Those of us involved with the Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation couldn’t have asked for anything more than what we experienced at our inaugural Wall of Honour induction dinner in Okotoks, Alta., on July 30. The foyer of the arena is the home of the Wall of Honour, a display that, with its three video screens, was unveiled that afternoon.

The Foundation was born out of a burning desire to shine a spotlight of sorts on the profession and to honour those who travel hockey’s wild west in search of the next one.

In numerous meetings held in the months leading up to the induction dinner, we constantly talked about how this was all about the honourees, the Class of 2024 that would be the first to have portraits and bios posted on the Wall of Honour. The objective really was to make this a memorable event for those folks and their families.

And it seems that we succeeded. Somehow we managed to pull off two dinners in 10 months, and both of them were successes. The Foundation’s startup banquet at the same site on Sept. 30 drew 190 folks, who got to enjoy a roast of Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean. The induction dinner had 420 people in attendance and they were treated to a couple of Hot Stove sessions.

The evening was highlighted by the induction of 45 past and present scouts into the Wall of Honour. Inductees included five pioneers (1940-63), 17 from scouting’s early era (1963-79), 20 from the modern era and two from junior hockey. Also inducted was Garnet (Ace) Bailey, who was the Los Angeles Kings’ director of pro scouting when he died aboard the plane that crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. The inaugural presentation of the Ace Award, which the Foundation has struck in Bailey’s honour, was presented to Dennis Bayek and Gregg Drinnan.

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There were a number of highlights but it could be that one stood out among the rest. In fact, if anything will have a lasting effect it might well be the In Memorial video that was produced by Billy Melville.

As one attendee told me: “The topper of the night was the In Memorial Video. Really well done by Billy . . . tears followed by a standing ovation. Was really touching.”

If you haven’t seen the In Memoriam video, or even if you have and would like to see it again, it’s right there on our website at hockeyscoutsfoundation.com. It really is terrific!

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Those in attendance quite enjoyed the two Hot Stove sessions, headlined Tales from the Road. The incomparable Dennis Beyak, who is on our board of directors and also is the emcee, told me:

“The two Hot Stove panels were excellent. Everyone participated. Got some great stories out of them, both funny and inspirational. During the second Hot Stove, I watched the crowd. No one was bored . . . no one was moving around . . . so we took it to 50 minutes.”

Here’s a big thank you to Craig Button, John Davidson, Archie Henderson, Ken Holland, Craig MacTavish, Mike Penny, Brian Skrudland, Barry Trotz, Al Tuer and Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser for more than living up to your advance billing.