Seventeen Northshore School District alumni, former staff and board members will be recognized at a special ceremony to unveil a new “Wall of Honor” at Pop Keeney Field in Bothell.
The ceremony is set for 1:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at Keeney Field.
According to organizers in June, the wall is meant to honor accomplished graduates from Northshore’s four high schools, as well as faculty and staff members from around the district.
“This is not an athletic hall of fame even though there will be athletes who deservedly make it onto the wall,” said Al Strand, a co-chair of the wall fund-raising drive. “We’re talking about people the caliber of Pulitzer Prize winners, Rhodes Scholars, Congressional Medal of Honor winners, notable scientists, adventurers, entrepreneurs, entertainers and distinguished politicians.
“We want people to look at the wall and say, ‘Wow, I didn’t know she grew up in Northshore!’ or ‘Look what this guy did.’”
Initial wall honorees include:
– Tracie Ruiz Conforto, Bothell High Class of ’81, who won two gold medals for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Olympics. She also won a silver medal at the 1988 games.
– Candy Costie Merrill, Inglemoor High Class of ’81, who also won synchronized swimming gold in 1984.
– Roger Fisher, Inglemoor Class of ’68, a founding member of the rock group Heart.
– U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, Bothell Class of ’68.
– Karen Scholl Thorndike, Bothell Class of ’60, the first woman to sail solo around the world.
An active alum of the Bothell Class of ’63, George Selg was another co-chair of the wall project. He has said he sees the “Wall of Honor” as a continuation of the scoreboard project he spearheaded.
Selg helped raise $160,000 for a new, electronic scoreboard that debuted at Keeney during the last school year.
Selg added his hope is the wall will serve as an inspiration to current Northshore students.
In June, Selg and Strand hoped to raise between $15,000 and $20,000 by the end of July to launch the wall. They had some $5,000 already on hand at that point, according to Selg.
Organizers say an annual nomination and selection process will be conducted to identify additional, future nominees. For more information, go to www.nsd.org/wallofhonor.
Pop Keeney Field sits at 18603 Bothell Way N.E.
