Seven individuals and a team make up the Sarnia-Lambton Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2018.
Carolyne Prevost and Mark McGugan are the amateur inductees while Brian Dobbin is the honoured professional athlete. Joel Skinner will receive the Bud Morrison Award, Wayne Melanson is being recognized as a builder while Priscillia Harkins is the Earl MacKenzie Award winner. Gerald Shephard is going in under the special achievement category.
The 1986/87 Mooretown Comets Senior 'B' hockey team is also being honoured.
Amateur athletes: Carolyne Prevost has been a hockey scoring ace since she was a youngster. She made the Sarnia Starfires at age six and was so good she was soon skating on boys' teams, where she once played against future NHL goal-scoring champion Steven Stamkos.
Playing NCAA hockey at the University of Wisconsin, Prevost scored 142 points in 142 games, including 70 goals. She has since turned professional with the Toronto Furies of the Canadian Women's Hockey League.
The other amateur athlete going into the Hall is Mark McGugan, a superstar in football, lacrosse, baseball and basketball, where he won numerous high school and junior championships. Among other things, he once scored 213 points in a single Jr. 'B' lacrosse season.
Preds Head Coach Brian Dobbin. (Submitted photo)
- Professional: Brian Dobbin of Petrolia is being honoured for a career that took him all the way to the NHL, where he played for both the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers. He also saw considerable action in the minors, where he won a Calder Cup as a member of an AHL championship squad.
- Bud Morrison: Joel Skinner has won the Morrison award, which recognizes a person who has made a significant contribution over many years to youth in their sports endeavours. Among other things, he created a running club that has allowed many athletes to train at top levels. He has also been a noted high school coach in both cross country and track and field. He was also the throws coach at the 2017 Pan Am Juniors in Peru. A number of his students have gone on to NCAA careers.
- Special achievement: Gerald Shephard has earned this honour for his outstanding career as a baseball player and coach. The Observer once referred to him as the “Gordie Howe of the Western Counties Senior Baseball League,” noting he had played the sport in six different decades.
- Builder: Wayne Melanson is being recognized in this category after his work as a coach, manager and executive in lacrosse. He was a driving force behind the multiple-championship winning Point Edward Pacers, who over one seven-year period posted a 120-25 won-lost record.
- Team: The Mooretown Comets won the Ontario Sr. 'B' hockey championship in dramatic fashion. Although they only finished in third place in the regular season, they won four playoff rounds to take the title.
- Earl Mackenzie award: Priscilla Harkins has won the Mackenzie award, which recognizes contributions to the establishment of a sport from its infancy to a mature state in the community. Over the decades she was celebrated for rifle marksmanship, archery (where she was a national champion) and hockey (where she was both a player and coach). As a school teacher, she coached volleyball, basketball, badminton, floor hockey and soccer.
- Rose Hodgson award: Dan Edwards has won this award, which is for outstanding contributions to the community. Edwards, who became a paraplegic after a 2006 accident, is a powerful motivational speaker who launched the Do It For Sarnia campaign to raise $150,000 for mental health programs at Bluewater Health.
- Joe DeRush award: Rob Hughes has won the Joe DeRush award, which celebrates athletes who have overcome disabilities. A former wheelchair athlete, he travelled the globe to compete in the Paralympics, Cerebral Palsy World Championships and Para Pan American Games, winning a number of medals and setting national records along the way.
The inductees and various award winners will be celebrated at the 36th annual enshrinement dinner on September 15 at the Sarnia Golf and Curling Club.