The Fort Frances Sports Hall of Fame 5th induction ceremonies are being held this Saturday evening at La Place Rendez-vous. The event starts at 5 p.m. with a Social Hour, dinner at 6 p.m., followed by the induction ceremonies.
The Hall of Fame is grateful to Cassandra Armstrong for agreeing to sing O Canada. Cassandra’s career is on an impressive trajectory! Cassandra has sung national anthems at games for the Winnipeg Jets, the Toronto Raptors, the Minnesota Twins, and Major League Soccer. Recently she auditioned and attended the one and only Kristin Chenoweth’s BROADWAY BOOTCAMP in Oklahoma. In May, Cassandra won a Gold Medal in 80m hurdles at the NWOSSA meet in Thunder Bay.
The evening will also feature two performances by the Rainy Lake Drum appearing courtesy of Couchiching First Nation.
Six inductees will officially enter the Hall of Fame, during the ceremonies:
The two teams entering the Hall of Fame are:
• 1977 – 78 Muskie Boys Basketball team – NWOSSAA Champions
Head Coach Brad “Bucky” Bodnarchuk, Assistant Coach John Bock. Players: the late Gord Ash, Dave Ashworth, Dan Bird, Brad Carlson, Rick Chambers, Bill Douglas, the late Mark Drazenovich, Ron Fryer, Francis Ling, Ross Quirie, Mike Stamarski.
• 1989 FFHS Muskie Boys Hockey team – Provincial Gold Medalists
Head Coach Terry Ogden, Assistant Coaches: Ken Christiansen, Glenn Edwards. Manager: the late Barney Maher. Players: Jay Albright, Shane Bliss, Neil Cooper, Craig Erb, Marcel Horton, Tim Lindberg, Murray McLeod, Geoff MacEachern, Chris Medicine, Ken Pocock, Manny Rego, Chris Spence, Wayne Strachan, Bill Tucker, Gib Tucker, Brett Watt, Mark Wilkins, Dean Wilson.
The inductee in the Builder Category is:
• Rick Wiedenhoeft who is a long time football and volleyball official. He was a former coach and athletic director at FFHS. He was an outstanding football player at FFHS and the University of Waterloo.
The athletes being inducted include:
• Gary Beck who led the St. Scholastica Saints to two NAIA national hockey championships in the 1970’s
• Erin (McIvor) Howe who was a team captain with the York University women’s hockey team.
• The late Elov Seger who was a first team All American defenseman on the 1961 – 62 Michigan Tech NCAA national hockey championship team.
The Fort Frances Sports Hall of Fame was founded in 2012 with a mission to preserve and honour our area’s rich and proud sports heritage. Since the inaugural induction ceremony in 2015, 14 athletes, 18 builders and 9 teams have been honoured for their outstanding accomplishments and contributions to a wide variety of sports. See the plaques for all the inductees in the lobby of the Memorial Sports Centre, 740 Scott Street.
The Fort Frances Sports Hall of Fame is able to operate only with the generous support of sponsors and donors. We gratefully accept donations, as a non-profit volunteer organization we are not able to issue receipts for tax deductible purposes.
