Sports Hall of fame honours new class of inductees

Four athletes and two builders were honoured Saturday night as the 2010 class of the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame were inducted. Curling superstar Al Hackner earned his spot with a career littered with accomplishments high lighted with his winning shot in the 1982 World Championships. Greg Johnson played 13 years in the NHL, including 3 years as Captain of the Nashville Predators and won silver with team Canada at the 1994 Olympics. Jay Miron became a legend in the world of BMX biking, winning 6 world championships and a total of 9 X-games medals in his career. David Walker rounded out the athletes and is another athlete who was very successful on the world stage. Walker scored 60 top ten finishes on the World circuit of Ski Ballet and placed third at the 1989 and 1991 World Championships. On the Builder side George Gwozdecky coached the University of Denver to two NCAA titles and two Penrose Awards as top coach in the country. Rounding out this years inductees is a man who many say was long overdue to enter the Hall Fred Bragnalo. A veteran of the Second World War, Bragnalo has a long history of involvement in Thunder Bay sports and is one of the founding fathers of the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of fame. Bragnalo says he is honoured to be chosen and is very happy to see how the Hall has grown.

School trustee retires

Bill Mokomela is retiring from the Lakehead District School Board after 33 years. Mokomela helped resolve a teachers strike in his first term as trustee in 1974 and to shepherd the district through a difficult period of school closures in the 1990’s. He says he'll be spending more time with his wife and grandchildren.