Vern McMillan

Wabash Valley profiles : a series of tributes to hometown heroes who have made a difference

Description:	One typed page including photograph; biography of Vern McMillan--businessman, sportsman, Terre Haute mayor. McMillan Vern profile 2/8/06 2:50 PM Page 1WABASHP R OFIA hometown h heroes who h difference. A seriies of ttributes tto h f ib t t h have made a diff dVALLEYL E SVern McMillanBusinessman, sportsman and Terre Haute mayor, Vernon Ream McMillan was one of the most colorful citizens ever to reside in Vigo County. The son of Jacob Lloyd and Martha Jane (Sayre) McMillan was born Sept. 15, 1892, in Morrill, Kan. As a youth, he frequently visited his uncle, J. Edwin Sayre, who operated a bicycle shop at the southwest corner of Fourth and Ohio streets in Terre Haute. He attended Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan., where he was a quarterback and football team captain. He also established the Kansas record in the 440-yard dash. Upon earning his degree in 1915, he joined Uncle Eds business. McMillan wasted little time gaining local recognition, becoming the first (and, probably the only) person to ascend the Vigo County Courthouse steps on a motorcycle. The feat became the focus of a national advertising campaign by Indian Motorcycle Co. Then he ran 440 yards at Terre Hautes Four-Cornered Track faster than world champion motorcyclist Erwin J. Cannonball Baker could motor a mile. Next, he defeated a race horse in the 100-yard dash. During World War I, he was a major in the infantry. After the war, he continued his partnership with Sayre until 1926, when he launched McMillan Athletic Goods (later McMillan Sports Inc.) in a storefront of the Bement-Rea building at 832 Wabash Ave. By 1930 McMillans was Indianas foremost dealer of athletic shoes and basketballs. The next year he originated the business slogan, It Pays to Play, which became the official credo of the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) in 1940. Known as an innovator, McMillan patented the first football face guard, perfected a basketball inflator and designed a kicking toe for football shoes, a javelin hanger, a buckle-less belt for football and baseball uniforms and a system of colorcoding athletic socks by size. Schutt Manufacturing Co. of Litchfield, Ill., a McMillan Sports subsidiary, manufactured the face masks. Mac, as he was known, was honored by the NSGA in 1948 as Americas top promoter of amateur sports and was enshrined in the National Sporting Goods Hall of Fame in 1970. A Republican, McMillan was elected mayor in 1942 by a substantial margin. He was featured in Saturday Evening Post for his successful door-to-door junket to vice dens in Terre Hautes notorious Red Light District, demanding they close so the city could attract and retain war ordnance facilities. He also enlisted Anton Hulman Jr. in civic affairs and Hulman Field, a new municipal airport, was one of the many fruits. At the end of World War II, McMillan personally solicited the Philadelphia Phillies to locate a professional team in the city and later served as president of the Three-I League and the Terre Haute Baseball Club. On Dec. 21, 1937, Verns wife, the former LaVerne Knight, was killed in an auto accident, leaving him to raise three daughters, Betty, Martha and Sally, at his farm on South 25th St., now the site of Peddle Park. In 1939 he established the LaVerne K. McMillan Award in her memory to be given annually to Vigo Countys most outstanding high school athlete. Since Verns death at age 76 on Dec. 1, 1968, the prize has been perpetuated as the Vernon R. and LaVerne K. McMillan Award. MEMBER FDICAlways Close to Home812-238-6000Si g n up now for FREE* online banking atwww.first-online.comEQUAL HOUSING LENDER MEMBER FDIC*One-time sign-up fee $5.95
Origin:	2006-02-08
Created By:	McCormick, Mike
Publisher:	Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Source:	http://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/vchs/id/1027
Collection:	Vigo County Historical Society
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
Copyright:	Copyright Undetermined
Subjects:	Business people Mayors Athletes McMillan, Vernon, 1892-1968 People Politics Sports Business & Industry

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