEON
Some 50 years ago, arguably the greatest game in the history of football took place. Providing an inside account of the game to an audience of Salvation Army donors and friends was one of its most famous participants New York Giants and sports-casting legend Frank Gifford.
Gifford is co-author (with Peter Richmond) of The Glory Game: How the 1958 NFL Championship
Changed Football Forever, and served as special guest speaker at the most recent installment of The Salvation Army Greater New York Division’s Book Club Luncheon series, at ’21’ Club in Manhattan.
“It was really, quite frankly, a labor of love. I got to talk to people I hadn’t talked to or communicated with in 50 years, “ said the Giants Hall-of-Famer, whose other career, as a sportscaster, included 27 years as a voice of ABC’s Monday Night Football.
The Glory Game provides an insider’s recount of the unforgettable 1958 championship game between Gifford’s Giants and the Baltimore Colts at Yankee Stadium, the first title game to ever go into sudden-death overtime and which was broadcast to millions nationally (though it was “blacked out” in New York). The drama and excitement of that game, won by the Colts, 23-17, helped propel football to the forefront of American sports.
Gifford’s book is fueled by the stories and anecdotes from every living player on both teams. “As I set out to find all the ones who were still alive, with the Baltimore Colts as well as the New York Giants, it brought back so many memories,” he said.
Veteran WABC-TV Eyewitness News sports director and anchor Scott Clark served as MC of the luncheon and provided his own heart-warming recollections of Gifford. “He was everyone’s All-American,” Clark said, “and he lived up to his billing.”
Although Gifford was the luncheon’s main attraction, the program also featured other speakers and topics. Among them was Shevette Watson, from The Salvation Army’s Brooklyn Bedford Corps Community Center, who gave testimony about how the afterschool program at the corps proved a life-changing experience for her and her son. “The Salvation Army has always provided a nurturing environment for my son,” Watson said.
Clark himself recounted his own personal experience with the Army. As a youngster, he described how he “honed his basketball game” at a Salvation Army center where his friend’s dad served as an officer and learned a lot more about the Army in the process.
Lt. Colonel Guy D. Klemanski, Divisional Commander for The Salvation Army Greater New York Division, also spoke, educating the audience about the depth of services The Salvation Army provides across the 14-county Greater New York Division.
In appreciation for serving as guest author and for all his career accomplishments, Gifford was presented a plaque, on behalf of the Army, by Major Sherrylyn Moore, Secretary for Program for the Greater New York Division. Clark also received a plaque, for his role as MC, presented to him by Lt. Colonel Klemanski.
Gifford expressed his appreciation to The Salvation Army for inviting him to serve as guest speaker. “I am delighted to be a part of today, and a major part of that delight is that it’s associated with The Salvation Army,” he said.
The event concluded with a book-signing and sale, with all proceeds going to Salvation Army programs supporting families in need. (Gifford and his wife, Kathie Lee, have long been involved in charitable work on behalf of children.)
Sponsors of the luncheon were the New York Giants and the National Football League.
The Greater New York Division’s Book Club Luncheon series is a complimentary donor event that features celebrity authors with inspiring stories to tell. Previous guest authors in the series have included Food Network TV host and entrepreneur Sandra Lee and Public Television producer/trailblazer Dr. William F. Baker.
|Ken Speranza|