On Saturday, September 27th, 2025 the Valhalla Hotel Ballroom was alive with activity as the Class of 2025 was officially inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame at the 42nd Induction Dinner & Ceremonies.

Four (4) athletes, including Kenora born karate champion Malcolm Fisher and fellow karate champion and long-time Thunder Bay instructor John Charry, joined national champion and World Cup free-style skier and coach Douglas M. Robinson and two-time World Hockey Association AVCO Cup champion, the late John Schella in the athlete category. Two (2) builders were honoured for their long-time involvement in sport including Dryden born Don Boyd a long-time coach and scout in the OHL and NHL and the late Barb Thompson who was involved in 5-pin bowling from the 1950s to 2010s at the local, provincial and national level.

Special thanks to Diane Imrie and Alex Belcamino for their work on writing and producing our induction videos and to Bryan Wyatt for voicing them and to Maverick Entertainment for sharing them with the crowd and recording the ceremony. Thanks as well to Dallas Allaire who did another great job as our Master of Ceremonies and John Sims who captured the evening in photographs. The talents of pianist Pat Towell and vocalist Denise Krawczuk once again wowed the crowd.

Congratulations to our newest inductees and thank you to everybody who helped make the evening a great success including our patrons, program sponsors and presenting sponsor TBaytel.

For more highlights from this and past Induction Ceremonies click here.