NAHS Hall of Champions-Hall of Fame celebrates 40 years

It’s been 40 years since a group of Norristown Area High School alumni, staff administrators and members of the community first discussed honoring recently graduated student athletes for their accomplishments and then established the Norristown Area High School Hall of Champions. Later they expanded the idea to include the recognition of alumni accomplishments following graduation.

In the years since that discussion, the Norristown Area High School Hall of Champions Association has inducted 193 alumni into the Hall of Champions and 187 alumni into the Hall of Fame.

To celebrate those 40 years of recognizing alumni achievements and accomplishments, the Hall of Champions Association will hold a banquet October 25 at Presidential Caterers in East Norriton.

The committee for the event is chaired by Wilmer Cressman and Nancy (Santangelo) Collier, both graduates of the Class of 1949 and both active members of the association since it began. Subcommittees have planned an evening of reminiscence and entertainment.

Keynote speaker for the celebration will be Maribeth Roman Schmidt (NAHS Class of 1984), who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016. From June 2008 to December 2014, she served as founder and president of Vault Communications. The company became one of the region’s fastest-growing public relations agencies and was ranked No. 4 by the Philadelphia Business Journal inning almost 100 Pepperpot awards for excellence in public relations work. Schmidt currently serves as executive director and spokesperson for Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship, which aims to affect positive change and promote truthful and transparent leadership within the university’s board of trustees.

Retired Temple University professor/author and 1952 Norristown graduate Charles L. Blockson, a member of both the Hall of Champions and Hall of Fame, will also be honored at the banquet by former Pennsylvania state representative Robert Butera.

Invitations to the event mailed during the summer but all are welcome to attend. Those who have not received an invitation may reserve a place for themselves or a group, by contacting the Hall of Champions Association at 484690-3678 or visiting the website www.nasd.K12.pa.us/domain/240 to receive an invitation.

“We hope to have the most prestigious and largest gathering of NAHS alumni in one location at the banquet,” noted Cressman.