Awards Hail Tarkanian, Evans, Bradford

Three Pasadena natives were honored last month for their achievements in college and professional sports at the first Roy Campanella Humanitarian Awards at the Pasadena Hilton.

Sponsored by the city and the Alkebu-lan Cultural Center, the awards ceremony recognized the community concern and commitment to excellence demonstrated by Campanella. Campanella, the first African American catcher in major league baseball, played for the Brooklyn Dodgers until 1958, when he was paralyzed in an automobile accident.

This year’s award recipients were former Nevada Las Vegas basketball Coach Jerry Tarkanian; baseball great Darrell Evans and Charles Bradford, a Pasadena activist and former NAACP Man of the Year. Bradford played professional football for the Philadelphia Eagles.

All three men graduated from Pasadena high schools and attended Pasadena City College. Tarkanian also coached basketball at PCC before eventually moving to UNLV.

The Alkebu-lan Cultural Center was started five years ago to provide an artistic and musical outlet for young men. The center’s boys choir performed at the awards dinner.