Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Welcomes its Class of 2009 - November 03, 2009

On Tuesday, November 3, 2009, over 750 guests gathered at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto to witness the induction of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame's newest Honoured Members: Caroline Brunet, Hugh Campbell, John Campbell, Angela James, Mark Messier, Warren Moon and Ken Shields.

Brian Williams served as the Master of Ceremonies once again this year and began the evening welcoming close to 40 returning Honoured Members to the stage. The Inductees were then introduced and a formal musical welcome was provided by singer and songwriter Shelley Posen. Special guest Jeff Madden, from the ever-popular musical "Jersey Boys" sang the national anthem.

Through special renderings on the screen, Brian provided the audience with a special glimpse of the Hall's new building scheduled to open in Calgary in Spring 2011. Sheryn Posen, Chief Operating Officer of the Hall, extended appreciation to Cisco Systems Canada, CBC, PepsiCo Canada, Rogers Sportsnet and TSN, who have already ‘signed up' to serve as sponsors of the new building.

Canada's Minister of the Environment, Jim Prentice and Alberta's Minister of Culture and Community Spirit, Lindsay Blackett both brought greetings from their governments as well as their excitement for the Hall's new building coming to Calgary.

One by one the Inductees were introduced and formally presented with their Hall of Fame jacket and Timex watch. Special appreciation to Bradford Productions for producing the Inductee videos and to Rolph Schwarz for producing the evening.

TSN will televise a one hour feature of the Induction Dinner on Saturday, December 5, 2009.

The 2010 Induction Dinner will take place at the Hyatt hotel, in Calgary on November 10. The Class of 2010 will be announced in early May 2010. Please remember that every Canadian may nominate their favourite athlete or builder for Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. More information and the nomination forms are available by clicking HERE.

A special thank you to all the sponsors, staff and volunteers for making this evening an extraordinary night for the class of 2009. Congratulations once again to this year's inductees!

For more information on this or any of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame events, please call 416-260-6789 or email events@cshof.ca