EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The second phase of the Hilliard Lyons Corridor of Champions, featuring a permanent memorial to the victims of the Dec. 13, 1977 plane crash, will be dedicated at the Ford Center on Sunday, January 26.
 
A dedication ceremony will take place beginning at 11:45 a.m. that day with the University of Evansville men's basketball team set to face Bradley beginning at 1 p.m.  The general public is invited to the event, which will be emceed by Mike Blake and will feature speakers that include 1977 assistant coach Stafford Stephenson.  The ceremony is expected to last 15-20 minutes.
 
This phase of the Hilliard Lyons Corridor of Champions is a memorial to those members of the University of Evansville family (players, head coach, administrators, and friends) who lost their lives in the 1977 plane crash.  The case will be located perpendicular to the current display on the long hall near the elevators.  The exhibit design encourages reflection while memorializing the team and friends lost in the events of December 13, 1977.  Measuring approximately 20 feet long by 8 feet high, the memorial wall serves as a reminder of what this event meant to the community.
 
Fire & Rain, an Evansville based communications firm, designed the display with one goal in mind – to tell the story of the 1977 team so they will be remembered for generations to come.  The museum-quality exhibit features photos of all of the members of the UE family who perished in the crash, action shots from basketball games played by the team, a narrative of the accident, and photos related to the tragedy and its aftermath.
 
The center of the display features the weeping basketball that is also part of the memorial on the University of Evansville campus.  This part of the exhibit is illuminated in a manner that encourages reflection. The center panel also includes a quote from Dr. Wallace Graves (who was UE president at the time of the crash) in which he challenges the community to pick up the torch of those lost and carry it forward. President Grave's words inspired people to move forward in 1977 and will now inspire generations to come.
 
The exhibit was made possible through donations. Berry Plastics is the Gold Sponsor; their sponsorship is in memory of Meg Dettwiler. Meg was a Berry employee, long-time Purple Aces Club president and avid Aces supporter; she died in 1999. Anniversary Sponsors are Bussing-Koch Foundation, Kenneth and Martha Maikranz, Curt and Kelley Begle, Heritage Federal Credit Union, Schultheis Insurance, Susan and Steve Worthington, Jack and Dinah Dutton (in memory of "Pappy" Jack Dutton), Benny's Flooring, Kathy Kleindorfer and Steve Wolf, and University of Evansville.   
 
All are invited to the dedication on the 26^th.  The Aces are slated to face Bradley roughly an hour after the completion of the event.  Several promotions are in place for the televised contest including $5 tickets courtesy of the Evansville Courier and Press along with $1 hot dogs, popcorn and sodas courtesy of the Ford Center.  Doors for the dedication and game will open at 11:30 a.m.