Does Sault Ste. Marie have too many awards?

Earlier this year, Carey Bock and Joseph Klukay were announced as 2021 recipients of the Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame.

Bock will be honoured posthumously as an outstanding athlete in darts and 10-pin bowling.

Klukay will be recognized as a four-time Stanley Cup and Allen Cup winner.

But the Sault also has a local Sports Hall of Fame, and our own Hockey Hall of Fame.

Our Medal of Merit, the city's highest honour, has similarly recognized many athletes over the years.

Do we really need all these civic awards?

Is there overlapping duplication among them?

What exactly is 'fame,' anyway?

Such questions are now being asked in Sault Ste. Marie's halls of power.

Earlier this year, dissension arose when a city task force met behind closed doors to review the necessity for a plethora of civic boards and committees.

When the Walk of Fame committee came up for review, the discussion bogged down in what deputy city clerk Madison Zuppa described as "divergent opinions."

The task force, comprised of three ward councillors and five senior Civic Centre administrators, recommended that staff review the Walk of Fame's terms of reference.

The Walk of Fame is a joint initiative of the city and the Downtown Association, so initial talks took place recently at the association's December board meeting.

It's the second time in its 16-year existence that the Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame is being rethought.

The first time was in 2015, when some of the maple-leaf-shaped granite markers began cracking due to winter maintenance.

The stones were placed in storage and no further awards were announced until 2017, when the walk was rebooted with new and restored markers presented in see-through display cases located throughout the downtown area.

The Walk of Fame Award is intended to honour outstanding athletic, cultural, academic or humanitarian achievement.

Walk of Fame nominees must:

• individually or as a member of a group, have achieved provincial, national or international accolades in an athletic or other competitive endeavour
• individually or as a member of a group achieved a standard of excellence in a cultural, academic or humanitarian field; and
• have lived in the City of Sault Ste. Marie or surrounding area of Algoma for a minimum of 12 months at any point during their lifetime

At the Downtown Association's monthly meeting, director Frank Gaccione asked: "What's the issue with the present Walk of Fame that we have? Are they looking at changing the criteria? What actually initiated all of this?"

"The feedback was generally around the definition of fame," responded deputy city clerk Zuppa.

"Is there any redundancy with other city awards? The frequency of the award, and the definition?" Zuppa said.

No Walk of Fame awards were presented last year.

Granite leaves for the 2021 winners were purchased and installed in a GFL Memorial Gardens display cabinet.

"We do have two spots left," Zuppa said. "One is in the Memorial Tower cabinet. One is in the Queen-March parkette."

"Depending on how the discussions go, we'll have to look at potential future cabinets."

Gaccione, who's served several years on the Walk of Fame committee, said what qualifies a candidate to be on the Walk of Fame needs to be more sharply defined.

"I think that's what needs to be elaborated," Gaccione said.

"I think that's where the reputation between the Sports Hall of Fame and the Walk of Fame, and stuff like that, is where we should try and split the difference."

"There is an overlap with those two categories. There has to be a more specific criteria for someone to qualify for the Walk of Fame."

"I think that's what the Walk of Fame committee should work on this year, before we move forward, whether we add or delete certain criteria," he said.

Gaccione asked Zuppa to provide the Downtown Association with the nominating criteria used by the Sault Ste. Marie Sports Hall of Fame and other city-sponsored recognitions.

He said he favoured offering the Walk of Fame Award annually.

"I don't think the cost is a big issue. The reception's well-attended... If we don't have anyone qualified, we just don't have anyone that year."

Another board member, Angela Romano, proposed that Walk of Fame awards be saved for years when the city has an anniversary or a "bigger occasion."

"If the issue is struggling with nominations or anything like that... maybe this ceremony could be part of that. Maybe not having it every year, and just do a bigger event every few years, or the next time there is a momentous occasion for the city," Romano said.

The issue is expected to be discussed further by the Downtown Association at a future meeting. 

The following is a complete list of Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame winners:

• 2006 - Roberta Bondar
• 2006 - Francis H. Clergue
• 2006 - Ken Danby
• 2006 - Ron Francis
• 2006 - Joanie and Gary McGuffin
• 2006 - Ted Nolan
• 2006 - Kevin Scott
• 2006 - Morley Torgov
• 2006 - Treble Charger
• 2006 - Jessica Tuomela
• 2007 - Phil Esposito
• 2007 - Tony Esposito
• 2007 - Harry Graham
• 2007 - John Rhodes
• 2007 - Darren Zack
• 2008 - John Barker
• 2008 - Angelo Bumbacco
• 2008 - Joni Henson
• 2008 - Dr. David Walde
• 2009 - Doreen Hume
• 2009 - Edie Kerr
• 2009 - Russ Ramsay
• 2009 - MCpl. Scott Vernelli
• 2010 - Eric Alessandrini
• 2010 - Dr. Peter Black
• 2010 - Douglas Bradford
• 2010 - Jo Forman
• 2011 - Trixie Hardy
• 2011 - Tanya Kim
• 2011 - Walter Wallace
• 2012 - Ross Mervyn
• 2012 - Walter Newman
• 2012 - Brian Vallee
• 2012 - Tony Van Den Bosch
• 2013 - Sir William Hearst
• 2013 - Team Jacobs (Brad Jacobs, Ryan Fry, E. J. Harnden, Ryan Harnden)
• 2014 - Mac and BJ Marcoux
• 2014 - Lester Pyette
• 2015 - Helen Arvonen
• 2015 - James W. Curran
• 2018 - Robert-Ralph Carmichael
• 2018 - Mae & Dr. Lou Lukenda
• 2019 - David Johnston
• 2019 - Sharon Johnston
• 2019 - Sherry Walsh
• 2021 - Carey Bock
• 2021 - Joseph Klukay