Nearly four hundred family members, friends, and fans gathered at Edisto Fork United Methodist Church on the evening of August 27, 2015 to witness the induction of six members into the inaugural class of the Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five (OCSD5) Athletic Hall of Fame. The class included former NFL players Alex Barron and Dwayne Harper, active NFL player Tim Jennings, retired basketball coach Artie Knight, the late basketball coach Edward Pellman, and retired coach and Principal Dr. Geb Runager. The event was co-hosted by South Carolina State University “Coach Emeritus” Willie Jeffries and WIS-TV Meteorologist Von Gaskin.
    Each of the inductees received commemorative trophies and Proclamations from Orangeburg Mayor Michael Butler. After accepting their awards, each inductee had an opportunity to address the audience to share their personal thoughts and stories.
    Alex Barron was the first to speak and recalled his initial thoughts when he was contacted by the selection committee for the Hall of Fame. “When I got the phone call, I didn’t think it was real at first. It’s an honor and a blessing following years of hard work”. He continued, “I just finished talking with Arturo Freeman and the first thing we both said was there’s no way on this earth that anybody practiced harder than we did at O-W. I thank Coach Brown for that.”
    Dwayne Harper was next and had a little fun with the host saying, “I’m just happy that I got into one of these Halls of Fame before Coach Jeffries.” Harper gave thanks to his parents saying, “I want thank my Dad for my athletic ability and my Mom for giving me good sense and a good sense of humor. Without good sense, athletic ability doesn’t go far.”
    Tim Jennings was unable to attend the banquet as he is currently in training camp with the Chicago Bears. He was represented by his mother Geneva Jennings-Addison and Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School’s Head Football Coach Tommy Brown. Coach Brown recalled how Jennings became a highly sought after recruit after a stellar post-season performance in the Shrine Bowl. “Tim was the last one signed but the first one drafted at Georgia. All of the things that have happened to him, the Pro Bowls and playing well, I’m not surprised.”
    Over the course of his twenty-one year coaching career, Artie Knight won ten state championships in four different sports including five in boys basketball, one in girls basketball, three in boys track, and one in girls softball. Recalling his start as a track coach, Knight said “I had never coached track and never took part in track, but when I went to Holly Hill they had a perfect layout for a track so I built one. Not the first year, but for the next six years, we either won the state championship or were runners up. That made me proud.”
    The late Edward Pellman was represented by his son Edward Pellman Jr. and Craig Frierson, a former assistant coach. Pellman Jr. told a story about his father’s first championship. “I was sitting behind him and the team when he won. I was about three rows up in the bleachers when the buzzer went off. I remember I jumped so high in the air I thought I was flying. But when I looked at a picture of that moment in my Mom’s house, I was three rows high and he was on the floor, he was higher than I was.”
    The last to speak, the always humble Dr. Geb Runager told a story about a ten year old boy in church the past Sunday who asked him, “You’re in the Hall of Fame?” When Dr. Runager replied yes, the boy asked, “Were you that good?” Dr. Runager replied, “No, but my players were."
    Prior to the close of the Banquet, South Carolina State University Head Football Coach Buddy Pough presented the first David Lee Norman Scholarship to Ashley Alexis Brockington, a rising senior at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School.
    The Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five Athletic Hall of Fame has a goal of inducting new members into its Hall of Fame each year while also raising funds to provide scholarships for students.