7/27/2017
| Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.com
Category: July
One hundred and 43 years in the making, West Springfield will soon have its own high school Hall of Fame.
When the Terriers baseball team captured the state championship in 2016, Mayor Will Reichelt and Brian Griffin, vice president of the City Council, came to the realization that the town did not have a Hall of Fame.
With the support of Reichelt and Superintendent Michael Richard, it was announced the community will finally have one.
It’s been nearly a year since Reichelt made the announcement that a Hall of Fame would be established and since then, a committee of volunteers including Chairman Brian Griffin, Vice Chairman Christopher Thompson, former Mayor Edward C. Sullivan, Athletic Director Glen Doulette, softball coach Deke Pillsbury, girls soccer coach Brenda Marti, Mary Ruth Kane, Julie Karas and Bob Collins has been hard at work.
“The duties of the committee continue to be vast but we have come a long way. Of the many items on the committee's agenda were that of developing a mission statement, a set of by laws, criteria for nomination, nomination process, nominations forms, and selection process. The committee met diligently and through great teamwork this was accomplished,” Grifin said.
Now the committee is taking its next step – collecting nominations for the inaugural class. The nomination process began at the start of July and forms will be accepted through the end of August. Forms can be found in Reichelt’s office, the Town Council Office and the library, as well as the town webite and the West Springfield Public School website. The deadline for submissions is Aug. 31.
Each year the committee will select up to six athletes eligible for nomination five years after graduation from West Springfield High School; up to two coaches, eligible three years after retirement from the sport; up to two teams eligible after five years; and up to two special contributors, defined as an individual or organization who has helped to develop, inspire, and foster growth in athletics in the West Springfield High School and community.
Griffin said the committee has received “great response thus far” and hopes to “get as many nominees as possible” for the first class.
"Special thanks goes Mayor Reichelt, Superintendant Richard, and most especially to the committee members whom this effort was not have gone so smoothly. Their dedication to task has been second to none,” he said. “We look forward to the selection process commencing by mid-September and we are in no rush to make selections to the inagural class. The consensus of the committee is to take things slowly and give every nominee the time and effort that they so well deserve."
Because the committee is being deliberate in its nomination and selection process, no date for the inaugural induction ceremony has been selected.
“As of this date we have not selected a date and time for the event so as to allow the process to play itself out correctly as well as make sure the first class inducted has a first class event,” Griffin said.