CHS Hall of Fame

They are coaches, they played in major college football bowl games, won a national football championships and showed plenty of “Tide Pride” when they won the crimson and gold. Meet the first class of inductees into the Columbia High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
The first induction ceremony for the new Athletic Hall of Fame, will be held Friday, Sept. 19 when the Crimson Tide takes on Lampeter-Strasburg in a big Section 3 football game at Columbia. There will be a reception for the new inductees prior to the game and a halftime ceremony.
The inductees included Jack Yohe, “Cy” Young, MIke Burke, Ken Campbell, Ted Carey, Thomas Donan, Hiram Fitzgerald, Hubie Peters, Walt Price, Jerry Raifsnider, Elmer Kreiser, Jim Smith, Les Schoelkoph, Harry Smoker and the 1941 football team.
The Hall of Famers were nominated by the community and chosen by the Hall of Fame Committee of Charles Reinhart, Wayne Hershey, Rich Gerfin, Dennis Bachman, Jim Smith, Carl Morrow, Barry Ford, Mickey Rupp, Jodie Eck and Karen Kuhn.
The committee said that those former CHS athletes, who had their uniforms retired -- Bob Bell, Mike Wisler, Danny Monk, Marjorie Rhoads, Chip Beaston Ryan Stephenson, Ron Smith, Jerome Ellis, Scott Raymond, Abby Smith and Ryan Strickler are also considered as members of the Hall of Fame.
Reinhart, who chaired the committee, said there were others that were nominated for the first class and they will be considered for induction next year. Any community member who would like to nominate someone for the Hall can contact a committee member.

Banquet tickets

Tickets are available for the 2008 Susquehanna Valley Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame banquet, Saturday, May 3, at the Susquehanna Fire Company.

Tickets are $15 each.

Contact Rich Gerfin at 684-4818 or 684-4772 for more information.

The inductees include former E-town and McCaskey football coach Jack Cassebaum; former Hempfield basketball coach Barry Henry; former Cocalico basketball coach and football official Spencer Henry; Merv Witmer, the former Ephrata AD, football coach and wrestling coach; Dr. Tom Martin and former Hempfield track star Warren Taylor.

The deceased inductee will be James Kuhn.

Looking for nominees

Columbia High School will hold its first-ever Athletic Hall of Fame inductions during the Lampeter-Strasburg football game.

That will be Friday, Sept. 19.

Nomination forms for the Hall of Fame are available at any of the Columbia school district buildings, Smith’s Hotel, 1035 Lancaster Ave., Hinkle’s Pharmacy, Third and Locust streets, the Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce, 445 Linden St., and the office of the Columbia Ledger, 262 Locust St.

To be eligible for nomination into the CHS Athletic Hall of Fame, nominees must an athlete, coach, a friend of CHS athletics or a team. The individual must be removed from participating from athletics for five years (coaches and friends) don’t have to meet this requirement).

Anyone can nominated a person for the Hall of Fame, you picking up a nomination form.

The nomination forms will be available until April 30. After that, the committee will meet and vote on the first class of inductees.

The nomination form asks those nominating a person write in 250 words or less why an individual or team be considered for the Hall of Fame.

While there is a maximum number of inductees that can be enshrined each year, the committee hasn’t decided on how many people will be inducted at the Sept. 19 football game.

For more information on the Hall of Fame, contact Charlie Reinhart at 314-4998 or via email at cfreinhart@comcast.net.
Right now, nominations for the first class of hall inductees is coming in slow. As of last week, just three people have been nominated for the Hall of Fame.

Yesterday's mail

When I got home last night, the ballot for the voting for the Susquehanna Valley Chapter of the PA Sports Hall of Fame was in the mail.

The deceased inductee will be Jim Kuhn.

The ballot includes:
1. P. Abbott Asplin, who played football at Leighton High School and hoops and football at F&M.
2. Jack Cassebaum, who coached at E-town and McCaskey.
3. Robert Charles, soccer coach at the 'Ville.
4. Barry Henry, former basketball coach at Hempfield.
5. Spencer Henry, former basketball coach at Cocalico and former football official.
6. Bill Goad, former golf coach at Eastern.
7. Dr. Tom Martin, Penn Manor grad.
8. Paul Meisenbach, former swimmer.
9. "Buckle" Smaling, amateur basketball legend.
10. Warren Taylor, former track star at Hempfield and Stevens
11. Robert Thomas, softball pitcher.
12. Andrew Tompos, amateur golfer.
13. Merv Witmer, former Ephrata AD and wrestling coach.
14. Bill Young, amateur golfer from Wrightsville.

Members need to vote for six. The banquet is May 3.

Hall of Fame nominees sought

At its meeting Tuesday, Jan. 8, the nine member committee set in motion, plans to induct its first class of honorees.
That will be Friday, Sept. 19, when the Crimson Tide plays Lampeter-Strasburg in football.
But before the Hall of Fame committee can induct anyone, they need nominees to consider.
Nomination forms for the Hall of Fame are available at any of the Columbia school district buildings, Smith’s Hotel, 1035 Lancaster Ave., Hinkle’s Pharmacy, Third and Locust streets, the Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce, 445 Linden St., and the office of the Columbia Ledger, 262 Locust St.
To be eligible for nomination into the CHS Athletic Hall of Fame, nominees must an athlete, coach, a friend of CHS athletics or a team. The individual must be removed from participating from athletics for five years (coaches and friends) don’t have to meet this requirement).
Anyone can nominated a person for the Hall of Fame, you picking up a nomination form.
The nomination forms will be available until April 30. After that, the committee will meet and vote on the first class of inductees.
The nomination form asks those nominating a person write in 250 words or less why an individual or team be considered for the Hall of Fame.
Members of the Hall of Fame Committee are Charles Reinhart, Wayne Hershey, Jodie Eck, Dennis Bachman, Barry Ford, Jim Smith, Carl Morrow, Rich Gerfin and Karen Kuhn.
For more information on the Hall of Fame, contact Reinhart at 314-4998 or via email at cfreinhart@comcast.net.