Nevada Journal Article Part 1 Nevada Journal Article Part 2
By Marlys Barker, Nevada Journal
The Colo-Nesco High School gym is the place to be this Saturday night! Along with two varsity basketball games, a fundraiser supper before the games and a cheer clinic performance during the games, it will be the night of the first-ever Colo-Nesco Hall of Pride induction ceremony.
"It's going to be a busy night," said Kristi Eley, who along with her husband Dwight, volunteered to organize the Colo-Nesco Hall of Pride's first ceremony.
Eley said the Hall of Pride is an event that is being sponsored by the Colo-Nesco Booster Club, of which she and her husband are members.
"We (the Booster Club members) kind of kicked this idea around. We've been wanting to start a Colo-Nesco Hall of Pride (HOP), so we thought, let's just go ahead and do it."
Eley said this appeared to be the perfect year to begin, because it's the 20th anniversary of Colo-Nesco winning the Iowa Boys' State Basketball Tournament in Class A. Therefore, the first inductions into the HOP will be the members of the 1989-90 Colo-Nesco boys' basketball team, which totaled 26 members, freshmen through seniors, including managers and coaches.
At least 10 of the team members are expected to be present this Saturday night, Eley said. And, she added, longtime Colo-Nesco basketball coach, and the coach of Colo-Nesco's only boys' state champions, Doyle Miller, will be coming back from Florida for the event.
"I think it's going to be a great night to see fellow teammates and old friends," Eley said. "So many of us watched those boys play."
Seeing the team members Al come back together, said Eley, will be a great event, not only for those who remember seeing them play, but also for the kids to go to Colo-Nesco Schools now. Her own kids, she said, have heard Dwight (who played for NESCO in the 1980s) tell basketball stories from the past, including about the boys' team of 1989-90. "So to see them (the players from that championship team) will be a neat full-circle thing for (today's kids)." Interestingly, a book about the great reign of Colo-Nesco basketball in the '80s and early '90s, published this past year by Colo-Nesco alumnus Andrew Gogerty, helped to spur interest in the past year about Colo-Nesco's basketball history. Gogerty will be present Saturday night, with copies of his book for those who would like to purchase it. Also available for purchase that night are special T-shirts for the occasion. Eley said that the Boosters are calling for all game attendees to produce a "white out" that night and wear white shirts. They can purchase a white shirt, designed especially for the evening, for S10 when they arrive at the game. The shirts feature the "Miller Court" (designated for Coach Doyle Miller) on the front, and a listing of state tournament teams on the back. Sizes small to double X-large will be available.
"The closer it gets, the more I'm really getting excited about it all," Eley said, noting that in recent weeks things have really started to come together, including several other events that will draw people to the high school that night.
The Colo-Nesco High School cheer leaders will feature the elementary-age participants of their cheer clinic that night in a special performance at half-time of one of the games, and the Colo-Nesco After Prom fundraising committee will start the night off with a fundraiser pork loin sandwich supper in the cafeteria, from 5-7 p.m. Free-will donations will be accepted for the meal.
Colo-Nesco's Hall of Pride is some thing that the Colo-Nesco Booster Club plans to continue in years to come. Eley predicts that the time frame for the event will be pretty much the same, and said that by the end of each year, the Boosters will accept nominations to the HOP and then select between two or four inductees. One thing that she wants residents to under stand about the HOP is that it's going to recognize more than just athletes. The Boosters will also take nominations of students who excelled in drama, music, art and other areas.
"We have so much talent in our school that we really need to recognize that."
The first HOP induction ceremony will take place directly following the varsity games Saturday evening. The gym will remain open after the ceremony for a time for visiting.