For The Record: February/March 2016

For The Record

MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT SCOTT WATERS

2016 is sure to be an exciting and a historic year, marking the 50th anniversary of the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (SSHF). Celebrations are currently underway, having officially begun in January with the first of our 12 Months, 12 Events initiative.  The SSHF is also planning a Traveling Exhibit, scheduled to visit dozens of communities across Saskatchewan between July and October. More details will be announced in spring, 2016!

The 50th anniversary celebration culminates September 30, 2016 with a formal gala, along with other events. Full details of the 50th anniversary celebrations will be updated regularly on the SSHF’s website at www.sasksportshalloffame.com. While the 50th anniversary celebrations are currently at the forefront, we also remain focused on regular day-to-day operations and are busy planning many other exciting events for 2017 and beyond.  As mentioned in an earlier message the SSHF has undergone great transition and improvements in recent years, and the staff and Board of Directors remain focused on providing visitor enhancements to the SSHF, and continuing to deliver a great product to our members and to the public at-large.

I would like to formally welcome a new member to the Board of Directors, and also acknowledge and thank two long-serving members of the Board who recently resigned. Joining the board is Kevin Dureau of Regina. We look forward to working with Kevin and are excited about the passion, experience and perspective he will bring to the organization.  I would also like to thank two board members who recently stepped down; Vance McNab and Hugh Vassos, who completed four and eleven years of service, respectively. During their tenure each contributed greatly to the SSHF, serving on several committees and in various roles, with Hugh Vassos recently serving as President and then as Past President of the SSHF.

The Board of Directors and staff of the SSHF held their annual retreat January 8th and 9th at Manitou Springs Resort and Mineral Spa at Manitou Beach.  Much was accomplished and a good time was had by all.  We had the added delight of being joined for lunch by SSHF inductee Leroy Coates and his wife, Marlene who currently reside in nearby Watrous.

On behalf of the SSHF Board of Directors I would like to wish you the best for the remainder of the winter season and upcoming spring season.  Please stay in touch and stay connected with the SSHF (and encourage friends and family to do the same) through our Social Media channels.

Website: www.sasksportshalloffame.com
Facebook: SaskSportsHF
Instagram: SaskSportsHF
Twitter: @SaskSportsHF
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To find out more on our latest happenings at the SSHF, download the full version of the newest For The Record, right here:

For the Record February/March 2016

*UPDATE: Please note that dates have changed for Diamond Girls performances. Updated information will be released in early May!

 

January Blog: SSHF Reveals 50th Plans

We are currently in the midst of our 50th year at the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame! By now most of your have probably heard that we will not be having a formal, stand-alone induction in 2016. Instead, we will be having multiple events during the year, throughout the province of Saskatchewan, in order to celebrate all 505 of our inductees and Saskatchewan’s rich sport history.

While some of our big announcements will have to wait to be unveiled, others are already in motion:

12 Months, 12 Events: Throughout 2016, the SSHF will be selecting one special event each month to feature in our “12 Months, 12 Events” 50th Anniversary project. Our first event of the year will be held at Peak Performance Hockey, inside of The Co-operators Centre in Regina. This event will serve to celebrate Hockey Day in Saskatchewan and will take place on January 15 from 5:00pm-7:00pm. It will also act as a pre-game event for the University of Regina Cougars game happening at 7:00pm that night. We will have many of our hockey inductees attending this event, including 1974 Memorial Cup Champion, Ed Staniowski, as well as other local hockey figures.

51 Sports in 52 Weeks: A virtual celebration of our inducted sports on a week-by-week basis. This social media experience will highlight key inductees and artifacts of each sport throughout the week. It will also include a special “where are they now” update on a featured inductee every Wednesday.

#SSHF50: For our 50th year we also wanted to implement a special hashtag for use on social media. Please feel free to search the hashtag #SSHF50 on both Twitter and Instagram to see all of our posts pertaining to our 50th year. Getting involved in this is easy! If you are at one of our events throughout the year, and post something to Twitter or Instagram about it, please include our hashtag at the end to share your experience!

2015 was a great year, but 2016 will be even better! Please join us at every opportunity to celebrate our 50th!

 

Don’t forget to like and follow us on all of our Social Media accounts to stay up to date:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SaskSportsHF
Twitter: @SaskSportsHF
Instagram: @SaskSportsHF

 

For The Record – October/November 2015

For The Record

MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT SCOTT WATERS & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SHEILA KELLY

With summer behind us the SSHF is embarking on what will be a very busy fall and winter season as we move into our 50th year of operations. An immediate change for us was the elimination of “summer” and “winter” hours of operation. Normally, with the passing of Labour Day, we would close on weekends for the winter. However, for the present time (for sure until the end of the calendar year) we are testing our members’ and the public’s interest in our being open on Saturdays from noon-5 p.m., just as we have been open all summer. With at least one special event planned in each month, there is always a reason to be coming back for another visit. And, with the waning of the outdoor golf season, don’t forget that you can keep your skills up in our multi-sport simulator. Members get free unlimited usage on a first come basis; however, it is a good idea to call ahead to ensure that we don’t have education tours pre-booked into the facility. Those kids don’t like to wait!

Setting the stage for the caliber of events that are to come was the 3rd Annual Saskatchewan Roughrider Alumni Autumn Golf Classic hosted on September 23 in Saskatoon. We are delighted to celebrate this continuing partnership with the Alumni as we work together to combine camaraderie and fun with the need to raise much needed funds for Saskatchewan’s sport heritage and other Alumni funding priorities.

You will have noticed that October 1 passed by this year without our usual call for inductee nominations and a lot of media attention to the fact that the submission deadline was looming. In anticipation of 2016, when we will spend the year celebrating our 50th Anniversary, the board has decided that we should focus those celebrations on the 505 inductees that we currently have. As a result there will be no new Class of 2016 inducted next June. We will take a pass until 2017 when we look forward to celebrating a brand new Class of inductees to launch us into our next half century of operations. In the meantime, we will continue to actively solicit and accept new nominations for evaluation in advance of the October 1, 2016, nomination deadline.

Among the priorities of the upcoming 50th Anniversary celebrations will be to actively engage our provincial mandate and develop new partnerships through special events and exhibit opportunities. The first of these events will start this month with our President’s Reception in Saskatoon on October 24 at The Willows Golf & Country Club. Those of you residing in the Saskatoon and district area should already have received your invitation (by email or via Canada Post) to this event. Please contact us immediately if you have not yet had an opportunity to RSVP. For those of you residing in Regina and district we will be hosting a President’s Reception at the SSHF on Saturday, November 21. Invitations to this event will be distributed shortly via email and Canada Post. Watch for yours! These Receptions are always a great opportunity to renew friendships, catch up on the most recent SSHF activities and learn a bit about what’s ahead. We hope to see you there!

Other events that are currently slotted into the calendar include our Halloween Birthday Party on October 31. Did you know that the SSHF was launched as the Molson Sports Hall of Fame on October 31, 1966? A week later the Saskatchewan Roughriders won their first Grey Cup. What a great week for Saskatchewan sport! November will see our sport simulator fired up for some serious competition as we host a series of participant challenges sponsored by Boston Pizza Regina & Emerald Park, culminating in “The Finals” on Friday, November 20 (National Jersey Day), and Saturday, November 21, which is RBC Sport Day in Canada. 

The decision to feature minor hockey in Saskatchewan as the theme of our fall exhibit proved to be fortuitous. It appears that the Regina Symphony Orchestra (RSO) also has hockey on their mind and a new partnership was born. On December 6 we will be throwing open the doors (hopefully not all at the same time!) to 900 ticket holders of the RSO’s Kids Concert Series presentation of “The Hockey Sweater”. An afternoon of pre-concert activities are planned to inspire creativity and fun! Don’t have kids or tickets to the concert? No problem. We are open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m. and Saturday noon-5 p.m. Stop by anytime and check out Breakaway with Minor Hockey at your convenience.

This is just a taste of things to come. We look forward to unveiling a year’s worth of activities in the weeks ahead. Make plans for a visit! It’s been 50 years in the making. We can’t wait to welcome everyone to the party!
 

To find out more on our latest happenings at the SSHF, download the full version of the newest For The Record, right here:

For the Record October/November 2015