The Youngstown State Penguin Club will honor Dennis and Janet Haines as Penguins of the Year during the 22nd Annual Scholarship Ring Banquet on Feb. 19 at Mr. Anthony’s in Boardman.

Tickets for the event are still available by returning the order form or contacting Tom Morella at (330) 941-2351 or Jim Morrison at (330) 941-3270. Full tables of eight are $800, a scholarship dinner package of four tickets, a student-athlete sponsored dinner and an autograph ball is $500, an individual ticket is $100 and a student-athlete sponosored dinner is $25. Program advertising is also available by calling (330) 941-7227.

Student-athletes will be signing footballs and basketballs for those groups who have purchased them in advance.

All funds generated from the event go directory towards the Youngstown State Athletics

Dennis and Janet Haines have worked diligently to make an impact in many aspects of their lives. They are fine and upstanding people. They have raised two great daughters and have three beloved grandchildren. They have worked to make lives better for many hard-working individuals. They have spent countless hours making sure that less-fortunate people have the same opportunities as everyone else. And they are some of the most die-hard Youngstown State Penguins fans the university has.

For all of those reasons, and many more, Dennis and Janet Haines are the 2012 Penguins of the Year.

Dennis saw his first Youngstown State football contest in the early 1950’s at Rayen Stadium. He climbed through a hole in the fence to watch the game. He has been a YSU sports fan for nearly 60 years.

Together, the two have seen many milestones in Youngstown State Athletics history. They were in Statesboro, Ga., in 1991 when the Penguins defeated Marshall to win their first-ever FCS National Championship. Since that first trip, they have been to every title game since. They made the trip to Penn State to see the women’s basketball team play their first NCAA Tournament game in 1996. Also, they were on hand to celebrate at Eastwood Field when the Baseball program won the Horizon League Championship in 2004.

Among the first sporting events their grandchildren attended were YSU football, basketball and baseball games. For YSU, they sponsor the Haines Family Player of the Game as selected by the YSU Radio Broadcasters, have an endowed Athletic Scholarship – Attorney Dennis and Janet Haines Scholarship – and contribute to the department in many other ways.

Doors for the event opens at 6 p.m., the buffet will start at 6:15 p.m. and the program is set to begin at 7:30 p.m.