Screen shot Jim Peeling at Council

Jim Peeling Presents Sports Heritage History Project Plan

Article by John Campbell

Trent Hills - Tues., Oct. 4, 2022 - A proposal to establish a Sports Wall of Fame for Trent Hills has been given a thumbs-up by council.
Jim Peeling told council in a presentation he made Sept. 27 that the wall will honour individuals whose outstanding athletic achievements “have brought fame to themselves and our community of Trent Hills.”
It will also include sponsors and builders whose support was instrumental in nourishing local sports.

Peeling said a committee of the Campbellford-Seymour Heritage Society will oversee the project, with “equal representation from all the wards.” Its responsibilities will include setting eligibility criteria for Wall of Fame inductees and obtaining funding.

Peeling said there is interest throughout Trent Hills in the “sports heritage history project” proceeding, and he alluded to the presence of several people in attendance who were there to show their support, including Stewart Richardson, representing Hastings, and Terry English, representing Warkworth.

“We have done our homework,” in reaching out to other communities to find out how they honour their sports heroes and builders, Peeling said. “It’s all wide open” what direction Trent Hills will take.

One possibility is for the wall to be set up in the new Campbellford Recreation and Wellness Centre and to have kiosks installed in the Warkworth arena and Hastings Sports Dome.
“We haven’t made those decisions,” Peeling said, but “it’s our intention that all three (venues) would be used.”

Members of the advisory committee, still to be chosen, must either reside or own property in Trent Hills, and have “demonstrated a vested interest in (the) community” and supported activities “over a significant time frame.” They would serve two or three years.

Councillor Cathy Redden praised the group for the time, energy and hard work they have put into the project, which first began to be talked about in March 2020.
The COVID pandemic interrupted those discussions “but it didn’t shut the project down,” she said, which “puts us far and away ahead of where we could be if that had happened.”

group has amassed a large amount of information and “it’s only fitting that we support the effort,” Redden said. “I’m really pleased that what started as a small idea has turned into a project and I, for one, am 100 per cent behind seeing this go forward.”

“It’s a great idea,” Councillor Rick English said, in thanking Peeling and his group for what they’ve done to date. “To see all three communities pulled together like that is something that’s badly needed in Trent Hills. This just proved that it can be done.”

Councillor Gene Brahaney also supported the concept. It’s now “up to the community to buy into the program and make sure it happens,” he said.

Council endorsed the project and committed staff to working with the advisory committee on the use of available space in municipal facilities.