If there was any worry that the second go-round of the Sidney Sports Hall of Fame Induction Dinner wouldn't live up to the special feeling of the first one, those concerns were quickly put to rest.

November 26, 2004 was the date and the Sidney Elks Lodge was the place. The Sidney Central School Alumni Association, and in particular the Sports Hall of Fame Committee, inducted five more individuals into its membership: Willard "Hummy" Hulbert (Class of 1945), Pamela (DuMond) Tarnowski (`92), and Bonnie (Shoemaker) Coates (`92) were the athletes while Jack Jones and Doug Quinney were inducted as coaches.

Not only was there a full house to enjoy the event, but we were joined by an object that will always be near and dear to the hearts of all SCS alumni from 1960-2004.

Warrior Head from the old gym floor

The legendary "Warrior Head" was delivered shortly before the dinner. This is the symbol our school days that stayed strong through thousands of basketball games, dozens of proms, turnabouts and Nites of Fun, and countless gym classes. It had been removed (to make way for the new flooring in the media center) and brought to the Elks Lodge.

Following a welcome by Alumni President Terry Dermody (`65), Master of Ceremonies Greg Davie (`76) introduced the audience to the 2005 induction class and outlined the night's agenda. Then it was time to enjoy a delicious roast beef dinner served family-style by the Elks.

As dinner was winding down potential bidders surveyed the impressive array of auction items provided by, among others, Mike Lynch (`75), an executive with Visa, and Tony Zieno (`71) a sports clothing and memorabilia marketer. Autographed Olympic posters, baseballs, and photo-plaques were included.

The auction brought in over $600, with some spirited bidding of note when it came to Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees items.

This group provided the impetus for the induction of Willard "Hummy" Hulbert to the SHOF

This year, there was no guest speaker so as to allow time for the fifth inductee, or in the historical sense, the first "nominated" inductee. Despite many attempts to bring him to Sidney, that first inductee - Willard "Hummy" Hulbert (`45) - could not attend the banquet. However, by Hummy's own choice, Dick Curtis (`46) filled in for his former teammate. He did a wonderful job!

And let's not forget those teammates! A number of the guys Hummy played ball with, and who pushed for his induction, joined Dick in being at the banquet. The stories they shared brought back a flood of memories for, the boys whose sports activities were limited at times by the gas rationing during World War II. The committee plans to hold a brief ceremony in July, when Hummy can accept his plaque in person.

Next came Bonnie (Shoemaker) Coates, who had lost her voice,in the days prior. She didn't have to look far for a replacemem Following her husband (also a 1992 SHS grad) Jeremy's introduction, it was up to older sister Kim (O'Brien) Ayres (`86) to read Bonnie's acceptance speech. Coaches and teammates were high on Bonnie's list of acknowledgments as she recalled her record-setting days in track and basketball.

In a similar sibling-style method, the next inductee Pam (DuMond) Tarnowski asked her brother David ('99) to do the intro honors. Who will ever forget the story about the day "little sister" took over as the family's best athlete? Pam and husband Mark had only weeks before brought their first child, Brooks, into the world, which made preparation for the dinner start early. Besides a state title in field hockey, Pam joined with Bonnie in basketball where they led an already successful program to the next level. Besides going to the State Final Four in 1992, the girls NEVER lost a home basketball game in their long varsity careers!

The coaches came next, and how nice it was to have Jack Jones back with us. Perhaps as a preliminary to his induction into the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame on March 19, Jack first accepted his Sidney honor with grace and gratitude.

"Hummy" Hulbert

There were no games to recall (his record as coach of the Warriors was in the program); instead Jack thanked all of the people who helped make his time in Sidney productive. He also shared the importance "Hummy" Hulbert of families - his and those of his players in creating and maintaining the Southern Tier's most outstanding basketball program of the 1970s.

Jack was introduced by a member of the initial Hall of Fame class, Fran Redmond. Likewise, Doug Quinney's only choice for that duty was Jennifer (Finnegan) Petruno (`90). Jen is also a charter HOF member and was just. as proud to return the favor for her lifelong mentor and friend.

From Doug Quinney's perspective, time was of no concern in relating his 30-plus years as head of Sidney Track 8t Field. After all, why put a limit on talking about the school's most successful program over that time? Just mentioning the nicknames he gave his athletes, some of which are STILL used to this day, was enough entertainment.

But of course, the memories of successes off the track were at least as impressive as those on it for Doug.

As a humorous sidebar, a group o€ eight SCS alumni, all of whom were track standouts of recent vintage, conducted a quick dollar-pool. Their mission was to guess the length of Doug's speech. Anything less than 8 minutes or more than 16 would be an automatic donation to the Alumni Association. Each minute increment in between was bought by the individuals, with the closest keeping the cash. On behalf of the Association, we thank Doug for his 20-minute speech!

And of course, the monies raised through the sponsorships, dinner, and auctioa,(anO speech) were more than enough to cover the latest donation to the Athletic Department. This year's proceeds went to buy custommade folding chairs for use in the new gymnasium.

These chairs are padded in maroon and white, with "Sidney Warriors" on the chair back. They will be delivered in time for the 2005-2006 school year.

The post-induction socializing went on past midnight, which made for a long but enjoyable evening. It was the kind of night you really didn't want to say "it's over." Those are the kind of events for which this Alumni Association is famous!

(Center) Emcee and Committee Chairman; Greg Davie with two lovely inductees.