A third class of inductees for the Haliburton Highlands Sports Hall of Fame has been unveiled, with five athletes, four community builders and two historic teams to be recognized at a summer ceremony in Haliburton.
Hockey players Jonathan Bishop, Chris Petrow and Julia Fedeski, curler Paul Madden and all-rounder Wendy Bolt will join 17 previously inducted athletes into the hall.
The Bishop family, Helen and Neil Burk and Jane Symons are being recognized for their commitment and contributions to excellence, helping to promote their chosen sports in the Highlands. Their additions will take the builders wing to 11, said Hall of Fame spokesperson Roger Trull.
The Minden Rockcliffe Hustlers fastpitch softball team and 1978/79 Hal High Redmen football team will add to the four inductees in the
teams category, while the Boshkung Skiers and Haliburton County ladies softball league are up for outstanding achievement awards.
“This year’s class is a little bigger than we anticipated, but we’re really happy with where we landed – every single person included is worthy of being in the Hall of Fame,” Trull said.
Including this year’s nominees, the Hall of Fame now boasts 42 members.
Following its launch in 2021, Trull feels welcoming new classes every other year has worked well so far.
The ceremony will be held at A.J. LaRue Arena May 23, with each inductee having panels added to physical hall locations in Minden and
Haliburton.
Induction set for May
Bishop was a talented hockey player in his youth, winning five straight Ontario Minor Hockey Association championships with the Haliburton Huskies, captaining the Hal High Redmen hockey team and playing professionally with the San Angelo Outlaws (Western Professional Hockey League) and Knoxville Ice Bears (Atlantic Coast Hockey League).
High, competing in track and field, football, basketball, badminton and volleyball. While attending Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan University), she won several awards across multiple sports, including the prestigious G.L. Dobson Trophy in 1978 for greatest contribution to athletics.
Madden won Ontario mens’ curling championship gold in 1999, podiumed in several Ontario senior mens’ curling championships between 2015 and 2024, and earned wins at the 2023 world senior mens’ curling championship and 2024 Canadian mens’ curling championship.
Fedeski is considered a pioneer for girls’ hockey in the County, representing the Highland Storm rep team from the age of seven before playing NCAA Div. 1 hockey with the University of New Hampshire.
In 2018, Fedeski was drafted 18th overall by the Toronto Furies in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, playing 24 games for the team in 2018-19. Petrow was a decorated minor hockey player, winning championships as a defenceman with the Haliburton Huskies and Central Ontario Wolves before playing for the Oshawa Generals and Kingston Frontenacs in the Ontario Hockey League.
He was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.
Trull said the Bishop family are being recognized for their work running Sir Sam’s Ski/Ride; Neil Burk for his contributions to softball and curling; Helen Burk for her many years volunteering with hockey, fastball, lob ball, curling, squash and golf; and Symons for her 45 years of dedication as head coach of the Minden Figure Skating Club.
“If we didn’t have these builders paving the way, there simply wouldn’t have been opportunities for many of the athletes we’ve seen succeed in their chosen sport,” Trull said.
Asked how he feels the Hall of Fame has been received by the public, and how long it can be sustained, Trull was optimistic on
both fronts. “I think everybody’s happy we have one – I think we all wish we had a better location,” he said. “We’re excited for the
future and, whenever a new arena is built, our hope is for a dedicated space where we can really showcase our sporting stars.
“We’ve got a long of young people now who are great athletes, out doing great things in the world. It won’t be too long before some of them would qualify to be considered for the hall,” he added.
For more information, visit hhshoff.ca.
