New names have been added to the Timmins Sports Heritage Hall of Fame.
An event on June 11 celebrated the 2022 inductees — William "Bill" Hughes, Margaret Mary Keeley and Alex Fulton, Janice Forsyth, Bud Stefanski, Robert "Bob" Menard, Ted Zajac, WG (Bill) Smith, and the "Hopalong" Hannigans (Pat, Gord and Ray, who played in the NHL).
Zajac, Stefanski, Forsyth and Hughes attended the ceremony. The rest of this year's recipients were post-humous and were represented by family and supporters.
The last time people were added to the Hall of Fame that's housed in the JP Bickell Auditorium at the McIntyre Community Centre was 2018.
The group formed around 2012 and the first induction was in 2014, said committee member Wayne Bozzer. After the 2018 ceremony, they took a break. Then COVID hit.
While there was talk about having a virtual ceremony in 2021, Bozzer is happy they decided against it as it wouldn't do the event justice. People who haven't been back in The Porcupine for decades showed up from across the province to celebrate the 2022 inductees and showed the importance of a live event, he said.
"I saw people going on the ice surface … taking pictures, many people who may have been here decades ago who played at the Mac or saw a game at the Mac. It was quite emotional for a lot of the families,” he said.
There was some uncertainty about whether or not this year's ceremony would go ahead.
Earlier this year, the Timmins Sport Heritage Hall of Fame items were removed from the auditorium walls to allow for renovations to the room where the organization shares space at the city-owned facility.
The photographs and displays have since been put back up, and the city has said they didn't intend to dissolve the partnership or evict the hall of fame.
SEE: Sports hall of fame items hanging at the Mac again
Bozzer said some of that still needs to be figured out in the next month. He's confident there will be another small ceremony in 2023.
“We’re trying to solidify our relationship with the city and how we can carry this project further and make it a bigger source of pride and add a tourism angle if we can do some digital work in the room where people go there and can see a lot of the stuff versus just something on the wall,” he said.