For his five years of service as an education director and numerous harmonica workshops, Steve “The Harp” Mehlberg, a Bloomington native, will be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame as the first-ever Education Ambassador.

    Mehlberg will be inducted in Memphis on May 5. Since opening in 1980, the Hall of Fame inducts members annually based on their historical contribution, impact and overall influence on the Blues.
    Randy Hoffman, president of the Blues Blowtorch Society, of which Mehlberg resides as the education committee chair, said communication with the Hall of Fame began after they requested friendship with the society through MySpace.
    “They became really interested to see what kind of progression we made with our education program, and regularly checked in to see what new things we had accomplished,” he said.
    About a year and a half ago, the hall of fame informed Hoffman they were accepting nominations for the 2010 induction class, and asked if there were any individuals he had in mind. Mehlberg was mentioned right away.
    “His name was passed around between the Hall of Fame committee and the advisory board, and I didn’t know he had made it until they called me and mentioned it,” he said.
    “I received an e-mail from Randy Thursday morning notifying me of my induction. I was very happy to see this accomplishment. I think it reinforces the work that I’m doing which is giving back to my community,” he said.