Lincoln Academy and other sports equipment and uniforms are on loan and on exhibit at the Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame. |
The Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame, located in Dow’s Discount warehouse on Route 1 in Waldoboro, opened recently.
Now the organization is looking for historical sports memorabilia, uniforms and equipment to help fill their space, donated by Dana Dow.
“The more memorabilia we have the better. The older the better,” Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame board member Neil Lash said. The group is looking for sports memorabilia, uniforms, and sports equipment from athletes who attended schools and former schools in Lincoln and Knox counties.
A display case filled with sports memorabilia in the Midcoast Hall of Fame exhibition hall. |
Lash remembers playing basketball with a ball with laces and would really like to find a similar model for the group’s collection.
Allan Middleton’s scrap book from his high school years on Vinalhaven to his playing years with the Red Sox is on display and visitors are welcome to look through it.
Middleton was killed in a plane
crash over North Africa during World War II.
Clyde Sukeforth memorabilia is also on display, including a copy of a thank you letter written to him by Jackie Robinson. Robinson broke the color barrier in professional baseball when Sukeforth recruited him for the Brooklyn Dodgers organization.
There is a Dean Erickson scrapbook available to look at. He played under Art Dyer and at Brown University. Local lore has him holding Isaiah Thomas to 12 points in a UCLA tournament.
A large photo of golf legend and Hall of Fame inductee Helen Plourd is on display.
Sports announcer Charlie Crockett has donated over 500 boxes of games that he called. Eventually the games will be available to watch on a TV in the display area.
“It is all the games he ever did,” Lash said. “You can watch the old games and watch the state championship games.”
Although items are currently on display in just one room, the hall will expand into an adjacent room as material arrives. They are also adding four display cases that can be locked so valuable items on loan can be securely displayed.
In the future, the organization hopes to offer a lecture series similar to the history of baseball in Waldoboro that was given in 2014 at the Waldoboro Historical Society.
Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame inaugural class was in 2007. Every athlete in the hall of fame has a framed photo with their sports bio displayed around the walls of the exhibition hall.
The Hall of Fame also recognizes a male and female high school athlete of the year.
Sports items can be donated, or loaned to the exhibit. “Don’t throw it out,” Lash said of old scrapbooks, equipment and memorabilia from coaches, teams and athletes from Lincoln and Knox counties.
“We have the space, now we need to fill it. If we could pack this place and fill it, my, would that be a great day,” Lash said.
Items can be dropped off at Dow’s Discount Furniture on Route 1 in Waldoboro, or a board member will arrange to pick items up. Anyone interested in donating items, please contact Neil Lash, 832-4211, or George Gould, 832-4756, or contact the Midcoast Hall of Fame by email at midcoastsportshalloffame@ gmail.com.
Donation forms are available online at www. midcoastsportshalloffame.org.
Other board members include Kathe Cheska, Lou Cook, Charlie Crockett, Ashley Hunt, Frank Leary, Tom Mellor, Darrell ‘Skip’ Pound, Dana Verge, and Walt White.