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EMC Sports - The upstairs hall at the Smiths Falls Memorial Community Centre was packed June 24 as the town held its annual induction ceremony for the Smiths Falls Recreation Hall of Fame.

Local golfer Ron Dolinki, wrestler Steve Needham, football player Larry Stewart, sport champion Leo McManus and the inaugural 1961-62 Smiths Falls Junior 'A' Bears hockey team were highlighted during the event, which was emceed by past Smiths Falls sportsperson of the year, Terry Shea.

"We're all so fortunate to live in a community that not only has great volunteers but the political will to build a facility like this (community centre) in Smiths Falls," Shea noted, adding that the local arena is the hub for much social and recreational purposes in communities across Canada and Smiths Falls is no different. "And we have one of the best."

Following an invocation by Reverend Peter Woods, Smiths Falls Recreation Hall of Fame chair Dave White noted that the town was blessed to have such a deep-rooted sports community.

"...It's my pleasure as champion of the community to be the gatekeeper (of the hall of fame)," he remarked. "We have a tremendous sports history in this community and it's my pleasure to make sure they are recognized. That's the privilege of doing this job."

With the hall of fame set up in the new community centre, White indicated there is "enough space for another 124 years of inductees."

White also introduced the 2012 inductees to the Smiths Falls Wall of Fame, which highlights athletes who came through the area but may not have been residents or born here. Honoured this year were broadcaster Dave Schrieber, who was known as 'The Voice' of Ottawa Valley sports radio for nearly five decades, and Perth native Derek Armstrong, who was raised in Smiths Falls and went on to have a career in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Calgary Stampeders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Rob Dopson, a former goalie who played briefly in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Pittsburgh Penguins, was also added to the NHL stars display in the main lobby of the community centre.

Prior to inducting this year's athletes to the hall of fame, two special banners were dedicated for the European tours of the 1989-90 Smiths Falls Midget Bears and the 1979-80 Cooper Mohawk Midget hockey team. The banners will hang permanently in the arena.

Roger Cauley had the unique distinction of having played on the 1979-80 team that traveled to Sweden and Denmark, and ten years later was an assistant coach with the 1989-90 team that visited Germany, Holland, Austria, Belgium and France.

"It's very nice for the hall of fame committee and the whole town of Smiths Falls to acknowledge a lot of these kinds of things," Cauley said. "It's another thing to keep kids motivated for years to come."

INDUCTEES

RON DOLINKI

Having earned 40 club championships since 1971, including a record 11 at his home club, the Smiths Falls Golf & Country Club, Dolinki has had a fortunate golf career that shows no signs of stopping.

"He has excelled in his sport for years. The nice thing about Ron Dolinki is that he's like a very good wine, he just keeps getting better with age," White said.

Introduced to the game of golf by his father Bill at age eight, he learned to play with a set of hickory-shafted golf clubs and went on to compete at the Canadian Amateur and Senior Canadian Amateur Golf Championships, as well as more than 100 other events throughout Ottawa valley, Quebec and other Royal Canadian Golf Association sanctioned competitions. However, it is his club record round of nine under par which he accomplished in 1977, as his one of the achievements he holds most dear.

"Thank you very much for this great honour," Dolinki said as he accepted the award. He noted that in the weeks leading up to the hall of fame ceremony, he had taken a walk around the community centre to familiarize himself with past inductees. "I realized I knew a lot of them and have a great appreciation of what an honour this is."

Dolinki taught his children golf and now is doing the same with his four grandchildren, in fact his granddaughter recently became the sixth generation in his family to play at the Smiths Falls Golf & Country Club. "I feel I owe a great deal to the game of golf and our club and I've tried to pay that through service and have been on the board for 28 years...I feel I have contributed to the success and growth of our club," he said.

White referred to the next inductee, McManus, as a man who shunned the spotlight and preferred to go about business behind the scenes. "He was willing to work and be a big part of making a team successful," he stated.

McManus had a passion for sports as a child and played hockey, but really got involved in the Smiths Falls sporting community in the early 1970s as his children began to play. He coached nearly all levels of minor sport, including T-ball, football and hockey and instilled his love of sports into local children.

As she accepted the award on his behalf, McManus' daughter Tammy Bowick remembered going to the ball park with her father and listening to him talking to his players. "Winning wasn't everything. My dad didn't need the best players on his team, but he demanded they be the best people they can be," she commented. "He was selfless, led by example and gave pride to the community."

"...We will remain forever grateful and thank you to the sports hall of fame committee," Bowick continued.

Former wrestler and coach Needham was completely devoted and dedicated to his sport. White remembered when Needham gained notoriety in wrestling at Smiths Falls District Collegiate Institute (SFDCI). "He was very tough, strong and very, very, very good at what he did," he noted. "He was able to take a sport that maybe hadn't been popular in the past and made people want to get involved and give it a try."

At 17, Needham won a silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Pan Am Games in Venezuela and became provincial champion a year later. In 1980 he had the distinction of winning all six of his matches to earn a national title in Calgary and was also named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler. That same year he traveled to the Pan Am Games once again and won gold and silver medals in Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling.

After a 1984 bid for the Olympic Games was marred by injury, Needham retired and began coaching wrestlers at local high schools, including SFDCI for three decades. He helped guide the SFDCI team to an OFSAA all-Ontario championship in 2007, the same title he had helped win in 1979 as a wrestler.

"I coached long enough that I've coached kids of kids that I've coached so you know when you're hanging around too long," he joked.

Needham credits his coach Lou Martin for being the driving force in his wrestling career. "Thank you very much for this great honour," he noted. "Lou Martin, my wrestling coach, gave up every single weekend for five years to help me compete on a national level. He saw I had the desire."

Having played across the line from inductee Stewart on the football field when he played for the Perth Blue Devils and Stewart for the SFDCI Redmen, White said he was fortunate he never had to take on the imposing player.

"He's a great athlete and we've always talked about his football career but he's one of the finest hockey players I've seen around," White commented, saying he had a "unique playing style."

Growing up in Smiths Falls, Stewart played hockey (including a stint for the Junior 'A' Bears), but he really shined on the gridiron with the SFDCI Redmen in the mid-1970s. He attracted the eye of scouts while at college in Halifax, playing with the St. Mary's Huskies, and was drafted into the CFL by the Montreal Alouettes.

After graduation he decided to stay east and went on to successful coaching career at St. Mary's, helping them capture six conference championships and win two Vanier Cups. More recently, he has a member of the coaching team for the Acadia Axemen. Stewart also earned the Gino Fracas Award for dedication to coaching in 2011.

"I'm truly humbled and proud beyond words that you are here today to share in this with my family," Stewart said to the crowd gathered. "It makes me so proud to be in such distinguished company."

He reminisced on the teachers, coaches and volunteers who helped mold him along the way. "One thing's for sure, I wouldn't be receiving this awesome dedication today without the support from numerous people here in Smiths Falls," Stewart remarked. "...I'm so lucky to have grown up in Smiths Falls."

The final inductees for 2012 were the 1961-62 Smiths Falls Bears Junior 'A' hockey team. Originally from Innisville, White said he grew up playing road hockey and idolizing members of the first Smiths Falls Bears team. "As a young kid, I listened to the games on the radio and people talking about them and these guys were our heroes," he noted, adding that the day Bears player Wayne Mayhew showed up to play road hockey with them was one he will never forget. "I was honoured and thrilled...Wayne Mayhew to me was one of my early hockey heroes."

The team was born in the early 1960s by the Montreal Canadiens who felt the Ottawa Valley had a wealth of talent that had gone untapped and sponsored the then Central Junior Hockey League (CJHL) to aid in the development of young players for the NHL. Formed in 1961, the Bears were charter members of the league.

The first team was made up almost entirely of local hockey talent with the exception being Shawville native Bryan Murray, who is now general manager of the Ottawa Senators.