Community offered chance to be part of Tom Thompson memorial
A memorial for the late WTNS sports broadcaster Tom Thompson is being planned for Lake Park. Josie Sellers | Beacon
COSHOCTON – Tom Thompson made a career out of celebrating the accomplishments of area athletes and this summer the late WTNS broadcaster will be memorialized at Lake Park.
“He was always for the benefit of the young people who played ball,” said Bob Bigrigg, who is organizing the Tom Thompson Memorial Project. “He loved all games, but really loved baseball. He coached the American Legion baseball team for a long time and spent a lot of time at Lake Park.”
The memorial will be located just past the Lake Park office and in between the start of the walking trail and the baseball field. It will be a lasting tribute to Thompson and his love of community, the parks and sports.
Bigrigg said the memorial will include a Scarlet Oak Tree, four benches – two facing the baseball field and two facing the walking paths, an engraved memorial stone, and a perennial garden.
The estimated budget for the project is $5,785. Bigrigg has applied for grants from the Coshocton Foundation, Friends of the Parks, and the Park National Bank Foundation. There also are several hundred dollars in memorial donations that will be put toward this lasting tribute.
Funds for the project also are being raised through the sale of 50 pewter, engraved baseball medallions that will be attached to the benches. The medallions cost $100 each and wording is limited to two lines and 25 characters on each line. Anyone interested in purchasing a medallion can call the Century National Bank Coshocton North Office at 740-622-4455 and ask for Bigrigg or Beccy Porteus. July 1 is the estimated completion date for the project so those wishing to purchase a medallion should call the bank as soon as possible. Any money raised above the cost of the project will be donated to the scholarship fund set up at the Coshocton Foundation in memory of Thompson.
“One of my first jobs out of college was at WTNS,” Porteus said. “I worked with Tom and had a lot of respect for him. He was an outstanding broadcaster and could have easily left our community for a bigger market, but he chose to stay here. His work ethic was phenomenal. He gave 100 percent to whatever he did.”
Category: High School, Sports
