Jun 19, 2018 4 min read

Over the past 50 years, recognizing worthy citizens has migrated from musty museums to massive halls of fame. The latest trend is to offer a salute in cement – in the much more cost-effective walk of fame.

In recent weeks, walks of fame have been proposed for both Pittsburgh and Washington County. Canonsburg certainly has enough notable natives to warrant its own walk of fame, even if the cement salute aspect is somewhat off-putting. More on that later.

First, here’s a 12-step program of possible honorees to start the walk of fame – in alphabetical order.

John Canon – Founder of Canonsburg

Perry Como – Radio, television and movie star, who also had numerous hit recordings over four decades

Marie Curie – Not from Canonsburg, of course, but notable for “radiating” publicity during her extremely short visit to the borough

Four Coins – Popular recording group, best known for “Shangri-La”

Mike Hill – Miami Dolphins linebacker

Doug Kotar – New York Giants running back

Bishop Theodosius Lazor – Metropolitan bishop for the Orthodox Church in America

Jonathan Letterman – The father of battlefield medicine. The medical director of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War, he established new methods for treating the wounded, including a triage system and ambulance corps

George Morgan – Not a Canonsburg native, but known for his experimental farming while residing in the borough. Also known for being the first to warn President Thomas Jefferson of Aaron Burr’s intention to overthrow the government

Bill Schmidt – An Olympian bronze medalist in Munich in 1972

Bobby Vinton – Best-selling solo artist of the 1960s, and one of the top 50 recording stars of all time

Donald Yenko – Well-known race driver

Now, wouldn’t you like more information about some of these dozen denizens of Canonsburg?

Unfortunately, that would be nearly impossible with a typical walk of fame, which consists of a brick featuring the subject’s name, date of birth, date of death (if applicable) and a line or two about his or her accomplishments. I have been to walks of fame where you may purchase a booklet with details about the honorees, but that idea seems sadly outdated.

Nonetheless, because this is an all-encompassing walk of fame, it’s a safe bet that no one walking the walk will be familiar with all of the honorees and their respective accomplishments.

May I suggest instead a walk of fame that takes full advantage of 21st-century technology? It would be possible, I suspect, to have a walk, where, upon stepping on the subject’s brick, a hologram appears and initiates a conversation with the visitor. As I have no idea of the cost involved in such a project, let’s dial it back a bit.

How about a walk where, at each honoree brick, there’s a small kiosk with a photo of the person and a paragraph or two about his or her accomplishments. That would be augmented with a button (or app) that generates a video of Kotar playing football, Como crooning a tune or Yenko moving around the track.

This could also be accomplished with simply an app – but an accompanying kiosk seems to be more respectful of their accomplishments.

The good news is there is no need for the public or the municipality to bear the brunt of the cost for a walk of fame. There are history, music and sports groups, among others, who would sponsor the various kiosks/apps – and suggest future inductees as well.

A walk of fame is a relatively lost-cost way to honor notable citizens and to generate tourism as well.

It’s time to take one step forward by stepping into Canonsburg’s proud past.