Porter To Be Inducted Into Alton Athletics Hall Of Fame In November
Long-time sportswriter Steve Porter stands next to a series of articles he wrote for the old Herald newspaper in Collinsville in the early 70s. They are on display at the Old Herald Brewery and Distillery. Photo from Steve Porter collection.
By Steve Rensberry
rensberry@timestribunenews.com
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Former Troy resident Steve Porter is due for a very special honor this coming November, when he will be induced into the Alton Athletics Hall of Fame.
The ceremony is set to take place at Alton High School on Nov. 27. Porter will also be enshrined as a Friend of the Program during the annual Hall of Fame ceremonies.
Porter, 68, spent most of his early years growing up in Troy, before his sportswriting career took him to the Wood River-Alton area, spending more than 40 years at the Alton Telegraph, then three more with The Advantage. He also wrote for the Collinsville Herald at one time, in the early ‘70s, with some of his stories currently on display at The Old Herald Brewery and Distillery — the site of where the newspaper used to be in downtown Collinsville.
He is a 1969 graduate of Triad High School and a 1973 graduate of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
“I’m really honored,” Porter said.
He is only the second guy ever to receive such an award who was not an Alton High School graduate.
Porter retired in 2016 and has also been inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, the Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame, and the Alton City Golf Hall of Fame.
Local history buffs might recall just how prominent the name Porter was in Troy in earlier days. From the 1940s to early the 1960s, Steve’s father and grandfather, Sonny and Roland Porter, ran Porters Motors, located where the Troy City Hall and police station are now situated.
The house he grew up in, which he sold in 1994-95, is now the city’s Zoning Administration office.
Porter estimated the population of Troy in the 1960s to be about 1,800 people, but said that even with the smaller population the city had four car dealerships, two doctor’s offices, two grocery stores, and several restaurants and taverns.
Downtown Troy was the place to be at the time, he said.
Although retired, sports will forever be in his blood.
“I enjoy it,” Porter said about the craft of sportswriting.” Mingling with people, sort of being in the middle of it. I’ve had this love affair with journalism and broadcasting since about the 5th grade.”
He stays active on various sports committees, gets exercise by walking and cycling, and still considers himself an original Troy boy.
“I’m still a man on the move!” he said.
A peek inside the old Porters Motors facility. Pictured, L-R: customer Al Auwarter, employees Orlo Stock, Sonny Porter, Roland Porter and Dan Elliott. Photo from Steve Porter collection.
