50 years in the making
P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame celebrating its golden anniversary
The P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame and Museum Inc. is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. There are 186 members in the hall that has always been located in Summerside after its inception in 1968. Each year new inductees are voted into the shrine that includes athletes, builders and teams. The original seven members were named on July 14, 1968, as part of the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame’s Banquet of Champions and Induction Ceremonies, in conjunction with the Summerside Lobster Carnival’s celebrity dinner.
The first members inducted were: Alfred Groom (track and field), Vern Handrahan (baseball), Forbes Kennedy (hockey), Davis Lidstone (baseball/ coach), Norman Macdonald
(sports journalist), Dr. Archie MacMurdo (baseball/umpire/ official) and Joe O’Brien (harness racing).
The hall’s first home was at Summerside High School in 1968, then the Summerside Town Hall before moving to the Eptek Centre in 1978 and the Wyatt Centre in 1999. In 2014 the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame (PEISHOF) relocated to the main floor at Credit Union
Place where it is found today. The hall has served two purposes. The first is to recognize and pay tribute to athletes, builders and teams that have brought special honour to the province and second to collect artifacts, photographs and other memorabilia relating to, and illustrating the history of sport in Prince Edward Island and display them to be enjoyed by all who visit.
Eligible nominees are those who have brought distinction to P.E.I. in any field of sport, and those who have made a major contribution to the development of sports in the province.
The PEISHOF is managed by a board of directors appointed by the executive council of the province of Prince Edward Island.
Today a six-member committee is selected to oversee the voting on nominees each year (two members in each of Kings, Queens and Prince counties). The final stamp of approval is
made by the board of directors prior to the naming of the new inductees.
Each year an induction ceremony is held to introduce and honour the newest inductees. The dinner has rotated between Summerside and Charlottetown in recent years.
The hall continues to be important in writing the story of sport and honouring the best in the province, which has become an important part of the culture during the past 145 years since Prince Edward Island became a province of Canada.