Enshrinment Festival brings young and hopeful Hall of Famers to South Bend

July 15, 2011|By Colleen Ferreira (cferreira@wsbt.com), Click here to follow Colleen on Twitter | By Colleen Ferreira (cferreira@wsbt.com), Click here to follow Colleen on Twitter

SOUTH BEND - It's a shot in the arm for South Bend's struggling economy. Over 20,000 people are expected to visit this weekend to witness a piece of history at the College Football Hall of Fame.

From Michigan to California and Pennsylvania to Idaho, the list goes on and on.

They're all here for the fun and festivities of Enshrinement Festival weekend, and many are making an entire weekend out of it.

It's all about the football, and for some young hopeful Hall of Famers, it's the beginning of a dream.

"It's all about fun," said 14-year-old Dominick Gratalo from Boise, Idaho.

"I'm glad to be here in the Hall of Fame and it's cool there's a festival going on," Gratalo said.

At 5'8”, Gratalo's dream is to play for Penn State.

"I've played tackle football for five years and flag football for one or two," he said.

And he's got the skills to show for it. His aim is good, his hail Marys are powerful, and his future is wide open.

"I think if he works hard and he gets lucky he can be just fine," said Mike Gratalo, Dominick’s dad.

The Gratalo family is on vacation. They're traveling across the country for three weeks and one must-stop was the Hall Of Fame.

With 20,000 people expecting to visit South Bend in one weekend, downtown businesses consider the Enshrinement Festival a touchdown for cashing in on some big bucks.

"I hope for every downtown business, that they come through, they get a snack, they go have dinner at some of our downtown restaurants, or they have dinner here at this event, and then they can go out to the local nightclubs and bars after the event. It's really great to see the atmosphere downtown and all the people walking around," said Becky Beckman from the College Football Hall Of Fame.

The festival weekend is a win for the city.

“South Bend is kind of on stage for the next couple days and it's really great,” said Rob DeCleene from the South Bend/Mishwaka Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

But it's also a weekend the Gratalo's will never forget.

“We're going to spend hopefully as much time as we can here," Dominick said.

For Dominick, it's all about the rush, knowing his face could be on that wall someday.

“Yeah, it's a cool thought," Dominick said with a smile.

This was the family's first time in South Bend.

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