Newfane Panther Athletics Hall of Fame 2024

Newfane Panther Athletics Hall of Fame 2024

[Music] [Applause] 2024 inductees in five individuals along with the 204 [Music] our first presenter will be Henry Kiren and Henry will be presenting coach con now coach Conley before I hand the mic over to Henry personally I wanted to say a few thank yous for myself and many of these individuals that are in here I now been teaching 21 years because of you you’ve shown me what it was like to be a transformational coach that there’s much more to winning and losing but being a great Sport and taking the lessons from any win or any loss and making you a better person so thank you you talked my father who was a Dairy Farmer into allowing me to play summer baseball that which got me a lot of out of a lot of work so thank you and lastly you gave me my first coaching job in 2002 he said Scott Fuller is going to take the varsity team Jeff Nan’s got four little kids at home and I need a basketball coach would you be interested and I got super excited he said you’re the type of competitive person that we need in this position and before I left he said hey I know you’re very competitive but I just want you to know that this is a wrestling Town not too many basketball coaches survive unless you’re really good like any sights he goes but between you and Scott I think you got what it takes to turn it around and thank you for giving me that opportunity thank you [Applause] and with that said I can to go over to Henry thank you I personally had the privilege of working with our first inductee for the first 10 years of my career he was a well-respected physical education and health teacher as well as a great coach at new Fain Mr Jim connley come on up Jim coached football in new fame for 16 years from 1969 to 1985 in 1978 coach Conley’s football team was the section six Class B runner up Jim also coached tennis for three years from 1979 to 1981 however Jim’s true love was coaching baseball which he did for 28 years in Newan from 1986 to 2007 the Pinnacle of his coaching career happened in 2004 when his Baseball team became a Class B State finalist Jim also had a successful career as the new fan athletic director for 19 years from 1984 to 2003 in 2016 Jim was inducted into the section six athletic Hall of Fame tonight we honor Jim for his induction into the new fan athletic Hall of Fame coach Conley [Applause] I’m not going to talk long even know some of my students used to listen to me in class thing I’m most proud of as a coach and teacher at new Fang excuse my voice is a lot of the kids became teachers and coaches like I did there was a man a teacher at Lockport High where I graduated from that inspired me to go to college and become a teacher and a coach maybe some of you know him Vic clearly oh yeah Vic insisted that I go to up where he graduated from and become a teacher and I did but also in my part there were some great teachers as there was a new thing one was John copess my English teacher yes I had him for 3 years the day that I retired from Newan he came down to my home everybody was gone from my house I was there alone the knock on the door came and it was John copess and he gave me a book and he said congratulations on a great career that’s one of the most aspiring man that I ever met in my life he forced me to learn English and he helped me write essays while I was in college CU I couldn’t write an essay so it was another teacher that the thing like I said before I’m most proud of players like and students like Eric Clump he became a teacher and he’s a Coach and he’s doing a hell of a job and then there’s over here sitting in the corner smiling at me Chuck Nel Chuck you got one hell of a program going keep it going thank you I also have a great family that supported me especially my wife Morin is sitting right over here she’s the love of my life it’s best thing that ever happened to me and then my children my three daughters are here could you please stand one morning [Applause] my son is in Croatia right now so he couldn’t be here and like I said before I was inspired by a coach to be a coach and be a teacher and Norm or I went to New Fame in 1969 and they had great administrators one was John sharo he hired me he gave me an opportunity to be a teacher and a coach and I thank him I don’t know if anybody remembers John sharo but he was a very important person I remember very important that education had no F and from there there were I had seven a different athletic directors in the first 12 years of my career and from that point on I said if I ever became an ad I would want to make it be consistent and stay there for a while so that the programs grow and it did I stayed there for 19 years and I if I had one wish I’ll end it right now if I I had one wish I would wish I was back in new fame on one condition permanently I never leave that’s a great school system and there’s a lot of kids who are students in new f are very successful in life with being a teacher as I mentioned Eric and and Chuck doing a hell of a job at new f as teachers and coaches and I I got memories in my mind that will be etched forever I could write a book about the funny things the sad things the wins the losses but most importantly I’m here because of a lot of you that were students and athletes in new fan I would like to know right now how many students are here tonight and how many stand up please heart thank you for this award I’ll cherish it forever thank you and hearing about him he might be the only person that’s ever changed a sporting event just because he was so successful at they don’t even have the 220 anymore they so fast that they just eliminated that that event and it’s like all right we got to just make it to 200 so let me turn it over to Tom as we present Mr John Davis look this s good evening everyone I want to let you know I’m I’m very proud and humbled to be here and being able to present this award for John Davis I’ve had lots of opportunities in my life to speak in front of groups and present things uh in front of Governors in front of Senators but nothing gives me as much satisfaction as presenting this award to my friend uh to my friend’s daughter um Johnny Davis yeah I’m going to have to read off the plao coach there go okay John Davis was a nagro leans league First Team all League football in 1963 and 64 he holds the track school records in the 100 yard the 220 yards he was the 1965 NE Orleans champion in 220 yards in 1965 section six champion in the 220 yards in 196 5 New York State 10200 yards champion this is truly a remarkable athlete now John grew up in Alat with the rest of us Alat boys and wandered our way up to new Fain to play football the thing about John Davis was that he was a gentleman he was a gentleman when he was 17 years old in high school I can remember trying to Bluff Jim lanf into letting me play linebacker during practice and John went along with it and John came through the line and now I’m the only one who standing between me and the safety or between John Davis and the safety and as soon as I touched John he went down he knew that I wanted to play linebacker I couldn’t for Jim lanf we both were doing Wind Sprints after that so but the the most remarkable thing about John Davis no matter who he went after who he hit who tackled them you always looked up and there was a hand coming down to help you up and a big smile on his face and that my friends is what you call class yeah John Wooden set of class class is in tangible quality that commands rather than demands the respect of others that is because those who have it are truly considerate of others are courteous without being subserviant are not disagreeable when they disagree are good listeners and are at peace with themselves because they know they do not knowingly do the wrong thing in short a person who has class lives by the Golden Rule and that is do un to others what you would have others doing to you and John Davis lived that he was not only a tremendous athlete but is a tremendous person and I’m very proud that we are presenting this award to Glenn his daughter who is an outstanding athlete in her own right so Glenn I’ll turn the mic over to you all right thank you you know looking at this picture it actually helps me you know very emotional my dad is in heaven right now looking down and I know he would be so excited that he’s been presented an award or inducted in the Hall of Fame as he said as Mr B line said I was an athlete myself I played basketball in college my dad would just pop up and be if I played in California my dad is in California I’m like how did you beat the team here and but he had talked to the athletic director at Memphis State he had my itinerary for the whole year and he would be there so he was like everybody’s dad the Lady Tiger basketball team love my dad and he loves his girls and my sister is here from San Diego and she’s actually from Lockport I’m from Memphis Tennessee I’m a retired police officer so he always shares stories about Mr beine and being on the sheriff department and of course he was proud of me being the police and I my degree is on accounting I want to be a CPA and I got in law enforcement I said well I’ll probably do this maybe five years and I’ll get out and my dad’s why you going to get out I was like you know I think I would do better being a CPA he said that sounds boring and so I was like well you know I just did it Dad because you know I’m a single Mom I’m just trying to make a make ends meet with my son and I pray to God that if he got me through single parenting I would never have another child I a wet loock so I only had one child I never got married I never got married but I retired from the police department maybe almost three years ago actually um I did 28 and A2 years and my dad was so proud and I told him I said once when he got sick I was here for 2 months I moved him from new fame to Memphis Tennessee he stayed with me for almost 3 years before he got sick and he passed and we had just talk that’s D about to retire a few more months I’ll move you back to new fame we’ll stay 6 months here 6 month in in in Tennessee he was like oh that sounds good that sounds good I miss all my friends and you know I was going to do that for my dad and initially I was going to retire early just to take care of him he told me don’t put your job and I was like Dad I’m not quitting on retiring I’ll be getting a pension you know so but I just felt the need to be able to care for my father he was you know single uh father as well and he he wasn’t married and I just didn’t want to leave him this far from me and my sister she decided as well hey if something happens and you can’t take your dad I got him and she wasn’t near retirement I said look I’m the big sis I’ll take care dad you know so it worked out but this is an honor I’m happy that he’s been inducted I mean you know like I said seeing this picture and just got emotional because Dad loved new Fang he loved his high school he loved Mr beine he loved his nephew Cuda he loves his niece Lisa his daughter Tanya Miss um Denise I met her after Dad passed going through a lot of his personal stuff and got in contact with her so she and I talk a lot so I’m happy she’s here his other his plays son Tracy he taught Tracy and his son how to fish hunt life girls so he’s here so everybody’s here to celebrate my dad and I thank you all for being here and thank you all for oning my father bring up Mr Chad gretz as he presents Bob e well good evening thank you uh for having uh everybody turn out tonight and celebrate all these wonderful accomplishments uh my uh pleasure to introduce Mr Bob Ed is a contributor to our athletic department uh as coaches and as players and sometimes even the families we sometimes take for granted those people who are there time and time again uh recently I had an opportunity to go to Bob’s shop and reintroduced myself to him it’s been we’ve crossed paths here and there over the years and it was just a quiet day he was sitting there waiting his next client and I was congratulating him about on his induction and he just beamed he started talking about Athletics and his role with the boosters as president and then we went on to talk about his Grand grandchildren who were in my class and now they’re uh have their athletic careers and being a coach as well uh and I said well how about you what did you do in school that you know that uh you know did you contribute anything he said oh he just downplayed it he said I was just a JV baseball player I said no there’s no such thing as just a JV B player you’re a panther and uh I’d like to congratulate you once again for uh being a part of our program and hopefully keep seeing you showing up at our events thank will okay conratulations well I guess I have to say a few words well I moved to New when I was going into seventh grade 1953 I came from a royal area area home mining uh Community down in Western Pennsylvania and I was uh it’s a cultural shock but I walked into the middle school which is Middle School M now I didn’t want to go there I wanted to go to the little Elementary School up in R corners but F you got to go there so it took me a couple weeks to uh make the adjustment and uh part of the process to get into flow of things was Athletics I was I did I played one year at JB baseball but I really loved Sports and uh and the gymnasium the middle school was the first gymnasium I was ever in CU in PA I went to a five years uh time Grom Schoolhouse with no gymnasium no cafeteria but here’s his gymnasium and this is great you know cafeteria was great F not too bad but uh I didn’t play sports uh just one year uh but in my life I played a lot of sports you know I played a lot of golf and softball and but then uh we got married very young right out of high school to start our family and Michelle myis stand up Michelle Darren please stand up Kimberly and all three of them played numerous Sports and had very good careers Daren tracked field cross country Michelle basketball field hockey and softball all Le all three of their junior senior year and C leag played field hockey volleyball uh one year of softball and she ran track and field so just a couple of the incidents that I’ll never forget they’ve probably forgotten them gerly uh was put into the 800 the first time she read 800 she broke the school record didn’t stay very long because we had another Runner who was State standing State All State or Kim wood but she had her moment of F any know but and Darren came along and he uh wasn’t into the team sports but I said Darren I’m not tell me what you have to do but I really think you should pick out at least one sport whatever it is but if it isn’t that’s fine too so he became the uh uh what the golf team there the sth eth grade he was the the manager yeah but he got to play golf every day and then uh uh Kimberly I forget what I to say about Kimberly except she set the school record but they all uh produced a seven great grand show for for me and my wife Sheil and they have all been in Varsity Athletics and all League performers some went to college career in college and they all very successful now and uh one would be Amber my oldest granddaughter play please stand up [Applause] Amber master’s degree at UB she carried a 40 average through college I played four years of soccer with it along with it and uh she’s presented me what uh two grandchildren yeah then came uh who’s in nice one chel Chelsea Chelsea yes how could I forget Chelsea Chelsea is also a grand with a master’s degree a teacher but now a stay at- home mom with three little ones and then there’s uh Kean Kenan played two years of varsity football and he was uh went to Stony Brook and he also was a percussionist in high school he ended up being the drug captain of the Stony Brook BS band for two years very proud of K he’s an electrical engineer now in Boston but the the grand shower we got seven of them and they all stared their careers as in sport and uh no not all we got on this turn one but the ones that are four and five they’ve started playing soccer already but uh but that’s uh iy and that’s what may me uh I love sports c h but it maybe appreciate them more when I watch all these athletes through the programs in new fate and through their experiences uh made them uh outstanding citizens and very successful in their careers we have doctors that the lawyers gradu with sales reps and small business owners and that so it’s it’s been a great school learning wise and a great school for academics when I came here we had three Varsity Sports football basketball and baseball and the two coaches and our fiten teachers I think had just came to the district one was Patrick Duffy and the other was James LF Duff he was the varsity coach of the three Sports James lcha was the JB but Duff after a couple years coaching football he decided he want to do that so Mr L something took a little bit done they were great coaches and teachers and they had no l to the community and Mr Duffy was a close friend of mine till he died and um so that’s about all I got to say first but it’s not first off but it’s foremost thank very much the committee for for nominating me for this prestigious honor I’ll cherish it forever [Applause] welcome bring up Mr Bill Clark as he presents for Anette McCay all right thank you allette join me up here I get my mic down here this is a great uh this is a great honor to be able to acknowledge and present Annette in the new fan athletic Hall of Fame uh I’ve known Annette most of her life and her family uh I watched her play a little league softball and sports when she was young and and uh even in her um you know in her in her starring Scholastic years uh I was umpiring baseball and softball at the time and umpired many of her games as and and saw some of her Feats at shortstop uh but uh you know many of us as we talk about the uh athletic Hall of Fame we have you know the committee has certain criteria that we look to in terms of you know how we’re going to select people and nominate people to Hall of Fame membership and uh for Anette it was very clear you know we started to look at it and we see you know much of her career was focused on and starting events where focused on basketball where she was a three-year player as a sophomore Junior and senior graduated in 1985 but as you can see she was also a multiport athlete she got early recognition as an athlete in new Fain when in 1982 as a freshman she was moved to the varsity for the sectional playoffs and that ignited her basketball career here at new fan in that in that period her coach Joe Grabowski who was uh uh inducted into the Hall of Fame here two years ago uh he called her uh the heart and soul of the team and for those of us around Athletics we know that when you say the heart and soul of the team you mean leadership and she had strong leadership in terms of her work and her activities in the teams that she participated then LED uh in those years uh as part of that leadership uh her teams uh went uh and they took uh two section B2 titles in uh 1984 1985 and they had an undefeated season in 1985 uh and at that time they uh came out with a new award not only you know with her Naga Orleans uh all League um mentions and first team uh um selections uh they also came out with a all Western New York team at the time and she was uh named to that team as well um the accolades go on um the uh and that was the first new Fang girls uh among the first new Fang girls basketball team to make it to the state tournament um she was the first nag Orleans women’s athlete to score 1,000 points in basketball and she was the first new fan girls athlete uh to be awarded a division one scholarship uh to Maris College uh and continue her education uh I’ll mention uh just you know so you can just kind of see that we’re a little closer to the action here um it talks you know some of the reports from the games that she participated in in her years talk about uh Annette having a uh a a a perfect 340 uh scored in route to the Orleans championship and in new fan she also dominated the Loop’s final individual scoring uh leaders list where she topped in her senior year she was the league n League scorer was 234 points averaging 18 points a game um so senior uh Annette McKay a two-time nager Orleans all league First Team selection took the scoring Honors that year and uh she knew a lot about how important her teammates were to the process as well so that uh she was also acknowledged uh by her work with uh two sophomore teammates Chris Baker and Tanya Cole who helped her in those achievements and um and right after that particular session there the they went on to the next uh the next game in the sectional process here and the new Fang girls uh they had beat uh um oan uh in the section six class B2 finals in 1985 and uh in the next game they went on and Anette McKay poured in a game high 22 points while Tanya Cole added 13 and Chris Baker 11 to key the attack for the nag Orleans league and defending B2 Champions new fan McKay erupted for 20 points in the second half as the lady F Panthers broke the game wide open so that’s how the scenes that we saw back then and uh as I mentioned she was also a multiport athlete and uh she and is a sophomore and uh freshman sophomore and Junior she also played softball a short shortstop at FAL softball where she was a two-year starting all League shortstop and uh there’s also all kinds of uh action described there as well uh one of them talks about U uh after scoring a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning new boosted its League to three and0 on freshman Annette McKay’s solo home run in the second frame McKay had two hits in the contest as the pantherettes out hit uh the team six to4 and then another report talks about sophomore andette McKay pacing with a perfect four for four day at the plate including a triple and a home run while uh other others uh followed in her achievements another repor here talks about her junior short staff andette McCay a 300 plus hitter who made the second Team all League uh as a senior playing with third baseman Kelly pilh horn and anchoring The Outfield with seniors Donna Cooper and Jennifer shien and uh it says here second Team all League I think you probably would have been First Team all league but she had some mighty new fan competition those years in Deb lell and uh and um Kathy ker right yeah so so with all that those are you know the many achievements that we’re recognizing her for tonight and I came across this other one here too and uh that the her team uh in 1985 because of the tremendous year that they had um they received a letter from of recognition for the team from two of new fain’s well-respected principles norm copc and Dean schaer and I’ll just read a piece of it here uh they talk about the spirit you know the spirit which your season’s performance breathed into the high school in our community is irreplaceable I think you know that you are far more than simply a basketball team you represent everything good for which people would like to think they stand for you represent Spirit hard work dedication and pride in self and school the things you have delivered in such abundance to your companions and to your community and I think these are you know so many of the key reasons why Annette is being inducted into the new fan athletic Hall of Fame tonight so that congratulations congratulations and you have to tell us a little bit about your uh athletic career I think he’s like covered so many things I don’t remember well of course this is a uh it’s okay if you can’t get it it’s fine I’m I’m left-handed this is a right-hander’s microphone all right uh how’s everybody doing all right so um I’m willing to donate my time here for everybody to go out and take a break if you guys need a break right now um a lot of well first of all congratulations to everybody else that’s being inducted today I’m truly honored to be part of this group that’s coming into um the Hall of Fame it’s a it’s a pleasure I know every well I got to meet the Davis family yesterday talking a lot but um it’s an honor with with uh Mr connley Mr scy Bob e I’ve known my whole life and uh he’s been a great friend to the family um so I appreciate uh um being coming into the Hall of Fame with um such a great group um playing basketball like my sport was really softball my mom coached Me growing Up um we got talking about it a couple weeks ago about you know I thought like we won every game when I was a kid cuz I thought we had like a great team and stuff she’s like Annette we didn’t win any game so like that was kind of like heartbreaking because I thought we like growing up like that was my sport so I got into high school um growing up with all the neighborhood kids I um I played football cuz it was all boys so I was a football football player and I played with all the boys running I was super fast um softball was my game I wanted to play football but my parents said no um but I got I got coed into because I was a pretty fast runner I got coed into doing a 100 yard dash with Kim wood and she just spanked me and uh I pulled up lame I pretended I like pulled my hamstring because it was that bad like she was so fast and so I gave up track and field right away any inspiration you know aspirations that I had for that but um I did I started playing I never even thought of playing basketball until Coach Grabowski approached me uh in ninth grade and he’s like do you ever think about playing basketball I’m like I didn’t even follow it so I started playing and uh my career let me just tell you this girl had vertical back then this girl here today not so much but um I could jump and I had a pretty good shot for never really practicing the game and uh when I first started playing he had me as like a center forward type of player and uh I hit behind the defense because I didn’t want the ball because I like didn’t know what to do with the ball when they would pass it to me you know so when I would score points and JV it was off of rebounds or fast breaks or Steals and stuff but when it was just the offense being run if that person was standing there I would like stuck behind him because I wasn’t open so I wouldn’t get the ball because there’s too much traffic around so but I learned to grow in the sport um as Bill said I was moved up onto the varsity playoff um that was uh scary as heck um I think we ended up losing that game but so I started coming into my own um playing a lot of basketball over the summers at wreck with people like CJ Frank prit uh Jeff wither G um a whole bunch of guys we would go to the park or play at rck and we would just play and play and play and and that really helped all of us uh a lot of the girls that were on the teams would go and play too so we’d be playing against all these guys all the time and uh you know it helped us get better and uh I think that’s what contributed you know everybody was all in and playing on the team uh Grabowski had a really good program which is um demonstrated by the years and years and years of success well after I left um but as far as like the games themselves go they’re really murky like I don’t remember a whole lot from the games themselves I do remember a couple of times where I I stole the ball and I was on this fast break and I bounced it right off my foot and it just was heading to Out of Bounds and I ran as fast as I could grabbed it scooped it up gave it to Chris Baker she got you know put it in for a bucket got an assist out of it and uh one game the Kanas tournament big game we were going up against number one Western New York team we beat those guys so now we’re playing the championship uh game against against Lockport I missed 11 layups like I just could not make a layup I was so hyped up missed the layup and then the papers the next day we end up winning the game papers the next day said that uh Lockport holds McKay to 16 points and it was like okay I missed 11 layups but you know they still scored 16 points but we ended up winning the tournament it was a it was a fantastic tournament um and then there was one game too where I was way out we back when I played we didn’t have the three-point line so I was way out you know probably Steph Curry distance and I’m standing there nobody’s on me and all our girls are you know we out there and I all of I just heard somebody say shoot it so I get up there perfect I mean I followed through that thing was just going going I think it was like 10 foot short and U one of the girls one of the girls grabs it puts it in for a lab I get an assist so um you know so those are some of the things I remember I also remember you know highlights we had such great teams we had such great players anybody could step in at any time and uh you know make wonders you know do things there was uh Kathy Keller on a fast break pulls up for a jumper game winner there was Kelly pilh horn or Cathy Keller and Kelly torn sunk two free throws to secure the game for us in a in a really key game um we had great outside Shooters if we would have had that three-point line back then I think we just we could have killed it we had some great great Shooters but it’s a team sport you know everybody uh on the team for the three years that I played under Grabowski he put a great program together where everybody bought into it everybody was committed to it we practiced hard uh ran those Halls ran those suicides and uh but everybody bought into it and everybody on the team made everybody better and it was just an awesome awesome experience um but I couldn’t have done it you know without my mom and dad uh they were there for every game uh CJ he’s here today to help celebrate he was assistant coach back then awesome guy been a long long time friend appreciate you for coming um and the thing the the letter that bill uh read the hype that we had at these games was just unbelievable the following that we had teachers students uh parents just fans in general that would come and watch our games a lot of these big key games that we would have we we packed the stands with new fame Panther fans and it was just amazing so when we would come out for these games we our theme song was We Will Rock You and uh we had the fans just overtaking these gymnasiums back in the day and it was just absolutely inspiring and awesome and that letter was kind of you know um a thank you to our whole team for you know kind of bringing in all this hype and all the community and and the businesses like Bobby and Wilson’s um all came together and supported us we I mean it’s just new Fang’s just an awesome awesome community so um I appreciate all that and one last thank you uh poly young I don’t know how many people remember her she was my fourth grade teacher and she came with my parents to every single game and we honored her as like the best fan and she was absolutely amazing when I graduated from high school she presented me with a binder that had every single newspaper article from every paper on every single basketball game I played and back then that’s truly when the papers wrote actual articles and stories about the games so I have this book and it has every cutout from The Gazette to the Buffalo News to the laort Union Sun and then it had pictures she you know back in the day we didn’t have digital so she took her the little you know one time used Kodak cameras and took tons and tons and tons of pictures and put this all in the photo album so when I was approached by the committee to you know do you have any detail on your career I had nothing on softball I had nothing on any of the other sports so I’m I’m surprised and thankful for finding that but I had everything on basketball and it was thanks to poly young for putting that together for me and you know so going through that you know a couple months ago was was really bringing back a lot of memories um it was it brings back you know the friendships that I created back then we had some great great times uh playing basketball and I truly appreciate it I moved on you know the skills and the the traits that you learned from back then discipline and commitment and respect um I didn’t Faire as well in college but I did graduate with a degree and ended up um thanks to the help of PA young too she helped me write my first resume and I ended up getting a job at UPS where I just grad or I just uh retired two years ago at 55 after almost 3 four years being there in management so um a lot of this everything has to do with the new fame the support that I got in new fame the support I got from my parents um and you know and just uh everything in general so like one thing I’ll leave you with and this was Mrs feny she was a teacher at new F gym teacher she said always remember little eyes are watching and any time that you um have an opportunity to help a kid I didn’t get into teaching I didn’t get into coaching it’s probably one regret that I do have is I wish I probably would have participated more in in the coaching side of it cuz I I really love teaching kids and little eyes are always watching so whenever you have a chance to help anybody whether it’s a kid improve somebody a teammate um help them get better you know take that opportunity a cooworker don’t be afraid that that person’s going to be better than you or break your score your school records or anything like that I think my thousand points have been broken three or four times now um and that’s just a testament to the program that existed and the people’s commitment into buying into what’s being sold and uh and just a sheer desire so um thank you again um this is truly an honor for me and I appreciate it and uh congratulations again to everybody else that do is being inducted [Applause] today all right next up I’m going to bring up Jimmy Weber and Jimmy Weber is g to present Danny [Applause] sites thanks Eric not real organized how about that pie though was that pie unbelievable thank you back there whoever made that there was goes but okay here we go um and this is going to be a tough one for a lot of people in the future to follow U to find anyone in the future in new fank that has had a more decorated athletic career both as an athlete and a coach this guy right here Mr SES I I know there’s some in the room that can aspire to that level but this guy has done it all as an athlete the 1961 Panther great was a nagger leads League performer uh All-Star performer six times three in baseball and that was back in the days when they very rarely would call up an underclassman it was basically Juniors and seniors you didn’t get called up so to get called up and then to make all League was pretty amazing two times in basketball once in football in 1961 he was a new F athlete of the year as well as the sportsmanship winner of the year which is pretty darn cool he went on to a story college career at Arkansas Tech where he was a four-time all Arkansas interc Colgate Conference baseball player upon graduation Denny’s prayers were answered when he was offered a teaching position at new Fain Central commencing a 45e coaching career at four different high schools at new fame he coached the new fame boys basketball team to an NL championship in 1979 they probably would have been the they would have been the nans League champion but some knucklehead the day before the big game for the finals threw a really hard pass to the Star Center and shattered his finger I was the unle so I I they still are a little mad at me about that one but the next year we did win the section so that was 1980 it was the last time new pay’s won a sectional in basketball in boys basketball it’s 44 years right it’s a long time so you know Eric’s got some teams coming up here that I really believe are going to make that happen there’s a bunch of good kids couple of them are in the room tonight and that’s their that’s a test for them uh as a baseball coach he led a 1972 team to a sectional Final in multiple Narin League championships he also led the new Fang girls cross country team to a 1982 sectional title in a third place finish in the state meet um subsequent to his teaching and coaching stops at will North willville North Indian River up around Alexander Bay and Morristown it allowed him to mass 472 victories for basketball that’s probably close to a record I’m guessing we had 14 League championships three sectional crowns he was a section six coach of the year in 1991 and ultimately Mr sites was inducted in the New York State basketball coaches Hall of Fame in 2018 uh Denny and his wife Jan raised four wonderful children uh Denny Darcy Jamie and Julie and he now resides with Deborah in Alexandria Bay and port St Lucy Florida so he splits time between the two and I have a couple personal note items I wanted to share uh again Denny was my well Mr so Mr sites was my coach uh back in the time and what I appreciate is he coached us hard and I think kids want to get coached hard that’s what they all talk about after they don’t talk about the coach that okay you go run a mile but you go over to Patterson and drink Pepsi they talk about the one that made them do slides with bricks in their hands and really work themselves and he instilled discipline in all of us we were a bunch of rag tag kids kind of a bunch of squirrels running around and he he molded us into this team we weren’t the most talented team he actually told me that he said you were far from one of the most talented teams but you guys exemplified what it took to be a team we played together and that’s what it coached us he brought us together so thank you for that and then something that I wanted to bring up and actually a n touched on it for a second was summer Recreation he was the director of summer rec for I don’t know how many years but that was our summer back in the day every kid in town got on their banana bike or banana seat bike whatever it was called Rachel Peter en rolled down into the Central Elementary 9:00 in the morning you were there softball started at 9:30 coed then there was uh afternoon you play games do whatever and then you go back at night from 7:00 to 9:00 so it was 5 days a week you’re playing and and exercising and being together and he made it so much fun and had it so organized and on the last day was the best that was the uh the dinosaur egg hunt so I went there as a kid and I thought they were dinosaur eggs but he told me the other day they were actually watermelons so good down him that’s it for for me and now it’s for Mr SES please give him a big hand for for [Applause] the was that young once Jimmy first of all I would like to take this uh opportunity to congratulate all the other 2024 Hall of Fame inductees what an honor to be here tonight in front of my family my friends and such talented coaches players and inductees I am thankful but humbl to be here accepting this award as an athlete and as a coach being a coach and a teacher has been the most gratifying accomplishment that I have had in my life and I am thankful and I’m grateful as a coach you going to guide each athlete to be a good student a good citizen and a good representative of the school and the team as a coach it’s your job to help each athlete reach their maximum potential as a player it’s all about camaraderie and life time friendships it’s not always about winning oh wait a minute forget I just said that my lifetime friend and teammate Nick Kenova is here tonight Nick was inducted into the Hall of Fame two years ago at that time he told a story about our undefeated football team I have a story about this team and I want to share it with you now the name of the story is take one for the team the main characters of the story are Nick asenova and den sites and this story starts in practice the week before a Saturday game our coaching staff came in and they wanted to really work on blocking I really wasn’t a very good blocker but we had a whole week to practice so I set a personal goal for myself that I was going to really work on my blocking in the game on Saturday now I’m just going to say this for some of you guys who coach football here you probably would have benched me in the game but if you had there would be no story well the story starts out on the 40 yard line quarterback comes back into the huddle he says kasanova up the middle I mean it was 40 direct but I’m going to try and make it simple so Nick turns around gets the ball up the middle knocks over two guys trying to block them runs over the linebacker goes 40 yards for a touchdown well I’m out there and I know that I have to block the uh defensive linebacker and I go out there sure enough I’m ready to hit him he turns and I clip him so it comes back 15 yards so now it’s on the 55 yards from the uh the end off quarterback comes back in again he says we’re going to run 40 direct again right up the middle C hands him the ball goes up breaks two tackles at the line of scrimmage runs over the linebacker I think he stepped on him three times going over him and breaks out and goes all the way for a touchdown and there I am over there again guy turns again and I clip him again I think that was the last block that I threw as a football player anyway the quarterback comes back into the Huddle again he says okay we’re going to fake that play and we’re going to give it the sights over the other side now we’re 70 yards for the touchdown I get the ball and there’s absolutely no one there I’m sailing down the field everybody’s cheering I’m going in I go across the goal line and put the ball up in the air everybody is cheering I look back and here’s a great big gigantic pile at the line of scrimmage there was Nick down the bottom of that pile eight guys hit him at the line of scrimmage well anyway Nick could you just stand up for a second Nick I never told you this before Nick and I have always been friends but thank you for taking one for the team i’ would like to thank the Hall of Fame committee for honoring me here tonight as a player and as a coach I would like to thank my son Denny for Gathering all of the information and it was a lot I mean you go 40 years or whatever it is I coach and I played and he went down and dug out all the information and gave it to Jim and I I appreciate that I would like to thank my wife Deborah for helping me write this speech deorah did I leave out anything I forgot good um I would like to close by saying I have been blessed by God who blessed me with a caring wife Jan and four beautiful children but I got to really save my beautiful children Darcy and Julie they said hey yeah are you going to say anything about it well I wasn’t but anyway I would like to thank my beautiful children Denny Darcy Jamie and Julie and I would like to just say you never fail to support me in my coaching career or in my life and I thank you [Applause] so I had the Good Fortune of meeting coach sites last winter um his grandson plays on our team and he he sends me a text he’s like coach can my my grandpa come and sit on one of the practices you know I get all nervous because I’ve heard these stories from coach nean and coach or Jimmy Weber about how awesome of a coach he was so I’m getting a little nervous and he’s just sitting there in the chair watching things calls me over he’s sitting like this calls me over we’re 15-1 at the time we playing a team Attica I think they were 15- one also and they had on the court the section five football player of the year and he was 6’5 240 lbs and he’s been leading section five and scoring and rebounds and he calls me over say coach I watch all your games last time you guys played anybody with size you gave up 23 points and 17 rebounds said yes I know that coach and I said he goes so you got a plan for this big guy and I said well do you have any thoughts and he looks at me and he goes I think some prayers might help but two minutes later he grabs all of our big guys and he takes them down to the one end and he’s showing them how to play defense on the big guys so coach and he got us the win too yeah [Applause] and our last presenter will be coach Conley as he presents one of our most successful baseball teams of all time Class of [Applause] 2004 as coach calls you up please just line up going from right to left heading down that way I’ll hold the mic for you coach okay I’m going to start out by before I introduce the team I want to tell you what at the end of the season how it happened that we W up in the state championship the league record in the nigar Orleans day year was 10 and4 it was a very tough League we were seated three in the section B championship in baseball we won our first two games and we went on to play Falconer in the classic championship at cell magley field in N Falls we beat Falconer 7 to one I believe that was a score I think Jeff Pierce pitched the win and then we played Arnell from section five the two previous years Hornell wound up in the state championships and I pitched Tony Curts and Tony I think he pitched a three hitter and we won the game 3 to2 our team was estatic I could still see Jeff Pierce holding the championship play for the Regional Championship holding above his head walking around the field then we went to the states and at the state we supposed to play a game on Friday and if you won you played the next game on Saturday for the Championship will it rained on Friday the committee met and they decided to play double header our team never played a double header we were the second game we won that game against skny Ellis I believe the score was also 7 to1 and then we played championship game right after that game well our team number played a double header the other team had a whole 3 hours off to eat and relax we won from one game to the next game we gave it all we could and we lost 10 to four we didn’t really do lose you get to the state champion you are a state champion m i was thrilled to my body of my feet how those kids played I shouldn’t say kids Men played all of them pitched in I also had a great coaching staff that helped me and it’s at this time I would like to call out all the coaches and players I will call you please come forward first Mark [Applause] ctts Mark was in was so valuable to me he pitched batting practice all the time and he he played baseball at the University of Buffalo so he knew what he was doing I was blessed to have him also Jeff nean my JV coach je come on [Applause] up Jeff was also a player at new H when I was coaching and he became a coach he was a damn good one and at this time I met another helper who was so valuable to this team he did all the crazy dumb work he just followed the team made sure everybody had their uniforms on right went after to follow balls he did the dirty work and he volunteered he was also assistant football coach and an assistant baseball coach with me him he also was my coach when I was 16 years old an N an has passed away is his anybody from his family here I think it’s and now the players Alex Auto up and John Tony Adam [Applause] killings Richie r swangler [Applause] Mike [Applause] camarado Jeff [Applause] Pierce [Applause] than Dave Halen [Applause] Tony [Applause] kirs Ste mlan Brian [Applause] bman the boys that are not here and I hope if they were Chris [Applause] everard Sean fler Frank plon Steve kers and Robbie lenhard who couldn’t make tonight because he had an previous engagement that he couldn’t get out of but he was there last night on the football field this is the 2004 far rust Regional Champs and finalist in the state championship tournament Class B in New York [Applause] state there’s one more thing I want to say and then I’ll turn it over to a couple players who will speak just briefly I want to thank another group it’s the parents of these boys thank you from the bottom of my heart that you made me a better Coach because you paid on Easter recesses to take their teams South I went South with went down to St Petersburg before this team was put together and we played there and when I went to St Petersburg with my teams every Christmas or every than Easter and learned how to play the game cuz we played against teams that were finishing their season and had played 40 games we played baseball in the gymnasium while they were playing games we got down there and the first day we arrived we had to play a game and they were tough real tough and by the way my first year you all saw that hurricane down in Florida recently we played in that Stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays roof one was was blown off we played against Grand Island there and it was such a thrill that’s why I’m thanking all the parents cuz then we went to Myrtle Beach for many years and I was talking to Joe Rizzo who was the baseball coach in nare Falls and he gave me the idea of at least trying to play in that tournament they called it the Hawaiian traffic tournament well we went down there as family Boys the boys stayed with their parents in a hotel and I was coaching them and Andre N went with me to a lot of them he was such valuable person paid his own way and because of that this team here also went and we played some tough teams and I remember some of them and they’re just so tough of baseball teams all of them down in Myrtle Beach North Myrtle Beach Myrtle Beach South Myrtle Leach three or four teams you know who fit you know who fixed the fields they lined them They Carried a they filled holes the team the school team if it was mle Beach they went out there all the boys had a job to do these guys saw it they would would let me get them to mold the lawn and put the lines down we had people that new F did it down there the teams did it they got the field ready for the next day or the next game and it was so inspiring I wanted to do that with them with them at the end of every practice they cleaned up the field for the next day so at this time I’m going to bring up Alex AO Jeff Jeff Pierce and Tony Curts so I want to say thank you to the coaching staff I know it’s been said but Jim connley it’s a privilege to play for you and I’m sure I’m speaking for all these guys when I can say that um Mr Curts Mr neand and Mr n uh we had we had a really good time and a really good team um I had the privilege of playing for for Jim connley here for four years on the varsity team uh and I would say that our team my senior year probably was the least talented on paper uh it was just a group of guys that like to play baseball together and we had a good time doing it um and I think one of the most important things you forgot on our run to the state championship game was our first sectional game which I think was the hardest one of all because we faced Wilson um and they had a kid by the name of Steve gz pitching for him who ended up having uh a major league career and both the Angels organization and then the Tampa Bay Rays as well so coming off the gate in that in that run that game was we knew something special was happening cuz really we weren’t supposed to win that game and uh came together as a team just a just a group of guys and playing baseball and try to make it last as long as we could and say I think we exceeded expectations maybe even our own um but it’s memories that we have for the rest of our life and again just want to say thank you to you guys for for the honor of being up here and you know thanks to all the coaches and the parents and the grandparents and everybody else that got us to those games and the fans in the stands that you know on the cold and the wet and the rainy weather days that were there as well for us so without you guys you know it wouldn’t have happened so truly thank you and and appreciate everybody [Applause] hold everybody I’m Tony Kurds um member of the 04 baseball team and a lot of us sitting here today we we play competitive Sports and a lot of us were on some pretty good teams or really good teams and um I think what makes it makes the difference between what we were able to accomplish and what some other teams weren’t it’s just you know a lot of dedication a lot of good bounces a lot of good breaks some rain out some good bounces some clutch double plays and just all all those things just kind of culminated in our run to the state finals so it was an awesome time and I think that um when I think back on that time I think just memories and friendships and those those are the most important things and people I was able to share with uh some of my best friends uh my dad was the coach my brother was on the team future brother-in-law uh my wife was with me at that time so I think about all those things and more of the people and the relationships and you know it was just a special time it was a really fun run so thanks to the H of Fame committee um thanks to my coaches and every everyone who here tonight anybody taking a deep breath uh I volunteered to speak tonight and uh coach said I could uh might have might have been against his best judgment um even though um I’m educated from our prestigious com moer I’ve been known to let’s say uh few uneducated things so first I apologize for that and I’ll try not to disappoint you all tonight uh I want to thank new faint High School our boosters and Alumni Association for this great honor and congratulations to the other inductees I promise I won’t go all Western in here stand up here tell you how funny embarrassing stories like Tony got taken deep and the ball still hasn’t landed um or any other stories that resulted in running for punishment you know f um but for the record actually Tony didn’t really get taken deep I that I remember said it was uh he was excellent but take a good look around you you all surrounded by successful winners uh you’re all surrounded by Fighters Scrappers Gamers hard workers dedication and passion uh mothers and fathers grandparents family and coaches our success was built on your foundation so thank you the battle stories become a little faded um the Brotherhood and friendship has lasted forever we all know the commitment that it took Blood Sweat and Tears um but it was our life it was our livelihood at the time time so in case you forgot about the wins some losses I would like to thank our family and friends around us for building success in our life so pass on the Legacy pass on the mentality to get up every day be ready to fight to win embrace it winners win thank you back that was very inspiring Alex by the hours the hours well there’s your 2004 baseball [Applause] team I’m very very very proud of them and also I am very very proud of all the new Fame athletes that came here tonight or are absent from tonight that brought Pride to this school at new Fain Central and to the community there are legacies out there of great athletes I want to commend the committee what you guys are doing is phenomenal it should have been done years ago guys like Mr Davis who was like a blur when he ran he said a legacy and there’s other sport team to set legacies that aren’t up in that wall there’s some great athletes that graduated from new Fang great people whether they became coaches or teachers they became human beings adults in our world and we’ve got successful people from from new Fain Central all over the place so committee I encourage you to keep it going and these guys that I am on this committee these guys work very hard for two years in between each one they deserve all the credit of the successful legacies that you’re going to see develop in future years so from the bottom of my heart thank you I congratulate to all the inductees tonight and above all please get home safe thank you thanks to everybody who came and attended uh we have as Mr KY mentioned we’ve started to work on building that that wall of fame to immortalize these Great Performances and great individuals that we’ve had but there’s many more out there and we just want to real quickly talk about the process for induction because the committee knows of many talented people but there’s many many out there that should be recognized that maybe we don’t know about so on the new fame website if you go to Athletics there’s a Hall of Fame section and there’s uh a Google form that can be used or if Google form is not your thing just simply sending an email to somebody on the committee with some of the different criteria would be greatly appreciated but for people who are um individual athletes they must have graduated from new fame it must have been at least 10 years ago and we’re looking for people who’ve achieved this at the highest level League championships sectional championships and state competitions uh made significant contributions to their team and kind of been respected as the new fame Panther coaches must have coached 15 years at new fame uh they must have been removed from new fame for about five years now and help the team help their teams achieve at the highest level um and once again be represented represent new F in a positive way teams must have won a league championship a sectional Championship or competed at a state championship level and the teams must have been 10 years removed and then contributors outstanding contributions for um different services and that’s really where some of the people who’ve been there supporting athletes supporting teams and supporting programs can get nominated um and if they were an employee of new fame they must be 5 years removed [Music] [Music]

On October 12, 2024, the Newfane Panthers inducted five individuals and a team into the Athletics Hall of Fame:

James Conley, a long time coach and athletics director; John Davis, an outstanding sprinter; Bob Eadie, community supporter; Annette McKay, basketball star; Denny Seitz, athlete and coach, as well as the 2004 baseball team.

The baseball team included Ales Otto, Tony Kurtz, Stu McClain, Adam Gillings, Jeff Pierce, Mike Cammarata, Shawn Foti, Richie Rutland, Keith Flagler, Alex Kurtz, Brian Bowman, David Haylett, Mark Kurtz, Jeff Kneeland, Angelo Nunnari, Chris Eberhart, Matt Moore, Rob Linhart, Ray Clogston, Sean Flagler, Steve Kirsch, and Steve Chapman

For more information on the 2026 round of inductees:

https://www.newfane.wnyric.org/40248_2

00:00 Introduction
02:40 Jim Conley
10:00 John Davis
18:00 Bob Eadie
26:00 Annette McKay
45:40 Denny Seitz
59:00 Baseball Team