Chuck Tanner Awards Set to Celebrate PNC Park

Tickets are still available for The Chuck Tanner Awards Banquet to be held this Saturday November 14.

Chuck Tanner led the “We are Family” Pittsburgh Pirates to their last World Series in 1979.

Now, his name remains tied to another worthy endeavor.

This Saturday, November 14, 2015, the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh will host the ninth annual Chuck Tanner Awards Banquet at the Rivers Club in Downtown Pittsburgh.

The Rotary Club of Pittsburgh has many reasons for hosting this event in honor of Chuck Tanner. Of course, the Club seeks to raise money for the good works of Rotary and to increase public awareness of Rotary projects. The money raised from this event helps us fund many worthwhile projects and events throughout Greater Pittsburgh.

The highlight of this year’s event will be the presentation of the Chuck Tanner MLB Manager of the Year Award. Previous winners include Buck Showalter,  Clint Hurdle, Jim Leyland, and others.  Receiving the 2015 Chuck Tanner MLB Manager of the Year Award will be a name very familiar to Pittsburgh Pirates fans – Jeff Banister. In his first year as manager of the Texas Rangers, Banister led the Rangers to the NL West division crown and enjoyed a deep playoff run.

Kent Tekulve, ROOT Sports broadcaster and closer on Tanner’s 1979 team, serves as honorary chairperson for the event, which will honor many figures in Pirates baseball past and present, as well as other notable figures in baseball.

The Co-Master of Ceremonies for the event will be Dan Zangrilli of 93.7-FM “The Fan” and Joe Klimchak of the Pirates on-field broadcast team. Returning to conduct the live auction will be Rotary’s very own John Chamberlin.

With this year’s theme of “Celebrating PNC Park”, Erie, PA, native and nationally recognized Celebrity Sports Artist and Disney Master Artist, Kevin-John, will return to create a special limited edition print of PNC Park for everyone in attendance and will be present to personally sign this beautiful piece of artwork. Kevin-John’s artwork has been showcased on ESPN, Spike TV, and NBC, at Super Bowl XXXIX, XL, XLI and the PGA Tour.

To purchase tickets to the banquet or to learn about how to support the event, please go to www.chucktannerbanquet.com or call 412.471.6210.