The East Side Old Timers inducted five people into the Hall of Fame. Athletes who grew up on the Eastside are selected for their achievement in sports throughout their lifetime. The following were recipients of the award:
David Drews, a Marshall-University HS grad, who played varsity football and was named to the Star Tribune’s all-city team. As a high school wrestler David had 38-win,0 losses in city conference matches and was a three-time district champion. Dave coached park board wrestling at Pratt School.
Paul Johnson, Edison ‘73 grad, played football, basketball and baseball, captain and achieved All-City in baseball his senior year. Paul continued to play for 16 years in the Park National Baseball league with 6 years as the manager, winning two state baseball championships. Paul was the founding board member/director of the Pete Guzy Sports Hall of Fame in 1983. It is now called the Edison Community & Sports Foundation.
Michelle (Witkowski) Kohn, DeLaSalle ‘74 grad. At the beginning of Title IX Michelle played flag football and softball at DeLaSalle. After high school Michelle played two years of volleyball, basketball, and softball at Hennepin Community before playing varsity softball and JV basketball for the University of MN. Michelle played slow pitch softball for many years until she reached 50, winning the state USSSA championships and awarded all-tournament team honors. In 2022 Michelle was inducted into the De LaSalle Hall of Fame receiving the Roberts-Reinhart Award. Pickleball is another passion for Michelle. Winning dozens of tournaments. She also coached Edison Volleyball at various levels from 1989 to 2011 while working as a paraprofessional for the Minneapolis Public Schools.
Kristi Norling-Larson Edison '76 grad ran her first marathon in 1980 and vowed never to run another one. She has run 40 marathons. Qualifying for the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Trials with times of 2hrs and 50 minutes and 2hours and 45 minutes. She has run marathons throughout the United States under 2hours and 50 minutes. Her favorite accomplishment is placing 20th in the Boston Marathon. Kristi said” I continue to run almost every day. I am so grateful to still be able to do it albeit SLOW!!!”
Tom Skovran Edison ‘66 grad, won five varsity letters at Edison High school and was voted MVP of his team his senior year. Baseball has been Tom’s passion. He played amateur baseball in the Park National League for 19 years. Playing mostly for Columbia Heights and managing the team, he played in 12 state tournaments and won five state championships as an outstanding infielder. Tom coached Edison baseball and at Bottineau Park’s Youth Program. Also, Tom started umpiring baseball at 16 and continued for the next 60 years umpiring high school, legion, and town baseball.
1967 Falldin Football Light Cubs undefeated city champs were honored as a team from the past
The Old Timers thank the many retail businesses and individuals that donated prizes for our Hall of Fame raffle and silent auction. The money raised by the raffle supports youth sport teams in the Northeast and Southeast neighborhoods. The East Side Old Timers are seeking future Hall of Fame inductees (men and women) 55 years or older. The person must have been a resident of the East Side and achieved excellence in a sport or sports. You can recommend a worthy candidate's name to one of the East Side Old Timers or go to www.eastside-old-timers.com.