Henry Lawrence won some big fans

When former Oakland Raider Henry Lawrence sang our national anthem prior to his old team’s Oct. 16 game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, he impressed many people with his poignant performance during pre-game ceremonies honoring the late Al Davis.
Among them was the wife of John Madden, the NFL Hall of Fame coach and icon.
Virginia Madden told her husband’s former right offensive tackle and three-time Super Bowl champion it was the finest rendition of the national anthem she had ever heard.

Faye Blackstone’s posthumous induction into the county’s Agricultural Hall of Fame generated fond memories for all who knew and loved her.
Take Buddy Keen, a rancher whose family owns orange groves in Manatee, Hardee and DeSoto counties.
"One morning we were saddling horses in the barn and I accidentally hit her," he recalled. "She came around and said, ‘Son, let me show you how to saddle a horse.’"
No fooling.
This was a woman who rode a horse for more than 90 years, was the featured act in Gene Autry’s Wild West Rodeo, and is enshrined in the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas.

Go-kart racer Morgan Healey’s recent success would’ve made Dan Wheldon proud.
The Saint Stephen’s School freshman, who was mentored by the late British racing driver at Andersen RacePark in Palmetto, took second in the Rotax Junior Florida Karting Championship Series and was also voted Most Improved out of 200 drivers.
Wheldon, who had a home in St. Petersburg, was killed in last month’s Las Vegas IndyCar 300.

Read more Friday in Vin's People at Bradenton.com.