The fourth annual Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet was held at the Fannin County High School cafeteria in Blue Ridge on Saturday, April 9, 2016. The meal was catered by Shane’s Rib Shack of Ellijay for the third consecutive year.

A special guest at the event was Boyce ‘Buddy’ Padgett who was the first football and boys basketball coach at West Fannin beginning in the autumn of 1955. He went on to enjoy a long and successful career in high school sports administration in Florida. He is a member of the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Eleven individuals and one team were inducted as the class of 2016. Individual inductees are Charles ‘Babe’ Howell, Leon Guthrie, Billy Franklin, Don Queen, Gregg Farmer, Glenn Patterson, Garry Patterson, Casey Willis, Matt Henson, Mandy Lents Dixon and Alan Collis. The 1995 Fannin County High School Football Team was also inducted. The inductees are pictured below in the order listed above. The late Babe Howell is represented by his daughter Ann Mabry, the late Billy Franklin by Clarence Franklin, Don Queen by his sister Martha Kreis and Gregg Farmer by his wife Cassandra Fuller. Matt Henson was unable to attend and his plaque was presented to his parents.