Odessa Athletics Hall of Fame established

Jon Heimbigner, a 1966 graduate of Odessa High School, has a long history of participation in and promotion of sports of all kinds in Spokane. Gerald (Gerry) Ray, whose letters to the editor often appear in this newspaper, is a former Odessa school teacher and a 1953 graduate of Ritzville High School. When Ray read about Heimbigner’s work with sports halls of fame in Spokane and elsewhere in eastern Washington, Ray approached him with the idea of establishing an Odessa hall of fame for athletes.

Heimbigner told The Record his immediate thought was, “No, I can’t take on another thing.” But the more he thought about it, the more it sounded like something that ought to be done. After calling around to Odessa folks with whom he was still in contact, he had formed the nucleas of what would become the committee that would establish, nurture and oversee the Odessa Athletics Hall of Fame.

The group is also tied to the Odessa-Harrington Booster Club, which is in the process of obtaining 501c3 status as a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. Under the umbrella of the booster club, the hall of fame group has additional opportunities for raising funds and carrying out its goals.

Mission Statement

The Odessa Athletics Hall of Fame was founded in March 2015 and is located in the Odessa High School Gymnasium.

The mission of the Odessa Athletics Hall of Fame is to recognize and honor athletes, coaches, teams, administrators and contributors who excelled in their respective sports or coaching/support roles and who helped bring honor, recognition, distinction and excellence to Odessa High School by their conduct both on and off the field, or court, of competition. This recognition will help maintain the spirit, pride and sense of community, as well as serving as a historical account of the great athletic traditions of Odessa High School.

• A Hall of Fame committee exists to consider nominations for induction into the Hall of Fame, per certain regulations that are on file. The committee is also responsible for the maintenance, administration and updating of the Hall of Fame.

• The committee comprises former Odessa High School graduates and other sports-minded people in the surrounding area. A permanent Hall of Fame file is maintained and located in the Odessa High School athletic director’s office.

Rules and regulations

The committee also established the necessary rules and regulations for nominating and accepting nominees into the Hall of Fame.

Regulations for making nominations to the Odessa Athletics Hall of Fame:

1. Nomination and appropriate documentation may be submitted for one or more of the four classifications:

A. Athlete, B. Coach, C. Contributor, D. Team.

2. To be eligible for nomination to the Odessa Athletics Hall of Fame, the candidate must have been a graduate of Odessa High School, a teacher, coach, or member of the community. It is not necessary that the nominee be born in this area; the individual can qualify through residence in the Odessa area during the years the sports personality attained prominence in one of the four classifications.

3. No team or athlete is eligible for consideration until five years after his or her last competition. Coaches will be eligible after three years from the date of their last coaching assignment or retirement. Contributors are eligible at the discretion of the committee. Under special circumstances, the Hall of Fame Committee has the ability to waive the number of years requirement for athletes, coaches and teams with a two-thirds majority vote of the committee.

4. Nominations should be submitted to:

Odessa Athletics Hall of Fame Committee, c/o Bruce Todd, Odessa High School Athletic Director

P.O. Box 248

Odessa, WA 99159

509-982-2111

toddb@odessa.wednet.edu

Nominations of more than one person should be submitted on separate sheets, typewritten, with detailed information regarding the nominee’s full name, present address and outline of achievements in the classification for which he or she is being nominated. If the nominee is deceased, the date of death is required.

5. If the nominee is selected by the judging committee to be installed in the Odessa Athletic Hall of Fame, it will be required that an appropriate photograph portraying the individual as he or she appeared at the peak of their career be provided to the Odessa Athletic Hall of Fame. A permanent display of the Hall of Fame will be located in the Odessa High School Gymnasium.

6. The Odessa Athletics Hall of Fame Committee currently includes: Bruce Todd (current athletic director of the Odessa-Harrington athletic co-op, Jon Heimbigner (former Odessa athlete and chairman of the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame for over 30 years), Ellen Holman (former Odessa athlete and current Odessa elementary teacher), Mark Cronrath (former Odessa athlete and current marketing manager at Odessa Trading Co.), Jon Evavold (former Odessa athlete and now retired high school teacher and administrator), Clay Floch (father of the late Ryan and Drew Floch, outstanding athletes at Odessa High School), Paul Hopp (former OHS athlete and retiree), Paul Horak (former Odessa athlete, now farmer), Jeff Jordan (associate of Jon Heimbigner at Inland NW Sports Hall of Fame), Myron Kramer (longtime coach at Odessa High), Scott Kramer (former Odessa athlete and now head men’s golf coach at SCC), Gerald Ray (retired teacher and coach), Larry Weber (teacher and coach at Odessa), Terri Weishaar (former athlete and now retired school administrator in Spokane) and Myrna Wolsborn (retired Odessa teacher and coach).

Jon Heimbigner grew up on a farm between Ritzville and Odessa. He graduated from Odessa High School in 1966 and was a member of the OHS basketball team that went to the state tournament in the Spokane Coliseum that year. His father, Jonah Heimbigner, was both a farmer and, later in life, a teacher for 20 years in the Odessa School District. Both were avid supporters of school sports.

Now that the Hall of Fame for Odessa athletes has been established, the community is invited to read through the rules and regulations and begin submitting candidates for inclusion. The organizers will also be looking for sources of funding, so any donations to the Hall of Fame would be very welcome. They can be sent to the athletic director’s office at the address given above in this article.