Ferry HofH inducts 12

By BRIAN COOK, Times Leader Staff Writer
MARTINS FERRY — Seeds of history were replanted in Ohio’s first settlement Sunday afternoon as 12 individuals were inducted into the inaugural class of the Martins Ferry Hall of Honor at the new high school.

“This is wonderful because we were not sure what to expect. We didn’t know what to do or how many people were coming,” said Tom Thomas, committee vice president and speaker for the Martins Ferry Hall of Honor, following the induction ceremony.

The high school cafetorium was jam-packed with more than 200 people and exactly what Thomas was hoping for in the newly founded program.

“A year ago, when Les Douglas was mayor, he suggested we do this Hall of Honor. So we got our committee together and ended up with 75-80 nominees,” Thomas shared. “They were nominated by the committee or residents of the city. Then what we did was simply cut it down and down until we picked these final 12.”

Of the 12 being inducted, only two were not deceased, and they are Roy Riethmiller and Robert E. Forsythe, both of whom were on hand for the ceremony.

“I would like to thank all the committee members. I cannot imagine sitting down and trying to think of all the people in the city of Martins Ferry that have made a commitment and have done things in their lives, and then narrow it down to 12 individuals,” Martins Ferry Councilman Paul Riethmiller, also son of inductee Roy Riethmiller, said during his father’s induction. “I think as the years go on, it would get easier to add on people, but that initial class has to be a lot of time and hard work.”

The elite class of Elizabeth (Betty) Zane, Ebenezer Martin, Charles R. Shreve, William Dean Howells, Harry Northwood, Richard H. Wilson, Louis Groza, James A. Wright, John Laslo, Annie Tanks, Riethmiller and Forsythe have all made great contributions to the small city, but all in their own ways.

The accomplishments of this group include Zane’s heroic gunpowder run at the siege of Fort Henry in the late 1700s, to Shreve becoming the first superintendent of the Martins Ferry School District in the late 1800s as well as being the longest in service, to Wilson’s founding what is now East Ohio Regional Hospital in the early 1900s to name a few, but the accomplishments are only minimal in comparison to the impact these heroes of Martins Ferry left for future generations.

“The inductees are all good people. You have the history people who got it all started. You have the Shreves, Howells and Northwoods that were here when the city was growing and building. Then you have the more recent people that went on to do great things and always remembered their Martins Ferry roots,” Thomas said about the group of inductees.

All of the plaques from the ceremony will be housed in the Martins Ferry Public Library until another suitable location can be found. The Citizens Bank is the sponsor for the HofH.

“Hopefully one of these days if we get a new city building we can have a room in there to display these plaques as well as show off their accomplishments,” Thomas said.

Another presentation that was before the inaugural ceremony took place was by the Shreve family that presented a high school diploma from 1874 that the family has kept through the centuries. The gift was given to the Martins Ferry Board of Education to be put on display on the new campus.

“The Hall of Honor is a great thing and should be continued on through the years,” Martins Ferry Mayor Phil Wallace said as the audience members and inductees helped themselves to refreshments after the program.

Cook can be reached at bcook@timesleaderonline.com