Thursday, 31 March 2016

Sports Wall Of Fame in Woodstock seeks additional nominations

Sports wall at community complex to soon include inter-active screen of pictures and bio material

Nominations are due by July 1 for induction ceremony planned for October

By Mark Schadenberg
I have invested time and energy into the Woodstock Sports Wall of Fame since its inception in 1996 – 20 years ago -- when Stub Harper was inducted at the community complex (WDCC) grand opening.
I was sports editor of the Woodstock Sentinel-Review then and was invited to sit on the recreation advisory committee (WRAC) ad-hoc committee for the wall of fame because of my local knowledge on sports history.
However, keep in mind that John Payne of Rogers TV and I also did a documentary on the building of the WDCC. I’m not sure where that footage is today, but we interviewed David Creery, who was the assistant city engineer back then and is now CAO, along with members of Ball Brothers construction, the complex’s building committee and many user groups.
My vested interest continues today as chair of the volunteer WRAC.

Woodstock's baseball great -- Tip O'Neill
Be sure to hold on to the April edition of What’s On Woodstock magazine (Inserted in this week’s Oxford Shopping News) as appearing is a story in the publication about the improvements underway / planned for the sports wall, including an inter-active screen which will permit the addition of significant biographical material and photos of the inductees, and an ability to quickly reference such material either by sport or alphabetically. My blog entry from back in December is noted below.
I must say, the most important facet of this re-introduction of the sports wall, is a formal invitation to the general public to flood City Hall with nominations of individuals and teams NOT already on the sports wall. In other words, we don’t require formal nominations for Brian Paton, Catherine Bond-Mills or the late Bill Gillespie who already are recognized, but rather the dozens of people from over the years who created the vibrant Woodstock sports scene in some way and deserve to be honoured – athletes and builders of sport, and at this point historical accomplishments that may have been missed in the sports wall initial 20 years of existence.


There is a ‘form’ to be filled out and you can nominate someone as a surprise to them but the committee must know that there is a photo (Or two or three or four) available for that team or person. Contact me for more details, but the form is attached here.
All nominations will stay on file for three years.
In July, the WRAC will go over all the new and saved nominations to decide who will be enshrined this coming October.
Also, if you’re someone who has been inducted or related to someone or a team, here’s also your opportunity to allow the City Of Woodstock to borrow your scrapbooks and newspaper clippings to add additional bio material to each honouree. Please check the boxes and photo albums you may have as with today’s technology it’s easy to scan a document and return it quickly to its owner.


As a member of WRAC I have spend dozens of hours at the microfilm at the library researching facts and figures on nominees as I have also been master of ceremonies at the induction ceremonies. Therefore, it’s interesting to note that someone did win an Ontario championship, but what were the circumstances at the time and what are some interesting sidebar stories.
Scratch your forehead if you have read this and create a nomination for someone who belongs on the sports wall of fame and deserves to be part of this new exciting inter-active screen of sports information and history planned for the WDCC (Southwood Arenas) foyer.
The seven (7) categories are: male athlete, female athlete, teams, builder of sport, historic (Before 1970), lifetime achievement (You can nominate in this category somebody who has already been honoured) and special recognition. 

WOW
The What’s On Woodstock magazine for April is a keeper for other reasons as the content includes promotional ads and stories for summer camps for kids, along with a terrific update on trails around the city including details on volunteers sought for a planned tree planting day (Saturday, April 30, 8 a.m. – noon at the Tecumseh Street entrance to Burgess Park).
WOW also features info on:
K2K Productions staging of Cinderella and Wizard Of Oz. My daughter – by the way – has been busy with rehearsals for Cinderella.

Bulk Item pickup days.
Profile on Goff Hall at the WDCC and how you can rent the facility for your event.
Southside Aquatic Centre employees busy at a life-saving skills competition.
Overview of current and future exhibits at the Woodstock Museum.
Public library update, which includes promotion for the next Big Big Book Sale on May 14, plus tons of information on kids’ programs and reading clubs. Did you know the library has classes for Minecraft for children as young as 6?
Woodstock Art Gallery programs include seminars, such as Joe Lima on April 13, and classes for the want-to-be painter in your household.
This weekend (April 2) is the Woodstock Skating Club carnival with local national novice ice dance champs Grayson Lochhead and Olivia Han featured.

Message from city council is penned by Connie Lauder and covers topics such as taxation and property assessment (Lauder is a retired tax collector for City Hall), plus an update on SouthGate Centre.  
And, of course, a look at Woodstock’s past through the COW Tales feature, which this month highlights the corner of Dundas and Burtch where KFC is located. What was in that exact geographical spot 80 years ago?
  
LINKS:

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative
Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage
757 Dundas St, Woodstock



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