Mike Burkholder Memorial
The Mike Burkholder memorial
committee of Paula Abrecht, Julie McCumber, Randall Hafner, Jeff Burkholder and
Jeff Layton initially met two weeks ago regarding development of a memorial
discussion and concept to recognize and memorialize the leadership and
accomplishments of Mike Burkholder. The
committee has remained in communication with the Northwestern Board of
Education Members as the process has evolved.
The Northwestern Board of
Education recently gave informal approval for moving forward with this project,
which will be formally approved at the May 18th Northwestern Board of Education Meeting. They did so in order to begin the early phases of the project.
The family has established a fund for funding this Northwestern Mike Burkholder memorial and the Orrville Mike Burkholder field project through the Wayne County Community Foundation. Contributions can be made by contacting or mailing a check to:
Wayne County Community Foundation
“Burk” Memorial Fund
517 Market St.
Wooster, OH 44691
330-262-3877
The project entails a 625 Sq.
Ft. brushed concrete area to the north of the main HS athletic complex ticket
booth. The entrance will be from inside
the complex. Dimensions are roughly 25ft
X 25ft and will include a memorial centerpiece with Mike’s silhouette and one
of his most memorable quotes surrounded by a 6 ft. high gray textured block
wall. It will include two benches and
two flowering dwarf trees. In the future
the wall surrounding this memorial area will hold bronze plaques of inductees
into the Northwestern Athletic Wall of Fame, which will be established.
The project broke ground this
week with a section of fence removal and removal of asphalt.
Below are some details about
the project. We will keep all informed
as the project evolves.
- The committee wanted something to honor Mike that would be aesthetically pleasing and create a nice entrance to our HS athletic complex
- Mike wanted something
to honor others, as is his nature, with the incorporation of an athletic wall
of fame
- The Memorial will
be constructed through tax exempt contributions with no financial cost to the
district, due to current funding concerns
- There will be
some in-kind contributions from district, contractors, and individuals through time,
effort, maintenance labor, donated materials
- If Northwestern
employees would prefer the district is willing to collect funds as well for the
project and forward the funds to the Wayne County Community Foundation
account. Simple make contributions to
the Northwestern Board of Education Office
- Tress would be @
8 ft. decorative flowering (dwarf cherry blossom or pear)
- Future plans would be to honor other major athletic icons – bronze plates mounted on the wall
- Wall will be a
5-sided geometric area
Other ways Northwestern
is honoring “Burk”
- An HSTW Annual
Professional Development Scholarship created by NE Ohio High Schools that Work
Professional Development Organization has been approved by our NE Ohio HSTW
Board of Trustees
- An annual
Northwestern student scholarship is planned to be created by the family
- Jeff Layton is
nominating Mike Burkholder for the Northwestern Alumni & Friends Wall of
Fame for next induction (2022)
- An annual track
invitational is being organized that will alternate between Orrville and
Northwestern with other Wayne Cou. Schools with proceeds to go toward remaining
costs for the two school projects and planned remainder to go towards a
perpetual student scholarship
- The district and
family will be planning a dedication event once completed this summer
- We anticipate spring
2021 initial Athletic Wall of Fame inductions (inductions are planned to be
bi-annual and committee will be established for this). The process as well as more information to
come out this fall.