Hall of Fame and upcoming Banquet

It is wished I could find the words to impress on the minds of the sport fans of Gordon County the importance of their support and participation in the CalhounGordon County Sports Hall of Fame.

There is no time than the present for me to emphasize it in a statement read recently and possibly shared with readers; the position suggested that more are concerned with the outcome of a matter than the effort and process it takes to get there. In this case the outcome involves selecting worthy candidates for induction into the local sports Hall of Fame.

Here is the point of emphasis I want to make today: The second annual induction banquet is scheduled to take place in less than one month. Seven local athletes have been selected and will be inducted and added to the 14 inducted in the inaugural group last year; the banquet will be held on Saturday August 13 at the Georgia Northwestern Technical College. This is the outcome which will be given conversation and specu- effort.

Incidentally, neither Dewayne or Scott are natives of Gordon County; both are from neighboring states but their interest for a local Hall of Fame provided, as already stated, the impetus, for the route traveled to this point. Please look up the meaning of the word impetus and you will find all the synonyms of the word certainly applied to these two as they guided the Board of Directors to activity along the journey.

The important point is to get the public (sports fans) involved. This begins with learning the procedures; remember my oft stated quote from Publilius Syrus, ancient Roman Writer “It is better to be ignorant of a matter than to half know it.”

The first step for an individual is to nominate a person one feels worthy of recognition. This takes time and effort. A nomination form must be obtained. The Hall’s web site is www.cgcshf.com and contains all necessary information. May I emphasize that speaking someone’s name is not sufficient to nominate; accomplish- ments of a person nominated must be accumulated and verified. Also, the nominating term for the present year is past. The 2017 term will be coming up.

Also, the Hall of Fame needs your financial support. Sponsorship at different levels can be read on the website.

There are so many specifics to be discussed. Let me note here that the new home of the Hall of Fame will be at the site adjoining Gem Theater. The site is under development at the present and will soon be available for viewing in the near future.

The Hall of Fame gives reason for excitement in Gordon County. It is already a great part of the community; as the years go by it will be more a part and provide excitement as citizens visit the site and learn and review the great accomplishments of the past.

The Summer Sports Scene

It is the time of year that young people are not in school. There is no school related sports activity during these few weeks (Not three months as the popular feeling often expressed by those less informed).

While school athletic competition is on the back-burner, it is not even close to accurate to imagine, let alone suggest, young people are not busy in activity during these summer months.

In addition to activities of our Recreation Department, many youngsters from Gordon County and Calhoun compete on travel teams. While there are other sports falling into the category of summer travel teams it is probably truer for Girls Softball than any other activity.

As I write many of young ladies are away from Gordon County playing in tournaments. These tournaments will lead to many of the teams heading to really faraway places such as California to play in National Tournaments. This will hold true for nearly all ages of young ladies.

The weekend travel involved in the young ladies career demands the attention, time, and effort of their parents. Oh, did I forget to mention that the travel involves expenses — maybe I just should say it involves money.

Let me inject here a personal note: Years ago this travel would have really appealed to this old coach. My football teams did go to either to Savannah or Brunswick every year. My players (12-14 years old) got to see the ocean.

Those kids from South Georgia got to see the mountains for the first time in their lives. I did make the journey with the 14-year-olds to play in the Little Sugar Bowl Classic in a fourteam affair. We lost to the Cincinnati Tomahawks on Thanksgiving night and defeated a Dallas Texas team on Saturday night.

As a note of explanation: If I had it to do over I would not make any journey farther than one of the counties that touched Gordon County. My, how age changes ones outlook!

The Final Season

It will have to be later but I want to share with you thoughts from “The Final Season.” It is a story about a little town in Norway, Iowa whose school was being merged with a large school. It is the story of us all as we approach what will be “The Final Season.”