Fallon’s first-ever athletics Hall of Fame has been in the works longer than anyone can imagine.
It started decades ago when one of Fallon’s best football coaches, Richard Hucke, tried gathering a team to recognize the Greenwave’s accomplishments. Each attempt failed, unfortunately, over various reasons, proving the difficulty of starting this enshrinement is nothing to overlook. Over the years since the last attempt, the Hall of Fame sat dormant but there was still movement underneath the surface.
Discussions took place but didn’t produce any results. Stories were written about the need to create the Hall of Fame and possible ideas to make that a reality. Steve Puterski, former sports editor, tried to engage the community through his column but nothing happened. The interest has always been there but not the commitment and dedication needed to bring this off the ground.
It’s not an overnight operation. It’s a process that takes months and even years before getting that first induction class announced. It takes the right set of people whose passion for the Greenwave can never be questioned.
When Fallon was in the 4A, I still remember track coach Paul Orong’s retelling his reaction when he moved to Fallon and discovered there was no Hall of Fame. It’s always been his dream to help bring this to Fallon but nothing developed. Nearly every call about the most recent track meet ended with discussion about what would it take to create a Hall of Fame in Fallon.
Paul, my father (departed editor Steve Ranson), John Dirickson, my wife, Monica, and I met for the first time to talk about a Hall of Fame. It was a productive meeting to get perspective of what everyone envisioned about the Greenwave’s first Hall of Fame. Again, tons of interest and good ideas but would anything develop? That was always the biggest question.
More meetings took place and in less than seven weeks, 35 student-athletes, coaches, contributors and teams will be inducted into the inaugural Greenwave Hall of Fame.
A lot of the groundwork has already been completed because of a small, dedicated group that also includes former administrator Judy Pratt, volleyball coach Angela de Braga, radio announcer Larry Barker, ex-Greenwave standouts Jack Beach, Dave Lumos, Tom McCormick, Sheree Jensen, James Richardson, Randy Beeghly and Loni Faught.
The Greenwave Hall of Fame continues to raise funds and has already received generous donations from local businesses. The dinner menu is set and it’s not going to disappoint. Each inductee will receive a plaque and a duplicate will be hung in the main lobby of the main high school gym.
The Hall of Fame committee will be notifying inductees this weekend regarding the banquet, which is on Oct. 7 at 6 p.m. at the Elmo Dericco Gymnasium. Tickets will go on sale on Sept. 5 and close by Sept. 22, and seating will be limited as up to 600 are expected for the ceremony. Tickets are $40 each, which includes dinner and a program. Check the Hall of Fame’s Facebook page or website (greenwavehalloffame.com) for updates on the banquet, including where to purchase tickets.
For those who will not be able to attend the dinner, you can catch the inductees the night before as they’ll be introduced prior the football team’s homecoming game against Elko. DVDs of the ceremony will be available for purchase as well.
During the event, ticket holders can preorder commemorative books of the inaugural class, which has been nicknamed the First Wave, and bid on silent auction items that will include signed memorabilia.
It’s going to be the event of the year that no one will want to miss. Will you be going?
Thomas Ranson can be contacted at lvnsports@yahoo.com.