The Moose Jaw and District Sports Hall of Fame couldn’t have asked for a better night of festivities during their three-class induction banquet Saturday at the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre.
The stories, the reminiscing, the laughter and even a few tears, it was as entertaining an evening as you’ll find as the MJDSHF officially brought their 2020, 2021 and 2022 classes into the fold.
With a total of 13 inductees across the three classes, there were no shortage of sports luminaries in the building, with plenty of family and friends and past inductees also taking in the event.
All told, MJDSHF president Larry Graham felt things couldn’t have turned out any better.
“It’s fantastic, just fantastic,” Graham said shortly after the festivities wrapped up. “We had just about 250 people here and we had a few breaks in the program so people could visit and see old friends, like someone who hasn’t seen somebody since they played on the Canucks with them 30, 40 years ago, and that happens all the time. It’s just a nice night.”
That the ceremony featured three classes was the product of the pandemic -- while the inductees were announced, the banquets themselves couldn’t be held in a safe environment. That led to delays in 2020 and 2021, and when things finally opened up earlier this year, it was time to go.
“We really wanted to hold an event where people could come and they’d feel comfortable getting on an airplane and getting here,” Graham explained. “This time, it worked out really well for us. There were all sorts of people who could get their families here, some who came from pretty far away to get to our event tonight and we really appreciate it.
“It was a little bit more challenging organization-wise with 13 inductees, but it turned out fantastic. People had fun, we had some great stories and had a lot of great folks.”
The 2020 class included volleyball athlete Darcey Busse, hockey and baseball builder John Hunter, baseball builder Charlie Meacher, wrestling builder Dave Pyle, basketball athlete Marg (Curry) Sivhon and hockey athlete Ed Staniowski.
Comprising the 2021 class are wrestling athlete / builder Frank Abdou, golf athlete Lorie Boyle, football athlete Levi Steinhauer and the 1992 Amber Holland curling team.
The 2022 class is made up of baseball athlete and high school coach Ned Andreoni, track and field and bobsleigh athlete John Graham and baseball and volleyball builder Rocky Nickel.
All are enshrined on the Moose Jaw and District Sports Hall of Fame wall, which can be found on the second-floor mezzanine in the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
As one can imagine, with so many athletes and builders from over the years in one building, there were plenty of connections to be found between everyone -- from Boyle and Staniowski being neighbours back in the day, to the myriad connections to John Hunter from many in the building to the various inductees who had built their strength in Dave Pyle’s gym.
“It happens even more so with each of the induction classes, you talk to people and there are so many connections,” Graham said. “So many people know John Hunter from over the years in different capacities, for example. Rocky Nickel, I bet there isn’t a volleyball player or baseball player that stepped in that room that didn’t have Rocky umpire or referee one of their games. It’s really, really nice for those folks to come and see each other and have the time to visit.”
Before long, it’ll be time to plan for the 2023 event and another class of worthy individuals.
“I’m not sure how many people there will be, but I hope everyone looks in their programs and sees how the process starts,” Graham said. “We’ll put out our call for inductions in January and get some folks to help us with selection and have another class for 2023."
