Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame Gala Inspiring for All
By Anne Bonner // May 12, 2013
YOUR VIEW
EDITOR’S NOTE: Below is an e-mail received from Anne Bonner on Saturday, May 11, 2013 addressed to the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame Committee. Anne attended the induction ceremony on Friday night to honor her classmates from Cocoa High School – Bobby Barnes and Danny Tharpe, two of Brevard County’s greatest athletes of all time.
We wanted to share this note with our readers and viewers to emphasize the incredible quality of individuals that have been the foundation in building the Space Coast community in the years since World War II.
The committee is most appreciative of Anne’s kind comments in recognizing the amount of effort it required from the more than 50 people involved in the various aspects of producing, managing and presenting the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame.
Hello Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame Committee,
I was privileged to be a guest of Bobby Barnes last night at the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
It was outstanding! The videos were crisp and clear, the Master of Ceremonies excellent, posters and programs were fabulous – and the little girls charming. (Even the food was good!)
I came, expecting to be BORED! (It was clear a lot of work went into the production.)
We (elderly) members of Cocoa High School vividly remember cheering Bobby, the very best, in every sport the school offered. Cocoa High School (“BN” – Before NASA) was a tiny school – our graduating class had 40 students – 20 boys and 20 girls – and what a class!
It included Roger Dobson, Entrepreneur of the Year, an architect, a reporter for Florida Today, engineers and scientists at NASA, a barbecue chef famous for his sauce, a circuit court judge, a schoolteacher, a bank vice president (when women were discriminated against), and a successful author (me) of five historical fiction books for young adults set in the early days of Florida, plus a romance novel.
All can be attributed to the teachers at Cocoa High where standards were high and discipline was the order of the day! Perhaps college helped, but expectations for excellence began in high school.
Thank you for recognizing Bobby Barnes and Danny Tharpe, two great athletes and students (and a delightful evening!).
Sincerely,
Anne Bonner, Author
www.AnneBonner.com
