Thankful
After being away from this column for three weeks, you deserve an explanation. I have spent this precious time with family celebrating and remembering my Mom who passed away on November 10. She was a wonderful woman and my sports mentor. She was a fine athlete, winner of her college’s top athlete award in her final year, who found her special game, golf, in her mid-30s when, rather than become a golf widow, she took up the sport. While a kind and loving wife and homemaker, mother, grandmother, aunt and friend to so many, on the golf course she was a fierce competitor, winning a club championship at every club she joined. In all she won eleven club championships and even shot four holes-in-one! She won her last championship in her 70s, defeating women younger than her daughters! I am deeply thankful for her as she laid the foundation of my life over our more than 60 years together.
This is the time of year for all of us to express thanks. In our industry we have much for which to be thankful even as challenges abound! To donors and partners who are so important to the funding of activities; to the volunteers who provide much of the human resources to make programs and activities soar, and to the staff who do the bulk of the work in organizing, planning, and executing all things Hall of Fame. Now is a good time to be thankful in a public way and to express those thanks through personal contact, letters, and celebratory events.
It is the season - ENJOY!
Jack Huckel, Founder & Principal of J.R. Huckel & Associates, offers election and induction consulting services to Halls of Fame. Jack served the National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum as Director of Museum and Archives for 9-1/2 years after more than 10 years as a volunteer. More information is available at the firm’s web site. He can be reached at jack@jrhuckel.com or 518/852-3033.
Jack is a member of the International Sports Heritage Association.