The annual Carbon County Hall of Fame banquet will be held on Sunday, May 24 at Memorial Hall in Jim Thorpe.

This year's inductees are:Palmerton - Jan Sosik, Nicole Levandusky, Joe Visnosky Jr., Charles "Biddy" Romig.Lehighton - Carl Wolfe, Wayne Wentz, George Tkach.Jim Thorpe - Marijo Gillespie Whalen, Kevin Trice, Scott Kmetz.Nesquehoning - Katherine A. "Kitty" Curry, Anita Misantone, Robert "Bob" Rehatchek, James Agosti and Carl Mikovich.Lansford - Robert D. "Bob" Popik, John "Nini" Kranchick, Edward J. "Moose" Kosciolek.Summit Hill - Brad Miller, Joseph D. Perilli, Gary John Evans.Coaldale - Mike Frendak, Jack Evans, James "Blue" Bonner.Tamaqua - Mike Miorelli, Dave Lehatto, Charles Connelly.Anyone looking for tickets to the banquet can contact Danny McGinley (570-325-3550) or any other Hall of Fame committee member.During the next several weeks, the Times News will be running biographies of everyone in this year's class.Following are members of the 2015 Palmerton Hall of Fame class.JAN SOSIKGraduating from Palmerton in 1965 and from Rutgers University in 1969, Sosik made his impression on Palmerton Area High School sports as an athlete and coach. In high school he played basketball and tennis, before rowing crew for three years at Rutgers.He began teaching in Wayne, NJ in 1969, before returning to his alma mater in 1970. Sosik took over the tennis team in his first year at Palmerton, and then coached freshman basketball from 1971 until 1977.In 1978, Sosik took over the reigns as head boys cross country coach, and guided the Blue and White to many successful seasons. In his second season as coach, he started the Palmerton girls cross country team program, and eventually won league titles in the sport. His record with the boys was 77-21 overall and 60-12 in the Centennial League, while his girls' teams went 46-10 overall and 43-5 in the league. Under his leadership, the boys won three league championships and two league meet championships, while the Lady Bombers won four league titles, four league meet championships and two District 11 AA titles. His girls' teams didn't lose a league meet in their first four seasons in the Centennial League. Sosik currently is the winningest boys cross country coach at Palmerton with his 77 wins.In 1994, Sosik and Bill Rosado approached the school board and urged them to begin a soccer program at the school. The next year, PHS fielded its first soccer team, consisting of both boys and girls. The school now has both boys and girls teams as a result of that start.Sosik continued to teach at the Palmerton Junior High, before retiring in 2006. He and his wife, Karen, have been married 44 years and have two children, Kelly and Michael. In his spare time, he has been involved in showing and training Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, and currently owns the number one Chesapeake for 2013.NICOLE LEVANDUSKYA 1997 graduate of Palmerton, Levandusky proved to be one of the finest athletes to ever go through the school's sports programs. She participated in field hockey, basketball and softball.In basketball, she was a four-time First Team all-league selection (once in the Centennial League in 1994 and three times in the Colonial from 1995-97) and three-time MVP (1995-97). During her career, her teams amassed a record of 101-19, including a school record for most wins (31) in a season (1996-97). Levandusky scored 2,662 points in her career, the most in Palmerton history. She holds the single-game scoring record with 52 points. In 2007, Levandusky was also named to the Lehigh Valley Basketball Hall of Fame.In softball, Levandusky (who hit a home run in her first at-bat as a freshman) set season records with 45 hits, 29 singles, 49 RBIs and a .577 batting average. For her career, she set records of 122 hits, 83 singles, 103 RBIs, and a batting average of .526. Levandusky was a four-time First Team league all-star (Centennial in 1994 and Colonial in 1995, 1996 and 1997) and three-time league MVP (1995-97). Her team also won CL titles in 1996 and 1997.In field hockey, Levandusky was named to the All-Colonial League Second Team.Levandusky moved on to Xavier University, and was the Atlantic 10's Defensive Player of the Year in 2001 and a First Team All-League selection in both 2000 and 2001. She is fourth on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,755 points and holds XU's record in three-pointers (287) and steals (364). In 1999, she ranked 16th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.429), and 10th in three-pointers made per game (2.85). In the program's first-ever NCAA tournament win on March 12, 1999, Nicole scored 23 points. In her senior year, she averaged 18.7 points per game during the NCAA tourney, helping her team to an Elite Eight appearance. She earned a spot on the NCAA All-MidEast Region Team after leading the team to a 31-3 record. Levandusky was named to the Xavier University Basketball Hall of Fame, as well as the "Greater Cincinnati Basketball Hall of Fame."After college Levandusky was drafted by the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, becoming the first-ever entrant into the league for Xavier. She played 13 games in the 2001 season as the Sparks won the league championship. She then opted to retire after that season to focus on coaching.She is currently the girls head basketball coach at Randell Cooper High School. She previously was at Notre Dame Academy, where she led the team to the 2013 Kentucky State Final Championship game. In four seasons there, she totalled a record of 91-35.The daughter of Glenn and Cindy Levandusky, Nicole also has a brother, Eric.JOE VISNOSKY JR.Joe Visnosky Jr., a 1964 graduate of PHS, was a well-rounded athlete during his scholastic career. Following in the footsteps of his father, Joe Sr., he played basketball, football, baseball, tennis and track & field. During his freshmen season (1961) on the track team, he ran a leg in the 880 yard relay team that won a District 11 "B" championship. That qualified them for the PIAA State Track and Field Meet, where the team finished in fifth place.Visnosky proved to be a formiddable sprinter, as he collected points for the Palmerton teams that pulled off plenty of championships in the ensuing seasons. the Lehigh Valley League Dual Meet and League Meet champions in 1961; the Lehigh Valley League Meet and District 11 'B' Champions in 1962; Lehigh Valley League Meet and District 11 'B' Meet Champions in 1963; the Lehigh Valley League Dual Meet and League Meet, and District 11 'B' Champions in 1964.In his senior year during a home meet against Stroudsburg, he dashed to a winning 100-yard time of 9.9, setting a school record that will always stand as distances are now done in the metric system. At the annual LVL Meet that year, he was a double-event winner in record time, taking the 100 in 9.9 and the 220 in 22.4.Joe was then hampered with 'ptomaine poison,' preventing him from practicing properly, but he still went on to the District 11 "B" Meet, where he was the champion in the 100, while finishing second in the 220. At the PIAA State Meet, he remained inflicted with the malady, but still powered his way to second-place finishes in both events.Joe passed away in May of 1993 and is survived by his wife Harriet, his three siblings Joe III, Chrissy, and Maria, his five grandchildren Andrea, Kaitlyn, Allison, Joe IV, and Brock, and two great granddaughters Harper and Lamiah.CHARLES "BIDDY" ROMIGCharles "Biddy" Romig graduated from Palmerton Area High School in 1964, and participated in football and track & field.Taking part in the pole vault and the high jump, Romig took the art of pole vaulting to 'new heights,' as he jumped into a sawdust pit, using straight poles made of either bamboo or aluminum. Besides his own personal records and accolades, Romig contributed to the success of his teams, as they claimed Lehigh Valley League Dual Meet season titles twice, won four Lehigh Valley League Meet Championships, along with four District 11 "B" championships.In his junior season at the 1963 District 11 Class "B" Meet, Romig took first place in the pole vault, leaping 11-6, to qualify him for the PIAA state meet. There he became the school's first pole vaulting state champ, clearing 12-6 for that title.In his senior year, Romig had an unblemished mark in the pole vault for the season that featured 12 appearances, and at a home meet against Stroudsburg he set the school record at the time with a vault of 13-1/2. At the annual LVL meet, he set a meet record and finished first in the pole vault (12-5), and won the high jump (5-10). At the district meet, he became a district champion in both events and broke the District 11 "B" Meet record in the process (13-1). He then went on to win the PIAA state pole vault with a leap of 12-8.Staff Sergeant Charles Romig served three tours in Vietnam in Co. B 2nd Battalion 327th Infantry 101st Airborne Division. He collected these awards: Silver Star Medal, the Air Medal, the Purple Heart Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with one Bronze Campaign Star, the Vietnam Campaign Medal from the Republic of Vietnam, the Combat Infantry Badge, and a Parachute Badge.Romig passed away on May 20, 1977. He was the son of Charles and "Cookie" Romig, each also deceased; he was dubbed "Biddy" by his paternal Aunt Marie and is survived by a brother Gregg, a sister Sally, and daughters Joey and Justine.