It came as no surprise that Sault Ste. Marie’s own Team Jacobs was a 2013 nominee for induction into Sault Ste. Marie’s Walk of Fame.
The local curling heroes (pictured, from left to right, skip Brad Jacobs, third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden) were officially inducted at a ceremony at the Essar Centre Thursday.
The team received plaques and posed for photographs beside the granite maple leaf stone which bears their team name outside the arena’s north entrance.
The team has thrilled curling fans locally and nationally.
The team won the Northern Ontario Provincial Championships consecutively from 2010 to 2013, the 2013 Tim Horton’s Brier as the first Northern Ontario team to take the Canadian Men’s Curling Champion title since 1985, and represented Canada at the Ford World Curling Championships, bringing home the silver medal.
Skip Brad Jacobs, speaking to an audience gathered at the Essar Centre Thursday, said: “This is a great honour to be included with amazing people who have done amazing things for our community.”
Speaking to SooToday.com, Jacobs said: “We’re still very young and to be nominated for the Walk of Fame at such a young age is a great honour, and hopefully we haven’t peaked yet.”
“Hopefully we’ve got a lot more in us and a lot more to contribute, not only through winning at curling but to the community in general, to our sport, and to whatever foundations call upon us to contribute.”
Also inducted into the Walk of Fame at Thursday’s ceremony was the late Sir William Hearst.
Born in Bruce County in 1864, Hearst moved to Sault Ste. Marie to practice law in 1888.
Hearst was elected as Sault Ste. Marie’s Conservative MPP in 1908 and was appointed Minister of Lands, Forests and Mines three years later.
As Minister, Hearst helped both Algoma Steel and St. Mary’s Paper to grow.
After becoming a cabinet member, the township of Grant, Ontario was renamed Hearst.
Hearst succeeded James Whitney as Premier of Ontario when Whitney died in 1914, becoming the first Northern Ontarian to become Premier.
He served as Premier from 1914 to 1919 and guided Ontario through World War I and, in 1917, passed legislation which permitted women to vote in provincial elections.
His government was defeated in the 1919 provincial election.
Hearst was later knighted by King George V.
He died in 1941.
Sault Ste. Marie lawyer Matthew Shoemaker accepted the plaque in honour of Hearst at Thursday’s ceremony.
Shoemaker told SooToday.com his personal interest in law and local history prompted him to nominate Hearst for posthumous induction into the Walk of Fame.
City Councillors Steve Butland, Susan Myers and Frank Fata were on hand to represent the City of Sault Ste. Marie Thursday, along with Sault Ste. Marie Downtown Association Manager Tasha Varpio.
The Walk of Fame awards are presented each year after nominations for induction are reviewed and chosen by a committee.
Those honoured are people who have been born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie or who have lived in the community for part of their lifetime, and who have made significant contributions at the local, national or international level through athletics, arts and entertainment, education, humanitarianism, medicine, science and technology, business or industry.
There have been 34 inductees since the Walk of Fame was established by the City of Sault Ste. Marie in 2006.