Sports Hall of Fame Postpones Banquet
WEAKLEY COUNTY (October 4) – The Weakley County Sports Hall of Fame is postponing the induction ceremony for the inaugural class.
According to John Hatler, there were multiple issues that arose over the past 90 days that forced the Board of Directors to make the decision.
“I think it’s safe to say that we’re all tired of the COVID-19 experience. Unfortunately, we cannot move forward in a responsible manner to give our inaugural class the induction banquet they deserve.” Hatler sited supply chain issues, the sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in the state, ticket availability to the community, and uncertainty of product availability as the primary factors.
Each year, the newest class of the Weakley County Sports Hall of Fame is to be announced in April, with the induction banquet in August. The inaugural class was set to be enshrined in August of 2020, but the Coronavirus pandemic curtailed those plans. The date was then moved to October 23 of this year, but the lingering effects of the pandemic has caused other issues to force the Hall of Fame to postpone once again.
Despite the shuffling of the banquet date, and the “unwavering support of the county,” the Hall of Fame has still managed to present scholarships in the amount of $ 16,000 to one male and one female student-athlete from each county high school over the past two years.
The Weakley County Hall of Fame announced their inaugural class in July. They included the 1964-65 Weakley County Boys Training School team that advanced to the state basketball tournament, along with Chad Clifton, Lin Dunn, Bettye Giles, Dr. Mark Hardy, Derrick Jones, Popeye Jones, Ashley McElhiney- Ayers, Tara Tansil-Gentry, Paul Tinkle and Graham Vowell.
Additional information will be announced in the near future.
