As a result of voting by 78% of the 172 eligible members, the following will become Honoured Members of the Hall of Fame. 

• Athlete - Modern - Elaine Hinnegan - basketball & squash 
• Athlete - Legend - Ron Blommers - basketball 
• Builder - Dan Lewis - basketball 
• Team - 1985-86 John McGregor girls' basketball 

The Board congratulates all four of these new inductees as well as the other individuals and teams who were nominated, especially those whose names appeared on the ballot. All unsuccessful nominations will remain on file and will automatically be considered in succeeding years. New nominations must be submitted by April 15, 2011 to be eligible for next year's voting. Nomination forms are available at the W.I.S.H. Centre or from Bill Robinson (519-436-1095). The Annual Dinner and Induction Ceremony will take place on Thursday, September 16, 2010. Tickets for the dinner will go on sale on August 1st at the W.I.S.H. Centre or from any of the directors, specifically Jay Teetzel (519-354-2333). The cost is $40.00 for adults and $20.00 for children under 10

• The nominations from the general public for induction into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame this year have been narrowed down to 4 candidates in each category by the Board of Directors. 
• One candidate from each category will be chosen by a vote of all members of the Hall of Fame which includes the Board of Directors, the voting members, and the Honoured Members. 
• The candidates who will appear on the ballot are: Athlete - Modern - Joelle Batten-Daigneau, Roy Galloway, Elaine Hinnegan, and Gerry Leschyshyn Athlete - Legend - Ron Blommers, Fran Crummer, Shirley Pilson, and Randy Rybansky Builder - Martin Aarts, Dan Lewis, Jim Maynard, and Bob Weedon Team - 1979 Erie & Huron Beverages Midget Baseball, 1983-84 & 84-85 Maple City Junior Ice Crystals Precision Skating, 1985 JMSS Girls' Basketball, and 1986-87 Moose Lodge Pee Wee Hockey 
• On June 1, ballots and candidates' biographical summaries will be sent to each member who is eligible to vote. The deadline to return ballots is June 30, and the names of the inductees will be announced by July 10. 
• The winning candidates will be inducted into The Hall of Fame at the Annual Dinner which is scheduled for Thursday, September 16. Banquet tickets go on sale on July 1 and will be available from all members of the Board of Directors. 
• Anyone wishing to become a voting member of the Hall of Fame may do so for an initial fee of $20.00 and then an annual fee of $10.00 for each succeeding year until a total of $50.00 is reached at which time the member becomes a Lifetime Voting Member with no additional fees charged. Voting members also get a reduced rate on the cost of a banquet ticket. Membership application forms are available from the WISH Centre or from Harold Gillies, Membership Chairman (519-352-6427). The deadline for new or renewed memberships is June 1. 
• Additional information concerning the Hall is available on the website at www.chathamsportshalloffame.com 
• Any questions concerning this news release should be directed to Jay Teetzel, Chairman of the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame (519-354-2333).

BRIEF BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR 2010 CANDIDATES

The 1997 Chatham Diamonds senior baseball team was inducted into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame last night at the W.I.S.H. Centre. The Diamonds are, front row, left: Bill Flavell, Terry Oulds, Brad Twigg, Kelly Beausejour, manager Bill Twigg, coach Buddy Wright, trainer Lenny Parker and Gary Roberts. Back row: Trevor Langstaff, Mark Britton, Bill Atkinson, Bob Bush, Ron Day, Darren Smith, Jason Chickowski, Jeff Stephenson, Jeff Laidlaw and Steve Donald. Absent are Chris Bushey, Mike Crumb, Jeff Michaels, Willie Parker and Shane Quinn. 

The Chatham Diamonds celebrated more than their induction into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame last night. It was also a reunion for the close-knit baseball team that won silver medals at the 1997 Canadian senior championship. "It was like a second family for a lot of guys," said co captain and shortstop Steve Donald. "We were together for so long. "It was more than baseball back then. We'd always be at someone's house for pool parties and card parties."

The players' families also became part of the team. Many of the 190 guests at the W. I. S. H. Centre were their relatives.

Carrie Carlton, left was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame last night, at the W.I.S.H. centre, while late inductee Ross Day, was represented by his brother Doug Day right, and nephew Don Day.

Carleton is now a teacher and coach at McGregor. Carrie Carleton reminisced about her basketball career this summer after being elected to the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame. The former McGregor Panthers star said 20 years ago she would have focused on all the championships. Now she marvels at the great teams that won those championships. "It takes a special group to accomplish championships or OFSAAs," said Carleton, 41, who teaches at McGregor. "And I was lucky enough to be part of a couple of those groups." Another honour comes Thursday with the Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the W.I.S.H. Centre. Carleton, whose maiden name was Dillon, was elected in the modern athlete category. "I really just think I was a kid that loved to play and was lucky enough to have a little bit of talent and had support from my family," she said. She enjoyed a stellar four-year career at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich., from 1987-91. She still ranks in the top 10 at Grand Valley State in career rebounds, steals and blocks. "She was the best basketball player to come out of Kent County," former McGregor head coach Bud Day said. Panthers teammate Karrie Williams went to Grand Valley State one year before Carleton. She was better at rebounding and scoring second-chance points, but Carleton was a better all-around player, Day said. "She was an athlete ( with) natural athleticism and she was dedicated, intelligent and very committed to being the best she could be," said Day, who let her practise year-round at the McGregor gym. " Her intensity in practice motivated her teammates to be the best they could be. ... Her maturity - it was like having an assistant coach on the floor." 

The five-foot-11 Carleton combined the size and strength of a power forward with the vision and ball handling of a point guard. "She could see the whole floor," Day said. "You can't teach it. You see someone out of the corner of your eye and ... zap!" Carleton and Williams led the Panthers to OFSAA 'AA' gold medals in 1985. Despite losing Williams to graduation, the Panthers moved up to the 'AAA' level in 1986 and reached the OFSAA semifinals. Carleton also played two years with Team Ontario, winning a silver medal at the Canada Winter Games and a bronze medal at the Canadian junior championships. Reunited with Williams at college, Carleton went to the NCAA Division II tournament as a freshman and a junior. The Lakers lost in the opening round each time. "It's neat to say we made it there because so few teams do," she said. The four-year starter averaged 11.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in her career, twice made the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference all-star team and was on the All-GLIAC defensive team. She was inducted into the Grand Valley State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000. Carleton turned down offers to play professionally in Europe like Williams, who was elected to the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. "I had that opportunity, but at that point I was in my fourth year of university and engaged to be married and ready to come home and was accepted into teachers' college," Carleton said. She has no regrets. "Going to play in Europe would have been an experience, but not what I wanted at the time," she said. Carleton also won two OFSAA gold medals with McGregor in 1991 and '92 as an assistant coach under Frank Henry. She's now the Panthers head coach and also coaches with the Chatham-Kent Wildcats club program. Her passion for basketball is as strong as ever.

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Not much is known about former major-league outfielder Roy (Doc) Miller beside his statistics. Almost a century after he retired, those numbers from the dead-ball era are still impressive. Among Canadian big-leaguers, the Chatham native ranks in the top 30 in career hits (507), RBIs (235), at-bats (1,717), runs (184), stolen bases (64) and batting average (.295). Miller, who died in 1938 at age 55, was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in June. He'll be enshrined again tonight by the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame. The former Chatham Collegiate Institute student played for four National League teams from 1910 to 1914: Chicago Cubs, Boston Braves (also known as the Doves and Rustlers), Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds. His finest game was on May 16, 1911, when he went 3-for-4 with two home runs, four RBIs and two runs. Only 11 other major leaguers had a two homer game that season, according to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Miller hit 12 home runs in his career. He enjoyed his best season in 1911. He led the NL with 192 hits and his .333 batting average ranked second, only .001 behind Hall of Fame shortstop Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Miller set a major-league record in 1913 with 21 pinch hits. The record stood for 19 years, and Miller still ranks seventh on the all-time single-season list. He earned his nickname by getting a medical degree from the University of Toronto during his playing days. After hanging up his spikes, he practised medicine in New York City. He was a specialist in skin diseases and cancer, according to a Chatham Daily News article after his death.

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The Chatham Sports Hall of Fame display at the W.I.S.H. Centre celebrates several players influenced by the late Ross Day. He'll finally join them tonight. The co-founder of the Chatham Minor Baseball Association will be inducted as a builder during the annual ceremony. Day spent roughly 30 years with the association as an executive, director and coach. He died in 1996 at age 68. "He was a mainstay of the bantams," said CMBA co-founder Doug Allin. "He ran it for years and years." Day never married and had no children, but he made an impact on hundreds of Chatham youngsters. "He had the younger people in mind," Allin said. "It's an old cliche, but it still stands. If you could do something to change a boy's attitude (and) make him a better citizen, that's what we all had in mind. "If you ended up with a Fergie Jenkins or a Bill Atkinson or a Doug Melvin, that was the icing on the cake." Day, Allin and Joe Zimmer held the first meeting for the Chatham Minor Baseball Association in 1946. There were no organized team sports for children in the city back then. "He just liked working with kids," said Day's brother, Doug. "He enjoyed that very much. That was the big motivator." Ross Day was a fixture at Stirling Park every summer. He coached in the bantam house league and was also in charge of the bantam all-star team. "Pretty busy time," Doug Day said. "Of course, he enjoyed it, so he'd never say he was too busy." He wa s coaching the bantam allstars in 1957 when Jenkins, a lanky first baseman, became a pitcher. Day guided the Chatham Bantams to five Ontario Baseball Association championships in the 1950s and '60s. Winning the title often meant playing five rounds of playoff series. "If you won an OBA title in those days, you had to really work for it," Allin said. Day drove players to and from the ball park if they needed a ride. He'd take them out for hamburgers and hotdogs and pop after the games. "I know Ross went into his pockets for kids who couldn't afford it," Allin said. "... Times were tough in those days after the war." Volunteers collected bottles to raise money when the Chatham Minor Baseball Association began. They also went door to door selling toothbrushes for a dollar. Day liked other sports, too. 

He was a co-owner of the Chatham Jr. Maroons in the early 1970s. He played basketball when he was young. After selling the Maroons, he began refereeing high school hoops. " It was another thing that got him back in with the young people," Doug Day said. Ross Day also became an avid golfer, playing three times a week with Doug after retiring from Union Gas in 1986. His nephew Ron Day - Doug's son - is being inducted tonight with the 1997 Chatham Diamonds senior baseball team. "It's going to be a good evening," Doug said. Miller among Canada's best ball players.

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The Chatham Sun-Out Diamonds won plenty of championships, just not the one they wanted. That changed in 1997 when the senior baseball team won the Ontario elimination tournament after years of falling just short. "Other teams had said, 'You guys have been knocking on the door for five or six years,'" pitcher and co-captain Terry Oulds said. " Then finally we won it." The storybook season eventually came to an end with silver medals at the Canadian championship in Mt. Pearl, N.L. The Diamonds will be back in the spotlight tonight when they're inducted into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame at the W.I.S.H. Centre. "It was just a close bunch," Oulds said. "We played hard, played to win every game. We had guys who were committed and the guys got along well." The 1997 season came during a stretch when the Diamonds won eight straight league championships: seven in the Western Counties league from 1993-99 and the Essex County league in 2000. Until '97, though, they didn't enjoy that same success at the Ontario elimination tournament. "We probably didn't do as well as we thought we were going to do," manager Bill Twigg said. "... I think the best we ever did previous to winning was third." They won all six games at the 1997 eliminations in Windsor, including a 5-1 victory over the hometown Stars in the final. " Jeff Stephenson pitched the game of his life against the Windsor Stars," Twigg said. Stephenson tossed a complete-game five-hitter in the final. Rookie catcher Jeremy McGowan was named the tournament MVP after batting 11-for-17. " Everything came together that week," Twigg said. "We got good pitching, we had great chemistry, we got along and we had a little bit of luck." The Diamonds lost only one game all season before going to the national championship - and that loss was a bit of a fluke. Twigg was away for the game, so players had fun by pulling names out of a hat to choose their positions. 

As Ontario champions, they were one of the favourites at the national tournament. They lost 5-4 to the Red Deer Riggers in the final. The Diamonds relied all year on a deep pitching staff. The lineup was talented, but small. "We made up for it with hustle and a lot of determination," Twigg said. "We didn't have a lot of power hitters, but we went small ball a lot. ... " They were small in stature but big in heart." Many Diamonds players came up through the Chatham Minor Baseball Association. The roster was filled out with a few out-of-towners, mostly pitchers. "We just kept adding guys here and there, and everything came together that year," Oulds said. "We kept adding arms until we had enough." The pitching staff included Bill Atkinson, who played four seasons with the Montreal Expos from 1976-79. He was inducted into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. Atkinson was 43 in 1997, but he still had a major-league curveball and loads of experience. "He didn't have a lot left in the tank, but when he pitched, he gave it everything he had," Oulds said. "He was a competitor." The Diamonds came close to winning the Ontario elimination title again, losing in the 2002 final and the 2004 semifinals. They disbanded just before the 2005 season

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The Chatham Sports Hall of Fame is seeking the family of Roy Oscar "Doc" Miller, an inductee to this year's ceremony. Miller, originally from Chatham, was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this summer. He was born, Feb. 4, 1883 and died July 31, 1938. Miller married but the couple never had children. Some of his family may still reside in this area. His parents are R.O. Miller, a prosperous merchant in the city. Miller attended Chatham Collegiate Institute and the University of Toronto where he received his medical degree in 1911. Between 1903 and 1914, Miller played professional baseball, the last five in the major leagues. He went on to practice medicine in New York City, becoming a specialist in skin diseases and cancer. Miller has two brothers, Reg Miller of Oakland, California and Dr. Thurlow Miller of San Francisco. He also as one sister Ethel Miler of Oakland and a third brother who died in Los Angeles a few years before his own death in 1938 in Jersey City, New Jersey. Miller is buried in Maple Leaf Cemetery in Chatham. If you are related to "Doc" Miller or have further information that could be helpful to Chatham Sports Hall of Fame contact chairman Jay Teetzel at 519-354-2333 or email djteetzel@cogeco.ca.

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As a kid, Carrie Carleton just wanted to play basketball. Now as an adult, she wants to give her kids the same opportunity to find their passion. Carleton is one of the four new inductees into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame this September. She was selected for the modern category. "It really is an honour to be a part of that," she said. "It's a proud moment to be a woman athlete." The Chatham native first stepped out onto the hardwood at the age of five when her parents bought a basketball hoop for their driveway. Carleton said she isn't sure when the game became her passion, she just sort of fell into it. "You've got to love the game to put the work into it." In high school where she was named John McGregor Secondary School female athlete of the year three times over. In 1987 she accepted a full scholarship to play basketball for Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In her final two years at university she was named to Division II All American teams. 

While the memories of each level of play have stuck with her, Carleton said when she thinks back now it's her teammates that she recalls most fondly. "When you get that special group of girls together, that's when championships happen," she said. "Whether it's 30 minutes or two minutes, its all a part of the championship." Carleton's accolades while at JMSS mounted to include being named provincial MVP by the Ontario Ladies Basketball Association, a county all-star in junior and senior basketball throughout high school, leading her team to the Kent and SWOSSA championships and making Panthers history as the first time a county girls' team to compete at OFSAA. Despite a broken ankle during a basketball tournament in Grade 11, Carleton went on to play the last game of the season, as well as senior volleyball and compete at OFSSA and secure JMSS female athlete of the year again. In Grade 12, she was a county all-star, again making history for winning a provincial championship at the OFSSA "AA" level. She was also named MVP at Jacyee Pink and White tournament. For the third year in a row, Carleton picked up JMSS female athlete of the year title, winning the Kent and SWOSSA finals and placing fourth at OFSSA "AAA" division. In January of her senior year of high school, she was named to Ontario Women's Team winning a silver medal at Canada Winter Games in Sidney, Nova Scotia. Carleton entered Grand Valley State University in 1982 as a starter for all four years. As a freshman she and the team won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship and first ever NCAA Division II championship. As a sophomore she was named defencive player of the year. In her junior year the team won the conference championship and was named All-American fourth team, All-GLIAC first team and All-GLIAC academic team. Finally in her senior year, she was named All-American third team, Academic All-American, All-GLIAC first team and All-GLIAC academic team. After university, the opportunity presented itself to Carleton to travel to Europe to play for a woman's league. She declined the offer and decided that she would give teacher's college a go at the University of Windsor. She was shortly thereafter married to her husband Rob, also of Chatham. The couple now has three daughters, Sarah, 13, Bridget, 12 and Rachel, 8. Carleton notes that her accomplishments were made with hard work and a love for the game, as well as the never wavering support of her parents. "I'm happy for my parents, too," she said of accepting the local award. "They gave me a lot of opportunity. I'm just as happy for them as I am for myself," she said. While Carleton hasn't stepped out onto the court for competition in a few years, she is never far from her love of basketball. As a high school teacher, she is also the senior girls' basketball coach for John McGregor Secondary School. "I want to be a good role model and show the girls that hard work pays off. "I want my kids - my own and the ones I coach - to have fun and a good work ethic which is important in life and on the court." In 2000, Carleton was inducted into the Grand Valley State University hall of fame. To have her name linked with the caliber of players that have come out of Chatham is still a humbling experience. "I'm just a kid that liked to play."

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The Board of Directors of the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame is proud to announce the 2009 inductees into the Hall. As a result of voting by almost 70% of the 144 eligible members, the following will become Honoured Members of the Hall of Fame.

Athlete - Modern - Carrie (Dillon) Carleton - basketball Athlete - Legend - Roy "Doc" Miller - baseball Builder - Ross Day - minor baseball Team - 1997 Senior Diamonds - baseball

The Board congratulates all four of these new inductees as well as the other individuals and teams who were nominated, especially those whose names appeared on the ballot. All unsuccessful nominations will remain on file and will automatically be considered in succeeding years. New nominations must be submitted by April 15, 2010 to be eligible for next year's voting. Nomination forms are available at the W.I.S.H. Centre or from Bill Robinson (519-436-1095).

The Annual Dinner and Induction Ceremony will take place on Thursday, September 17, 2009. Tickets for the dinner are on sale now at the W.I.S.H. Centre or from any of the directors, specifically Jay Teetzel (519-354-2333). The cost is $35.00 for members and $40.00 for non-members.

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The Chatham Sports Hall of Fame has 16 candidates for the Class of 2009. All but three have been on the ballot before. Figure skater Joelle Batten Daigneau, basketball player Carrie Carleton, boxer Jamie Jefferson and multisport athlete Bob Smith are candidates in the athlete-modern category. 

Basketball player Ron Blommers, baseball player Roy (Doc) Miller, curler Shirley Pilson and football player Randy Rybansky are in the athlete-legend category. 

Ross Day, Jane Saville, Bill Stobbs and Bob Weedon are in the builder category. 

The team candidates are the 1979 Chatham midget baseball team, 1987 Chatham peewee baseball team, 1997 Chatham Diamonds senior baseball team, and 1983-84 and '84-85 Maple City Ice Crystals junior synchronized skating teams. Day, the Ice Crystals and the midget baseball team are finalists for the first time. 

The annual induction banquet and ceremony will be Sept. 17 at the W.I.S.H. Centre. 

Batten-Daigneau was a medallist at the Canadian junior figure skating championships, made the national junior team and competed internationally. Carleton, nee Dillon, was a conference all-star at Grand Valley State University and made two trips to the NCAA Division II basketball playoffs. Jefferson was an Ontario and Canadian junior boxing champion and an Ontario senior champion. Smith was a basketball and football all-star at McGregor, played one hockey season for the Chatham Jr. Maroons, and has won provincial and national slo-pitch championships. Blommers won two Canadian championships at Saint Mary's University in 1978 and '79 and played with the national basketball team. Rybansky was an Ontario university all-star running back at Wilfrid Laurier. He played in the CFL in 1985 and '86 with Toronto and Hamilton. Miller had a career batting average of .295 in five majorleague baseball seasons from 1910-14 and finished second in the 1911 National League batting race to Hall of Fame shortstop Honus Wagner. He'll be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame next month. Pilson was on nine curling teams that won provincial titles and then competed at Canadian championships, including six as a skip. Day co-founded the Chatham Minor Baseball Association, stayed active in the league for 30 years and coached five bantam teams to provincial titles. Stobbs has been a director, chairman and president for numerous junior and senior hockey teams, leagues and associations. Weedon has been president of the Maple City Slo-Pitch League for three decades and is an executive member of the provincial association. Saville volunteered with the Chatham Figure Skating Association for 55 years. The 1997 Sun-Out Diamonds won the Ontario elimination baseball tournament and were runners-up at the Canadian championship. The 1987 McDonald's peewee baseball team won the Ontario 'AA' championship, capping a threeyear run by the team's nucleus that included two provincial titles and a second-place finish. The 1979 Erie and Huron Beverages midget baseball team won the Ontario elimination tournament and placed fourth at the Canadian championship. The Ice Crystals won medals at the Western Ontario, Central Canadian, Canadian and MidAmerican championships. Hall of Fame voting begins June 1. The winners will be announced July 10. Anyone interested in being a voting member of the Hall of Fame must pay an initial fee of $20 and then an annual fee of $10. Once $ 50 has been paid, he or she becomes a lifetime voting member. 

Go to the W.I.S.H. Centre or call Harold Gillies at 519-3526427 for a membership form. Banquet tickets go on sale July 1. They'll be available from all Hall of Fame directors

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The Chatham Sports Hall of Fame is accepting nominations for the Class of 2009. The four categories are: athlete modern, athlete-legend, builder and team. Athletes must be retired for at least five years to be eligible for nomination. Nomination packages are available at the W.I.S.H. Centre, online at www. chathamsportshalloffame.com and from Bill Robinson (519-436-1095) or Jay Teetzel (519-354-2333). Nominations from previous years are kept on file, so people should call Robinson to learn if a candidate has already been nominated. The deadline is April 15.

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Shae-Lynn Bourne would like to give Canadian figure skating fans a golden gift for the 2010 Olympics. She has talked with former partner Victor Kraatz about reuniting before the Winter Games in his hometown of Vancouver. "We've certainly been toying with the idea because of the Olympics coming," she said in an interview Thursday before the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony. "It would be great to skate together again." She cautioned, "nothing's confirmed just yet. But it would be nice." The 10-time Canadian ice dance champions and 2003 world champions haven't performed together in five years. If they skate again, it would probably be in a show with Canada's Olympic hopefuls. "In my dream world, it would be nice to have something a few months before the Olympics because there'd be a buildup and it would show off some of the up-and-coming skaters," said Bourne, 32. The three-time Olympian was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the athlete-modern category last night at the W.I.S.H. Centre. Hockey player Dennis McCord (athlete-legend), volleyball coach Dale Lahey (builder) and the 1986-87 Chatham Branch 28 Legion major bantams (team) were also honoured. 

The annual ceremony drew 210 people, one-third of whom were there for the bantam hockey team. Bourne came home for the festivities from Toronto. "I certainly have a lot of close people - family and friends - I have to thank tonight," she said. "I'm looking forward to it." She and Kraatz were on the ice together at the Canadian championships in January. They hosted the champions gala and didn't perform, but they went over a few of their steps the night before. "It just fit right away," Bourne said. "When you skate with someone so long, it jells. It's like riding a bike. You don't forget." McCord was the first Chatham player to reach the NHL. He played three games with the Vancouver Canucks in 1974, but a knee injury shortened his career. "I'm just glad it happened," son Kevin McCord said about the Hall of Fame selection. "It's been a long time coming. Wish he was around to see it." Dennis McCord died in 2005 at age 52. He was modest about his hockey career, but Kevin thinks his father would have been pleased by the induction. "He wouldn't have showed it, but he would have been," Kevin said. Lahey, 59, won eight OFSAA medals with Chatham-Kent Secondary School volleyball teams: two gold and four bronze as a head coach and two gold as an assistant. He also founded the Chatham Ballhawks in 1975 with his wife, Ingrid, and still coaches with the volleyball club. The retired high school teacher was excited last night, but nervous about his speech. "I'm used to speaking to 28 students in class," Lahey said.

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Shae-Lynn Bourne isn't the retiring type. Her competitive ice dancing career ended five years ago, but she's at the rink as often as ever. In addition to her work as a solo skater, she's in demand as a coach and choreographer. Somehow she also finds time to reminisce about all that she and longtime partner Victor Kraatz achieved. The 10-time Canadian champions made three Olympic appearances and won six world championship medals, including gold in 2003. "I do look back and sometimes I'm amazed and proud and excited and actually grateful for all that we went through," Bourne, 32, said in a phone interview from her Toronto home. "I'm looking forward to being in Chatham on Thursday because I have a lot of thankyous to share." She'll be inducted into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame tonight at the W.I.S.H. Centre. It'll be a short visit home. She leaves Friday morning for Vancouver where the Canadian skating team is holding a camp at the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Bourne will be there coaching ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, the Canadian silver medallists. "It's been a real treat working with them," she said. "They're a young and talented team. It's been great to be on that side of the boards and giving back." She went to Japan this summer to choreograph and perform in a show starring Olympic gold medallist Shizuka Arakawa. She'll go back at Christmas for more shows. She has created a short program for four-time Canadian ladies champion Joannie Rochette. Pro skaters for whom she's choreographed include Kurt Browning and Ekaterina Gordeeva. 

The coaching and choreography keep Bourne so busy, she doesn't tour full-time anymore. She still squeezes in some shows, though. "I'm truly enjoying my life," she said. She has no plans to put away her skates. Entertaining fans is too much fun to quit. "You can only do it for so long," she said, "and I'm still young enough I still have it in me to perform." She went to the 2006 Turin Olympics as an assistant coach to then-husband Nikolai Morozov. (They divorced last year.) They coached Arakawa to a gold medal in ladies singles and Ukrainian dancers Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov to bronze. "It was amazing," Bourne said. "It was different from being out there and skating, but it was a real thrill." She and Kraatz, a Vancouver native, were 10th at their first Olympics in 1994 at Lillehammer, Norway. They went again in 1998 to Nagano, Japan, and in 2002 to Salt Lake City, Utah, finishing fourth each time. They won four bronze medals and a silver at the worlds before making history in 2003. They were the first North American ice dancers to be world champions. 

That gold medal was the highlight of her career. "I just felt so much energy, like a big weight fell off my shoulders," she said. They turned from competitive skating to ice shows after their triumph. That lasted only a few months, however, before Kraatz ended their 13-year partnership. They were inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame in 2007. It's been quite a career for someone who left Chatham at age 11 and met Kraatz at 15. "It wasn't my goal to be an ice dancer," Bourne said. "I wanted to be a pairs skater as a young girl. "I didn't have anyone I looked up to in ice dance. When I started with Victor, we had our own look and our own style." They didn't make a conscious effort to be different than the traditional, staid dancers. Their athleticism and energy just made them stand out. Bourne also credits choreographer Uschi Keszler for their trademark hydro-blading, a technique that had them skate very low to the ice. "She had these sort of wild, crazy ideas and we were her guinea pigs," Bourne said with a laugh. "We tried it, and it worked."

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You didn't have to be a psychic to know the 1986-87 Chatham Branch 28 Legion Major Bantams were going places. After all, their Christmas trip to Sweden was booked months in advance. But almost no one expected them to end the hockey season at the all-Ontario championship, not after losing scoring star Brian Wiseman to the junior 'C' Dresden Kings. Head coach John Dinning, however, was convinced they'd do well. He even told the players when the season began they'd win the Ontario Minor Hockey Association title. "When you first met the kids, you could tell there was something different about them," he said. The team of 14- and 15-yearolds didn't just fulfill Dinning's predictions, it exceeded them. After winning the OMHA 'AA' championship, the team travelled to Elliott Lake and captured the all-Ontario banner. Other clubs may match their feats, but none can surpass them, said assistant coach Tim Bossence. "There'll never be a team in Chatham that does better than that team," he said. "You won every tournament, won OMHA, won all-Ontario." They'll be enshrined in the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame during Thursday's induction ceremony at the W.I.S.H. Centre. "We were just a good team, a good all-around team," Bossence said. "There were no superstars and no weaknesses." Their biggest star was Dave Craievich, who played nine years in the minors and one in Italy. He was chosen by the Hockey News as the best defenceman in ECHL history. Perhaps no game illustrated their all-for-one, one-for-all approach better than their clinching win in the OMHA final at Newmarket. Team captain Darryl Bossence - nicknamed Captain Crunch for his punishing hits - had a skate blade break during the game. Teammate Ross Babcock wore the same size, so he removed one of his skates and gave it to Bossence. Coaches told Babcock it wasn't necessary but he insisted, saying the team needed Bossence on the ice. Chatham won 3-1 to take the series in six games. "It was almost like there was an angel on our shoulder saying, 'You're going to do something special this year,'" Dinning said. 

They were still celebrating when Dinning was told about the all-Ontario tournament that brought together champions from all the province's minor hockey groups. It meant a long, expensive trip north after a long, expensive season. Dinning was reluctant to tell the parents. "Their only reply (was), 'OK, Johnny, let's get going. Let's do it,'" he said. Chatham fell behind 3-0 in the all-Ontario final to Goulding Park, the Metro Toronto champions, before storming back for a 4-3 lead. The game was tied at four until Kevin Sabourin deflected Dave Maine's shot for the winning goal with 35 seconds left in the third period. "There are times you sit there and think, wow, somebody must be smiling on us," Dinning said. The Major Bantams had a lot of reasons to smile that season. One of the biggest was their trip to Sweden. They successfully bid to represent the OMHA, based partly on their previous success. (They'd been to the prestigious Quebec peewee tournament and won a Silver Stick as minor bantams.) Fundraising for Sweden began on New Year's Day 1986. They went door to door collecting empty pop and beer bottles. They also hosted shows by the World Wrestling Federation and Second City comedy troupe, washed cars, sold hotdogs and hamburgers, ran bingos - anything to make money. Sporting new red-and-white jerseys with Chatham written in a maple leaf, they played in a tournament and some exhibition games on the two-week journey. "It's 20 years ago, but we still talk about things that happened there," Sabourin said. "That was really the trip of a lifetime." He doesn't remember the scores. He does remember billeting with Swedish families and playing for his country. "That's what sticks out for me," Sabourin said. "You're representing Canada and you're in another part of the world." The players were already close when the season began. The year-round fundraising and the trip overseas just brought them closer. They overcame the loss of Wiseman, a 2007 Hall of Fame inductee, with great teamwork and chemistry. No one cared who scored, just that they won. "They were smart," Tim Bossence said. "Those kids were all really smart. Easy to teach, easy to coach because they listened and learned." He added: "One word to describe that season was discipline. They stayed with the game plan and they stayed out of the penalty box and worked the specialty teams methodically." Dinning praises Bossence and his other assistant coach, Mike McKellar, for all their work. And just as important, he said, were the supportive parents. "It just seemed even the parents were on the same page because they knew what we were heading for," he said.

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Dennis McCord took care of his own. At home, he watched over his wife, Brenda, and their three children. At the rink, he was a defenceman whose main job was protecting the net. The hard-nosed McCord didn't like to start fights. But he wouldn't hesitate to drop his gloves if someone went after him or, heaven forbid, a teammate. "It wasn't long before the other guy knew he made a bad mistake," said George Aitken, his former Chatham Maroons head coach. His skill and grit made him the first Chatham player to reach the National Hockey League, but a knee injury limited his NHL career to three games with the Vancouver Canucks. McCord died in 2005 at the age of 52. He'll be inducted posthumously into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday at the W.I.S.H. Centre. "I only wish he was here," Brenda McCord said. "I really do. I wish that had happened before he passed away." 

McCord excelled at every sport he played - and he played a lot of sports. He was a champion swimmer with Olympic potential, said his wife. He set track and field records at McGregor. He transferred to Chatham- Kent Secondary School and was a kicker on the football team. He starred for five Chatham baseball teams that won provincial championships and was invited to try out for the Philadelphia Phillies. He also played lacrosse. "Dennis was probably one of the most gifted athletes that this city has ever had," Aitken said. McCord didn't start playing hockey until he was eight or nine, but he quickly made up for lost time. He'd beat the rink attendant to Memorial Arena in the morning and wait by the back door. He wanted to skate before going to high school. "He was always about doing 100 per cent," Brenda McCord said. "If you're not going to give 100 per cent, don't bother doing it. He was like that for everything." 

He signed with the Jr. Maroons as a 14-year-old in 1966 and played two seasons with his hometown club from 1967-69. After one season with the Toronto Marlies and Kitchener Rangers, he rejoined the Maroons for the 1970-71 season and was chosen the top defenceman and a first-team all-star in the Southern Ontario junior 'A' league. "His greatest attribute or gift was he was a team player," Aitken said. The five-foot-nine, 198- pound McCord went out of his way to stand up for his teammates. "He could throw 'em," Aitken said. "He was tough. He had all kinds of guts, but the biggest thing about Dennis was his heart. He had a lot of heart." McCord played for the London Knights in 1971-72 and was chosen by the Vancouver Canucks in the eighth round of the 1972 NHL draft. Two minor-league campaigns followed with the Western Hockey League's Seattle Totems. 

Finally, late in the 1973-74 season, the Canucks called him up. He was skating by the net during his third game when his knee slammed into a goalpost, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament. The knee had been hurt before, but never so badly. "That was basically his pro career-ending injury," said his youngest son, Kent. "He never came back (to the NHL)." He played part of the 1974- 75 season with Seattle in the Central Hockey League, then split one more minor-league season in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Tulsa, Okla., before retiring in 1976. He was never the same after the knee injury. He didn't want to keep playing if he wasn't at his best, so he hung up his skates and came home to Chatham to be a truck driver. He loved the job because he didn't have to uproot his family anymore. His short-lived hockey career wasn't discussed. "There were people who worked with him for years and didn't know he played in the NHL," Kent McCord said. "He wouldn't bring it up." Even his kids - sons Kevin and Kent and daughter Kerry - had to ask about his playing days. He wouldn't volunteer the information. Both sons would follow in his footsteps and play for the Maroons.

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HOF induction is recognition of Lahey's coaching success Dale Lahey has been to the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony before to lend his support. 

This year, he'll be a guest of honour. The longtime volleyball coach will join his brother Larry Lahey and mentor Mort Giles as a Hall of Fame inductee during the annual banquet Sept. 11 at the W.I.S.H. Centre. He'll be saluted for a career that included eight OFSAA medals at Chatham-Kent Secondary School. "He's a great person, a great coach," said Keith Webster, who played for Lahey at CKSS from 1974-79. "He taught us some hard lessons, but he knows the game inside and out. "He's a pillar in the community. He started the whole C-K volleyball dynasty." Lahey, 59, also coached soccer, wrestling and badminton at CKSS, but he's best known for volleyball. He taught for 30 1/2 years. During a 22-year span from 1977 to '98, he went to 18 OFSAA championships despite often moving his 'AA' team to the 'AAA' level to face stiffer competition. He won two gold medals and four bronze as a head coach and two more gold as an assistant. The retired teacher is still involved with the Chatham Ballhawks, a club he co-founded in 1975 with his wife, Ingrid. Over the past three decades, he's coached both adult and youth teams for the Ballhawks. He was a player/coach for the 1982 Ontario 'A' men's champions and guided a women's team to the Ontario 'B' championship in 1989. Those were the first two provincial titles for the Ballhawks, who have since won two more. "It's been a pretty good run for a small-town club," he said. He's also the founder and president of the Chatham-Kent Volleyball Officials Association. When he was a youngster, however, he didn't even play volleyball. Baseball was his sport. "What I wanted to be was a baseball player growing up," Lahey said. "Didn't quite pan out." His passion for volleyball began at Merlin District High School. He played three years for Giles, a 2007 Hall of Fame inductee. "It was exciting to get in the year after Mort," Lahey said. "I was hoping to join him in there." His brother Larry, a former basketball coach at McGregor, was inducted in 2002. Dale Lahey remains close with Giles, who remembers how his former player hated making mistakes. "He wanted perfection," Giles said. "As a player, he always strove for that." Lahey wanted the same from his players, too. The proper skills were drilled into them. "His kids always did things exactly the same," Giles said. "He must have spent hours and hours making sure they were technically correct." 

Ursuline Lancers coach Jeff Denomy, a CKSS graduate, is one of the many players in whom Lahey instilled a love for the game. "The thing I remember most is his knowledge," Denomy said. "Dale, he knew every little piece of information. He was very up to date. He does his research." He still calls Lahey with questions and invited him to join the Lancers at the OFSAA tournament two years ago as a scout. "Dale's a great guy to pick his brain," Denomy said. "He knows the game inside and out." It's been rewarding for Lahey to see many of his former players give back to the sport. "A lot of them volunteer," he said. "There's quite a few of the guys that have gotten into coaching, so I'm happy with that." He and Ingrid were among the first inductees to the Ontario Volleyball Association's Quarter Century Club in 2004 for their years of service. Their sons also had great success on the volleyball court. Scott played at the University of Calgary and went to three Canadian university championships, while Cory went to two Canadian college championships with Durham and Niagara.

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Dennis McCord didn't seek attention for his hockey career that included a brief stint in the NHL. However, he would have been pleased by his selection to the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame, said his son Kent. McCord, who died in 2005, was one of four inductees announced Friday. He'll enter the Hall in the athlete-legend category. "It's nice," Kent McCord said. "It's just too bad he wasn't still alive when it happened. "I know my mom and brother and sister will be happy. It'll be a nice tribute to him." 

Figure skater Shae-Lynn Bourne (athlete-modern), high school volleyball coach Dale Lahey (builder) and the 1986-87 Chatham Branch 28 major bantam hockey team will also be inducted Sept. 11 at the W.I.S.H. Centre. Bourne and Lahey were on the ballot for the first time, while McCord was a finalist for the sixth straight year. The '86-87 major bantams had also been in the running before. McCord was a scrappy, physical defenceman who moved from the Jr. Maroons to play Major Junior 'A' hockey in Toronto, Kitchener and London. He was an eighth-round draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks in 1972. He played three games with the Canucks in the 1973-74 campaign. He spent four seasons in the pros until knee injuries forced him to retire in 1976. "If he was here, he'd be honoured (to be inducted)," Kent McCord said. "But he never cared too much about it. He was more into having fun and getting stuff done around the house and spending time with his family." 

Bourne is one of the most successful athletes to ever hail from Chatham. She won 10 Canadian ice dance championships with Victor Kraatz of Vancouver. Bourne and Kraatz were also the first North American dance team to be world champions when they won gold medals in 2003. They retired from eligible competition after the victory, ending their career together with one silver medal and four bronze at the worlds. They competed in three Olympics, placing 10th in 1994 and just missing the podium with fourth-place finishes in 1998 and 2002. They were inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame in 2007. Bourne, who lives in Toronto and Connecticut, now performs in ice shows and coaches. 

Lahey was chosen for the Hall of Fame one year after the induction of his mentor and former high school coach, Mort Giles. "I was really hoping to get in there after Mort - a logical follow-up, I hope," he said. "He was my coach and he was almost like a father to me." His brother, former McGregor basketball coach Larry Lahey, is also a Hall of Fame inductee. Dale Lahey won two OFSAA gold medals and four bronze at Chatham-Kent Secondary School as a head coach. He won two more gold as an assistant coach. His volleyball teams went to 18 OFSAA tournaments in 22 years. He retired from teaching in 2004 after 30 1/2 years at CKSS, where he also coached soccer, wrestling and badminton. He and his wife Ingrid have been honoured by the Ontario Volleyball Association for their 30-plus years of service as coaches, officials and club founders. Lahey was also a good friend of McCord. They played baseball and fastball together, Lahey at second base and McCord at shortstop. The 1986-87 major bantams weren't expected to contend for any titles after losing star forward Brian Wiseman - a 2007 Hall of Fame inductee - to the Dresden Kings. They proved the naysayers wrong by winning the Ontario Minor Hockey Association championship and then capturing the All-Ontario Challenge Tournament. "I'm just thrilled for the kids," head coach John Dinning said. "I'm just happy they were recognized for what they accomplished. It was probably the best team I ever coached, and I've coached some good ones . . . But this one was special." The season also included a trip to Sweden at Christmas. The team was selected by the OMHA to represent Canada. Dinning credited all the success to his hard-working players, their parents and his coaching staff: assistants Tim Bossence and Mike McKellar and trainer Al McGowan. "They deserve it and the coaching staff deserves it," he said of the Hall of Fame recognition. 

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Dale Lahey hopes to join some familiar faces as a builder in the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame. Lahey, 58, spent 30 years as a volleyball coach at Chatham-Kent Secondary School and has been involved in a myriad of sports in Chatham. "I'm excited to follow in a category with Mort Giles," says Lahey, referring to the man who was Lahey's coach in volleyball at the former Merlin high school. "My brother (Larry) was inducted in 2002." Lahey and other nominees in the four categories will know by Friday whether they have been inducted into the hall. Winners will be inducted during the annual Hall of Fame dinner, set for Sept. 15. Lahey is up against the late Jane Saville, who was involved with the Chatham Figure Skating Club for 55 years; Bill Stobbs, who has been involved in minor hockey and baseball for more than 40 years; and Bob Weedon, who has been involved with slo-pitch in Chatham for 30 years. Stobbs and Weedon were nominated last year. Lahey worked for several years as an umpire in the Maple City Slo-Pitch League, of which Weedon is president. Lahey retired in 2004 after 30 years as a volleyball coach and mathematics teacher at Chatham-Kent Secondary School. In a span from 1977 to 1998, Lahey led the Hawks to 18 appearances at OFSAA, with gold medals in 1989 and 1993 and four bronze medals as head coach. Lahey and his wife Ingrid founded the Chatham Ballhawks Volleyball Club, and in 1976 founded the Southwestern Ontario men's and women's volleyball league. The couple also co-coached the Boys Ontario Summer Games team to a gold medal in 1991. In 1976 he became an Ontario Volleyball Association referee and continues to referee games. In 2001, he became founder and president of the Chatham-Kent Volleyball Officials Association. His son Scott is among the top beach volleyball players in Canada and Dale and Ingrid are coaching two girls involved in beach volleyball. While Lahey believes "most people would vote for me because of volleyball," he has been involved with a number of other sports at school and within the community. Lahey coached the CKSS junior boys soccer team to six Kent championships from 1991 to 1996, and in five of those six years, his teams were SWOSSA champions. He coached wrestling teams to two OFSAA appearances and earned one senior and one junior Kent championship in badminton. In 1987, 88 and 90 he was a travel manager with Chatham Minor Baseball and from 1973 to 2007 was an umpire in baseball and slo-pitch. Lahey has been awarded the Retired Teachers of Ontario Volunteer Award for a quarter century of service at CKSS' a board of education Award of Appreciation in 2005 won the Outstanding Contribution to Athletics award at the school and the Ontario Volleyball Association award of achievement in 1988.
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Chatham Sports Hall of Fame has awarded $300 bursaries to four high school students who have helped at school sporting events.  This is the fifth consecutive year that the Hall has awarded bursaries.

The bursaries are for students who have helped coach, manage, keep score, fundraise or do other tasks, outside of playing.  The students received their awards at their schools.

The winners are Phil Mynwening, Chatham Christian High School; Ryan Hamm, Chatham-Kent Secondary School, Daren Ebere, John McGregor Secondary School and Meghan Freeburn, Ursuline College.
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The Chatham Sports Hall of Fame board of directors is expected to name the 2008 inductees within the next week. Jay Teetzel, chair of the hall, says that ballots were to be tabulated on Friday, and the winners' names are to be announced within a few days. The winning candidates will be inducted into the hall at its annual dinner scheduled for Sept. 11, at the WISH Centre. 

The nominees this year are : Athlete modern (retired for at least five years): Joelle Batten Daigneau, Shae-Lynn Bourne, Carrie (Dillon) Carleton and Jamie Jefferson. Carleton was also a candidate in 2007. 

Athlete legend (someone who played the sport 21 or more years ago): Ron Blommers, Dennis McCord, (deceased) Shirley Pilson (deceased) and Randy Rybansky. All of them were candidates in 2007. 

Builder: Dale Lahey, Jane Saville (deceased), Bill Stobbs and Bob Weedon. Stobbs and Weedon were candidates in 2007.

Team: 1938 CYO juvenile baseball, 1986-87 Br. 28 Legion hockey, 1987 peewee baseball, and 1997 Sun Out Diamonds senior baseball team. The 1987 peewee baseball team is the only new team nominated. 

Batten-Daigneau was born in Chatham in 1970 and won a number of women's skating events from 1986 to 1992, including a gold medal at the 1991 senior ladies Western Ontario Championship. Bourne, 31, teamed with partner Victor Kratz to win eight senior skating championships between 1993 and 2003. She took home fourth spot in the Winter Olympics in 1998 and 2002. She was inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame in 2007. Bourne is chair of the Every Life Counts Chatham-Kent Physician Recruitment Campaign. Carleton, 40, was named Female Athlete of the Year in each of her last three years at John McGregor Secondary School. In April 1987, she accepted a scholarship to play basketball at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Mich. In the spring of 2002, she was inducted into the GVSU Hall of Fame. She teaches and coaches basketball at McGregor. Jefferson, 35, a former nominee, started boxing at age 11, and became Ontario Junior Champion at age 13. He was named Boxing Ontario Athlete of the Year in 1988. In the legend category (competed 21 or more years ago), Blommers was twice a member of the championship St. Mary's University National Basketball Team. McCord, who died in 2005 at age 53, was a defenseman with Chatham Maroons and played professional hockey in the minor leagues. He played minor hockey and baseball in Chatham.

Pilson, who died in 1991 at age 70, skipped six women's curling teams that won provincial championships. Rybanski, 47, was an all-around athlete at John McGregor Secondary School, helping his school win a basketball title in 1976-77 and playing on Kent and SWOSSA football championships. He went on to play college football at Wilfrid Laurier University and played in the CFL with Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He coaches football at Ursuline College. 

In the builder's category, Lahey, 58, who attended Merlin District High School, was involved in volleyball as a player and coach at CKSS for several years. He and his wife Ingrid co-founded Chatham Ballhawks Volleyball Club. Stobbs, 73, has been a volunteer with hockey and baseball teams in Chatham for more than 40 years. He has served with a number of organizations including the Chatham branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association. Jane Saville, who died in 2004 at age 82, helped form the Chatham Figure Skating Club and was involved with the organization for 55 years. Weedon, 63, has served as president of Maple City slo-pitch League for the past 22 years in which it has grown from four to 86 teams. He has been a player, coach and umpire and has helped oversee a number of upgrades at local ball parks. In the team category, the 1987 peewee baseball team was managed by Murray Peterson and coached by Carl Snelgrove and Bill Twigg. It finished with a 50-9 winning en route to winning the OBA AA title. The 1986-87 Legion bantam hockey team represented Canada at a tournament in Sweden and won six of nine games. They also won three major bantam tournaments that year. The 1997 Chatham Sun Out Diamonds senior baseball team placed second in the Canadian championship in Newfoundland and finished the Western Counties championship with a record of 29-1. The 1938 CYO juvenile baseball team became the first juvenile squad to win an Ontario Baseball Association title.
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The latest batch of candidates for the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame is a mix of old and new names. It's an impressive group that includes a world champion, an NHL player, a CFL player, an all- American and Canadian medallists. Five are candidates for the first time. The other 11 were on the ballot before, including 10 returnees from last year. 

The newcomers are figure skaters Shae-Lynn Bourne and Joelle Batten-Daigneau, volleyball coach Dale Lahey, figure skating volunteer Jane Saville and the 1987 Chatham McDonald's peewee baseball team. One candidate from each of the four categories will be chosen for induction by Hall of Fame voters. The Class of 2008 will be announced July 11. The annual induction ceremony will be September. 11 at the W.I.S.H. Centre. 

The candidates are:

• Athlete-Modern: Joelle Batten-Daigneau, Shae-Lynn Bourne, Carrie (Dillon) Carleton and Jamie Jefferson; 
• Athlete-Legend: Ron Blommers, Dennis McCord, Shirley Pilson and Randy Rybansky;
• Builder: Dale Lahey, Bill Stobbs, Jane Saville and Bob Weedon; 
• Team: 1938 Catholic Youth Organization juvenile baseball, 1986-87 Chatham Branch 28 Legion bantam hockey, 1987 Chatham McDonald's peewee baseball and 1997 Chatham Sun-Out Diamonds senior baseball;

Athlete-Modern Bourne won 10 Canadian senior ice dance championships with partner Victor Kraatz. They captured four bronze medals at the worlds, one silver and in 2003 became the first North American dancers to win a world championship. The three-time Olympians were inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame in 2007. Batten-Daigneau, who is Saville's granddaughter, won gold (novice ladies) and bronze (junior ladies) medals at the Canadian championships. She twice skated at the senior national championships, placing seventh in 1992 and 14th in 1993. Carleton was a multi-sport star at McGregor before going to Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Mich., on a basketball scholarship. She was a two-time all-American and was inducted into the Grand Valley Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. Jefferson won Ontario boxing championships at the junior, intermediate and senior levels. He also won medals at the Canadian championships and the Canada Winter Games, as well as Detroit Golden Gloves titles. Athlete-Legend Blommers led Chatham-Kent Secondary School to its first OFSAA basketball title in 1977. He also won two Canadian university hoops championships with St. Mary's and played with the men's national team. McCord starred in several sports but excelled at hockey, making the Chatham Jr. Maroons as a 14-year-old. He played major junior with Toronto, Kitchener and London before enjoying a pro career that included three games with the Vancouver Canucks in 1973-74. Pilson won numerous New Brunswick curling championships and competed at the nationals before moving in the mid-1970s to Chatham. She twice skipped Chatham Granite Club teams to the Ontario senior ladies championships. Rybansky starred as a running back at McGregor and at Wilfrid Laurier University. He played three seasons in the Canadian Football League and went to the 1985 Grey Cup with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Builder Lahey won two gold medals and four bronze as the CKSS head coach at the OFSAA volleyball championships, plus two more gold as an assistant coach. He also co-founded the Chatham Ballhawks volleyball club and coached teams to medals at the provincial and national levels. Stobbs has been involved in hockey for more than 30 years as a general manager, team executive and league official. He is also a longtime director with the Ontario Hockey Association. Saville volunteered with the Chatham Figure Skating Club for 55 years. She chaired many committees and did countless jobs at the administrative level. Weedon has been president of the Maple City Slo-Pitch League since 1978. He is also an executive member of Softball Ontario and the Slo-Pitch Ontario Association. Team The 1938 CYO Juveniles were the first Chatham juvenile team to win an Ontario Baseball Association championship. The 1986-87 Bantams won the Ontario Minor Hockey Association and All-Ontario Challenge banners. They were also chosen by the OMHA to represent Canada at a tournament in Sweden during the Christmas holidays. The 1987 Peewees won the OBA 'AA' championship to cap a great three-year run. They were the OBA 'AA' tyke champs in 1985 and the 'A' peewee runners- up in '86. The 1997 Diamonds won the Ontario senior elimination tournament and were silver medalists at the Canadian championship. They also won their fifth consecutive Western Counties league title.

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The deadline to nominate candidates for the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame is Tuesday, April 15. Candidates can fall into four categories: athlete-modern, athlete-legend, builder and team. Athlete-modern nominees competed within the past 20 years and have been retired for at least five years. Athlete-legend nominees competed 21 or more years ago. Builders can be individuals or groups, such as coaches, administrators, officials or supporters. Candidates must have some connection to Chatham. To receive more information or a nomination package, call Bill Robinson at 519-436-1095 or Jay Teetzel at 519-354-2333. Packages are also available at www.chathamsportshalloffame.com and at the W.I.S.H. Centre.

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Three local charitable organizations will benefit from the newly-established Larry R. Babcock Memorial Fund. The fund, to be managed by the Chatham-Kent Community Foundation, will benefit Chatham- Kent Junior Achievement, the Chatham-Kent Women's' Centre and a sports organization yet to be determined. "We are so grateful for the thousands of dollars of donations that have been received in Larry's name from his many friends," said his wife, Dorothy. She said the family knows Babcock would have wanted donations used to help support worthwhile projects and organizations "in the community that he loved so much." A longtime Chatham lawyer and sports enthusiast, Babcock died of cancer last October. He was 67 and had been married for 44 years. "Through the memorial fund we hope to keep Larry's legacy alive," said his widow. Donations to date have exceeded $26,000 from more than 80 individual donors. Established in 1990, the foundation donates the interest earned on investments to worthy registered charitable organizations in the community. Foundation spokesman Hugh Logan said between $65,000 and $75,000 is donated annually to organizations such as the Canadian Cancer Society, the Diabetes Association, the Chatham- Kent Health Alliance and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Babcock, a Chatham native, first made his mark in sports as an original member of the Peterborough Petes hockey team. It was during his years in Peterborough that he met his wife, the former Dorothy Kingston. The couple have four children - Alexandra, Whitney, Courtney and Blair and two grandchildren. 

Babcock was inducted into the Chatham-Kent Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. He is also a member of the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and the Chatham Collegiate Institute Sports Hall of Fame. Babcock began his career as a lawyer with Alan Eagleson in Toronto and later returned to Chatham in 1969 to open a practice with childhood friend Al Hinnegan. He launched his own practice on Victoria Avenue in 1987. Babcock served as a trustee on the former Kent County Board of Education, was president of the Chatham YMCA Pool Sharks and coached minor softball and hockey. He was an avid golfer and played in the local old timer hockey league. "The family is very appreciative of the financial support we've received from father's many friends in the community since his untimely passing," said daughter, Alexandra Babcock. "It's great knowing the memorial fund will help keep dad's legacy alive in his hometown."

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Brian Wiseman played his first NHL game at Maple Leaf Gardens on Hockey Night in Canada. His second game was the following night at Joe Louis Arena. For a kid who grew up in Bothwell and Chatham, the stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs couldn't have started much better. Wiseman played only one more game in the National Hockey League, but he has no regrets. His time in the NHL, like his six-year pro career, was short but sweet. "Too many good things happened on my career path to look back on woulda, coulda, shoulda," said Wiseman, 36. 

The high-scoring centre will be inducted into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday at the W.I.S.H. Centre. Wiseman now lives in Houston with his wife and two daughters. He works in the oil and gas industry. Before concussions forced him to retire from hockey, Wiseman put up huge numbers for the Chatham Micmacs, the Michigan Wolverines and in the minor leagues. "It was just uncanny what he could do," former Micmacs head coach Wayne Jacklin said. The five-foot-eight Wiseman was a Hobey Baker finalist and an all-American in 1994 at Michigan. He was an MVP and a two time all-star in the International Hockey League. "He was a special player," Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. "It didn't matter how big or good the other team was. Brian Wiseman found a way to be a factor in the game." When he was a youngster shooting pucks on the road, in his basement or at the rink, Wiseman wasn't thinking about the pros. Sure, he dreamed of playing in the NHL. But it was nothing more than a dream. He played because he loved hockey. "It was fun," he said. "It was nothing more than pure enjoyment." 

Wiseman learned at a young age how to handle the media spotlight. Interview requests for the scoring whiz came from all over. "I was extremely fortunate - I do believe, some people may not - I had a lot of attention when I was nine and 10 years old," he said. "I scored 413 goals in novice and broke Wayne Gretzky's record apparently." Wiseman continued to pile up points in one junior 'C' season with the Dresden Kings and three junior 'B' seasons in Chatham. He gained 313 points in three seasons with the Micmacs. In 1989-90, he set an Ontario Hockey Association record with 147 points in 40 games. "Brian probably handled it better than anyone else on the team," Jacklin said. "Guys would try to bring up his points and (say to the officials), 'Oh, Brian got an assist.' And Brian didn't want it if he didn't earn it, which was commendable for someone his age." Wiseman was more than just a points machine. He was a team-first player and a great leader, Jacklin said. If a teammate was forced to run stairs at Memorial Arena as punishment, Wiseman ran as well. He worked hard and expected the same from his teammates. "Once a month, they could run their own practice and guys hated it when Brian got the whistle," Jacklin said. "He was tougher than I was." 

The historic season helped Wiseman earn a scholarship to Michigan. "I wanted to be a contributor on the team right from the start, and I was confident that I could," he said. He was right. After a 58-point freshman season in 199091, he was named the Central Collegiate Hockey Association rookie of the year. The New York Rangers chose him in the 12th round, 257th overall, of the 1991 draft. What made Wiseman so great? "His puck skills, his smarts, his vision, his patience," Berenson said. "A lot of people thought he was a playmaker, but he could also score. He could score as well as anyone in the league." He went to the Frozen Four with the Wolverines in 1992 and '93. As a senior, he captained them in 1994 to their first CCHA tournament championship. He finished with 248 points, including a school-record 164 assists, in four years at Ann Arbor. Wiseman next conquered the pros: five years in the IHL with the Chicago Wolves and the Houston Aeros, plus one with the St. John's Maple Leafs of the American Hockey League. He played with the Baby Leafs in 1996-97, the same season he was called up to Toronto. "The thing that hurt me the most is he didn't get a real crack at the Leafs," Jacklin said. "... He would have excelled the same way in the NHL, no doubt in my mind at all. He just had that ability to take his game up to the next level." Wiseman always heard critics say he was too small. Then he proved them wrong. "I always said he's six-foot four when he gets the puck," Berenson said. In 1999, he led the IHL in scoring with 109 points, won the MVP award and captured the Turner Cup with Houston. "If you look at how players play the game and how good the players are, you couldn't take your eyes off Wiseman," Berenson said. Injuries slowed him in 1999- 2000, which proved to be his final season. He returned to Michigan for two seasons as an administrative assistant from 2000-02. Then he spent one with the Dallas Stars as a video coach and another with Princeton University as an assistant.
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If not for one special coach, Mort Giles might have become a construction worker. Instead, he went to university, became a teacher and then laid the foundation for decades of volleyball success in Chatham- Kent. Giles, who coached for 35 years, will be inducted into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame in the builder category Thursday at the W.I.S.H. Centre. "I'm really looking forward to it," he said. "It'll be a highlight of my life." 

Giles won three OFSAA 'A' boys championships at Merlin in 1967, '72 and '74. He later won an OFSAA bronze medal with the Blenheim boys team and a bronze with the McGregor girls. However, his impact goes far beyond three provincial titles and dozens of Kent championships. Giles, 63, instilled a passion for volleyball in hundreds of players. Several became successful coaches. Three of his former players - Dale Lahey, Randy Bartlett and Jim Smyth - have combined to win 11 OFSAA gold medals as head coaches. "At the time, he was the best around," said Bartlett, who won two OFSAA golds in Merlin playing for Giles. "... For around this area, Kent County, he would probably have been the main guy who got things going." 

Now retired, he lives in London with Liz, his wife of 40 years. Giles attended West Elgin high school, a volleyball power in West Lorne that produced many future coaches. Graduates include current West Kent Coun. Bryon Fluker, who guided the Tilbury boys team to OFSAA 'A' gold medals in 1988. Giles credits his career path to West Elgin coach Lloyd Smith. "I was really close to him and he encouraged me," Giles said. "I probably wouldn't have gone to university without his encouragement and support. When you come from a family of 11 kids, it's a lot of money for university." Giles didn't have much growing up. He learned to appreciate what he had and make the best of a situation. Smith taught him to strive for more. Although his 10 younger siblings have been successful, Giles is the only one who went to university. He made a vow to Smith upon entering the University of Western Ontario. "I promised him when I got out I would help other kids the same way he helped me," Giles said. Consider the promise kept. Lahey remembers hanging out with Giles after practices in Merlin, chatting like friends. "He was quite a father figure to me," said the retired Chatham- Kent Secondary School teacher. Giles has jokingly referred to Lahey, Bartlett and Smyth as "my three sons." He also coached basketball, badminton, and track and field at Merlin. His dedication and effort motivated the players. "What made us good would be the fact Mort kind of led by example," said Bartlett, a CKSS teacher. "He worked so hard, it was a good example for the rest of us." 

The next stop for Giles was Blenheim. "Before he came to Blenheim, volleyball was just something to do until we got to basketball season," Smyth said. "I think when he came, he got the program there going and got us to enjoy the game of volleyball." He also turned them into winners. "He's ... very competitive," Smyth said. "Does not like to lose and prepares his teams so they're going to have that success. I think he was driven as a coach to have success, and the players saw that and wanted to succeed for him." He later took his Midas touch to McGregor. Winning at three schools makes him worthy of Hall induction, Lahey said. "It's one thing to build something at one school," he said. "It's another thing to keep jumping around and do a great job wherever you go." Giles still officiates. He also helps at the annual Volleyball Kent Camp, where he soaks up the energy of the young players. "I think that's the secret: being around them," he said. "I feel young. I don't look in the mirror anymore. I feel like a young person." Giles.
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"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee" ( John Donne) It would be a difficult task to imagine too many other local citizens whose death conjures up the essence of the above quote as well as the life and recent unfortunate death of Larry Babcock.

He was without doubt a gifted man in countless ways. Friends have described him as possibly the best natural athlete to come out of Chatham and an outstanding lawyer who was more of a friend than legal advisor. He was all these things and more. His athletic accomplishments alone place him in the "local legend" category and his recent induction into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame underscores those accomplishments. However, it was not his athletic nor his legal skills that impressed me the most.

Larry Babcock was from "the old school" of responsibility, involvement and genuine concern for his community. After graduating from the University of Michigan he could have, very easily, never come home to Chatham again. No one would have thought ill of him if he had forsaken his boyhood home for the likes of a big American city or if he had taken his law degree and fled to Toronto in pursuit of a exciting and promising law career in a big firm specializing in high profile clients. His old home town would have understood. In fact many would have cheered him on and some would have even taken great delight in following his career somewhere else and, like many others did with his hockey accomplishments, taken great delight in enhancing their own lives by living vicariously through him. But.....that was not his style. After university he came home and with his good friend Al Hinnegan set up a law practice in a modest, far-from-glamorous office on Victoria Avenue.

One might have forgiven him for being preoccupied with his legal responsibilities and sports and ignoring other aspects of life in the community but he did not. I was always amazed at the places I would see him and the many arts, culture and heritage interests that he and his equally accomplished wife "Dot" possessed. Together they made a wonderful team that knew what was going on in ALL aspects of their community and supported as many things as they could. Our paths crossed a number of times over the years. He was a neighbor who lived down the street and his interests often intersected with mine. He was a strong supporter of the Chatham Public Library and when they sponsored an activity like a reading and discussion regarding CBC's Canada Reads Contest, I was surprised to see him there showing his support and expressing his interest in and concern for the literary side of life in Chatham. His interests spanned arts, culture, music, drama, education (he served on the Kent Board of Education), world events and even local history. On more than one occasion he would comment on something that I had written in this column and would provide a relevant insightful review on what I had written. His always perceptive comments demonstrated to me not only a keen interest in local arts, culture and history but an unspoken but obvious support for anyone else in the community trying to make Chatham a better place to live. When I had a new book published, he would not only know about it but be one of the first in line to buy a half dozen or so books to give to his friends at Christmas time. Once upon a time there were many men like Larry Babcock in Chatham. They knew their community inside out and made special efforts to be part of the community. They knew that it was their responsibility to support all those things in a community that made it a better place to live.

In the early 1900s, Chatham was alive with businessmen, politicians, lawyers, doctors, teachers and other educated as well as like-minded citizens from all walks of life who worked together to create a cultured, multi-faceted, richly textured society. It was a form of "noblesse oblige" in the best sense of that word. They knew that, which Larry Babcock also clearly understood. They knew that they had been given gifts of power, prestige, wealth, intellect, artistic talents, athletic ability and a honoured position in the community in which they lived. They also clearly understood that with these gifts came great responsibility. They knew, as Larry Babcock did, that it was their duty to be involved in as many aspects of their community as possible. They, like Larry Babcock, felt an over developed sense of responsibility to not only their families but to their community as a whole. They knew that if they did not get involved, show interest, invest their time, money and expertise that their community would never grow, and that it would never truly be cultured and progressive.

Larry knew these things. He lived a life that few, unfortunately, choose to live in this modern age. He was involved. He cared for things beyond himself and his immediate concerns. He saw the big picture. He saw his role in the development of that big picture and never allowed himself to be pigeon holed into smaller pursuits. We desperately need more people like Larry Babcock in this day and age. We need people who will unselfishly give of themselves, to work each day to make this place a better place to live. Too many of us give up, narrow our pursuits or get discouraged and give up before we even give it a good try.

Larry Babcock was a man full of vision, passion, care , concern, and love. A love that embraced, nurtured and gave tremendous support to his immediate family but also to the community as a whole which he obviously saw as a meaningful extension of his own extremely talented family. Some will remember him as a great athlete, others as a top notch lawyer, others still we remember him as the perfect husband and father but I , in my brief acquaintance with him , will forever see him as the archetypal citizen who was always ready to offer a sympathetic smile, a helping hand, a kind word and a man who had a passion for his community and all that it was, and all that it could be.

Some men see things as they are and simply say "Why"? Men like Larry Babcock see things that never were and choose to say "Why not?" We should all strive to be, in our own way and using our own unique talents and gifts to be more like Larry Babcock. He was a shining example for us all. He represented the best that exists within us all and demonstrated, on a daily basis, what we could all be if we strove hard enough, had enough passion, developed enough eclectic interests and chose to truly care about the place in which we live. Larry Babcock was, as Shakespeare so eloquently put it "a man, take him for all in all, we shall not look upon his like again".

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