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This was another eventful and successful year for our Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame and Museum (MBHFM). Manitoba is still the only province in Canada that has a permanent site for a basketball hall of fame. The following were the highlights:
- Our 18th Induction Dinner, which was originally planned for 2021, was held very successfully on October 1, 2022. There were 283 people in attendance, and it was great to be back together again after three years. The following individuals and teams were inducted:
- PLAYERS: Shawn Gray and Joanne Wells-Small
- BUILDERS: Manny Aranez, Ray Hurd, John Klassen and Randy Kusano
- TEAMS: Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate Raiders Varsity Boys,1982-83-84, 1985-86 & 1988-89 and the Treherne Collegiate Tigers Varsity Girls, 1994-95, 1996-97-98-99-2000 & 2002-03
- Our heritage inventory collection continued to grow. More and more people are realizing that the old uniforms, programs, clippings, etc., that we have stored in a box somewhere in our homes need a permanent home in our museum – all donations are welcome.
- Based on a grant we received from the Manitoba Arts, Culture and Sport in Community Fund, we hired a person to begin the process of entering all items in our heritage collection into a database, Musetoba, purchased through the Association of Manitoba Museums (AMM). Eventually, this will allow public access to the collection via the Public Portal (PP) for AMM. Once it is up and running, we will have three “sites”: our physical site at the UW, our Hall of Fame site with Basketball Manitoba, and the PP site with AMM.
- Based on another grant from Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage, we have hired a young person to conduct research and submit a report on the history of Indigenous people in basketball. We look forward to the results of this important research and to its inclusion as a part of our museum collection.
- We continued to qualify as a Level 1 Museum through the Community Museum Grants Program.
- We continued our membership in the Association of Manitoba Museums (AMM).
- We continued to receive an annual grant from our endowment fund through the Winnipeg Foundation, where we raised funds to ensure our long-term sustainability.
- We continued to change the displays in our cases on a regular basis to highlight different themes or members of the Hall of Fame.
- In the first week of May 2023, the floor at our site was repaired and re-surfaced by Big Sky Enterprises, and it looks great.
- We purchased a taller storage cabinet to gather together and organize our large collection of printed materials (archival documents).
- In the past year, January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2022, we had 6601 visitors to the site.
- Our financial situation remains very solid; we are committed to investing our revenues directly into our Hall of Fame and Museum site and the basketball community in general.
- Our MBHFM is open every day during the year except for statutory holidays from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
- The members of our MBHFM committee are: Ross Wedlake (Chair), Vic Pruden (Past Chair), Ted Stoesz (Vice Chair), Janet McMahon (Treasurer), Jerry Ilchyna, Wes Crymble, Morris Glimcher, Jerry Hemmings, Carol Ploen-Hosegood, Ken Opalko, Susan Johnson, Coleen Dufresne, Kyla Shore, Tyler Crayston, and Adam Wedlake (Recording Secretary - Ex-Officio).
For 2023-24 the following are planned:
- The further organization of our heritage collection and the further development of the Musetoba collections management system.
- The completion of the Indigenous research project and being able to display some of its findings.
In conclusion, we need to mention the tremendous and continuing support we get from the University of Winnipeg and Basketball Manitoba. Our Hall of Fame and Museum would not exist without this support and the support of our extended basketball community.
Respectfully submitted by
Ross Wedlake, Chair
MBHFM
Source: https://www.mbhof.com/2023/06/2022-23-manitoba-basketball-hall-of.html