CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE Dec 23, 2020
Do you know an outstanding athlete that graduated from the high school in Shawville? If so, a recently formed committee wants to hear from you.
Phys ed teacher Darcy Findlay said that he along with a group of staff and community members would be creating a physical display to celebrate the school’s athletic history.
“We decided to create an athletic hall of fame for Pontiac High School, Pontiac Protestant High School and Shawville High School … to recognize . . .
former student athletes that excelled while they were at school and perhaps afterward as well,” he said. “[We’re] really just trying to build the culture and the pride and recognize our community for things that they’ve done.”
Findlay said that he came up with the idea and presented it to his colleagues who were all on board. He added that the selection committee is made up of four staff members (himself, Chad Davis, Wendy Moore and Joanne Brownlee) as well as four members of the community at large (Carson Ryan, Ed Walsh, Bill McCleary and Deborah Stafford).
“We thought it would be nice to have school representatives, but also people from the community to do that as well,” he said.
Since this is the inaugural year, Findlay said that they were aiming to induct up to 20 people to kick things off and would be adding fewer names in the subsequent years.
“Moving forward, whenever we have our second induction class, it’s going to be capped at only five people per year max and the voting criteria will change,” he said.
There are eight different categories for nominees: athlete, master athlete, team, coach, official, builder, pioneer and special achievement. Nominations can be submitted to pontiachighschoolhalloffame.com. The website also has detailed descriptions of each category as well as a breakdown of the selection process.
Nominations will be accepted until Jan. 30, 2021 at 8 p.m. Findlay said that he hopes to have the first induction class finalized by February with a display unveiled in March if all goes according to plan.
“It’s going to be in the phys ed hallway, just as you walk down to the gym,” he said. “The ultimate goal is to build that hallway back up with team photos and jerseys and the hall of fame is obviously going to take up a big part of that area.”
Findlay said that he had solicited donations for the individual plaques from local businesses and had commissioned a large banner for the display from the welding instructor Megan Tubman. He said that he hopes the project elicits some pride from student and alumni alike.
“A kid can come in grade seven and go, ‘There’s my uncle, there’s my mom or dad’ and have a little pride in that,” he said. “That’s the ultimate goal, to create something that we can build on every year and it’s on display for many years to come.”
