Easton Valley Hall of Fame Class of 2025 Announced

By Caroline Bredekamp for the Preston Times

Each year, the Easton Valley Hall of Fame selection committee meets to review past nominations and consider any new nominations made since the last induction class. At a subsequent meeting (or meetings), the committee then closely scrutinizes and discusses the “finalists”. After discussion, using a voting procedure designated by the Chairperson (or other voting procedure adopted by the majority of committee members present), a “target” of 5 nominees becomes the Induction Class for that year. The current selection committee is composed of 16 individuals and a non-voting chairperson.

The Hall of Fame is designed to honor impactful, positive contributions to the communities of Miles, Preston, Sabula, Spragueville. The purpose of the Easton Valley High School Hall of Fame is threefold: (1) To honor those River Hawks (or former members of retired schools of the district) who have accomplished extraordinary feats in extra-curricular activities; (2) To honor those who have made great contributions to Easton Valley High School activities over a period of many years; (3) To honor those Easton Valley High School graduates who have distinguished themselves in life after high school.

If you have the name of someone that you believe should be nominated for consideration, please provide the committee with name and stats on the person’s/team’s accomplishments so that they are on the annual list when the voting process takes place.

It is the honor of the Easton Valley Community School District to announce the next class of the Easton Valley Hall of Fame have been formally selected.

 

 

Easton Valley Hall of Fame Class of 2025

 

Pic 1 – Mark Ackermann – Distinguished Graduate

 – Director of Oregon Veterinary Diagnostics

Laboratory (Oregon State University)

– Chair of the Department of Veterinary Pathology

(Iowa State University)

– 2000 & 2010 Pfizer Animal Health Award

– Laboratory funded by National Institutes of

Health and USDA

– Professor In-Charge of Image Analysis & Confocal

Microscopy Facility: (ISU)

– Chair of Examination Committee (American College

of Veterinary Pathologists)

– Veterinary Medical Officer & Lead Scientist (USDA

National Animal Disease Center)

– Performed clinical service (surgical pathology and necropsy) at ISU, OSU, and

private companies

– Elected as President and Secretary/Treasurer of the American College of

Veterinary Pathologists

 

 

Pic 2 – Michael Hammond – Distinguished Graduate

 – 2005-2009 Associate Artistic Director:

Shakespeare and Company

– 1998-2003 Artistic Associate: Shakespeare

and Company

– 2014 Awarded Distinguished Director of a

play and Distinguished Achievement in

Production.

– 2000-2018 Directed 20+ plays

– 1994 Wrote and performed Ta Aphrodisia and

   Still life with Baseball as part of Shakespeare

and Company’s Studio Festival

– Taught at Boston University, Shakespeare and

Company, Emerson College, MIT, The New

Theater Conservatory, & Boston Institute of Psychotherapy

 

Pic 3 – John Heckmann Jr. – Distinguished Graduate

 – Captain in US Navy retiring in 2015

after 30 years

– Currently Associate Vice President for

Facilities Management & Campus

Services at Northern Illinois

University.

– Registered Professional Engineer in the

State of Iowa

– Member of the Department of Defense

Acquisition Professional Community.

– Seabee Combat Warfare Officer

– Deputy Commander for Operations, Naval Facilities Engineering Command

Headquarters, Washington, DC providing world-wide support for Navy and

Marine Corps bases.

– Awarded 14 Military Medals during his career

– Served in Japan, Somalia, Souda Bay, Crete, Africa, various US states, and White

House

 

Pic 4 – Denise Larson – Coaches / School Personnel

 – 550 + Volleyball Coaching Wins
– Nominated for the IGHSAU Coaches

Character Counts Award in 2024
– IGCA All District Girls Northeast Volleyball

Coach 2000

– IGCA Senior All Stars Coach 2008

Easton Valley Community School District’s
– Student Council Supervisor with Beth McNeil

for 10 years.

– Junior Class Sponsor for 27 years in charge of

Prom and After Prom.

– Assistant Girls Basketball Coach for 10 years

– JV Basketball Official Scorekeeper for 5+ years
– Organized youth volleyball tournaments in Preston and Miles for 20+ years.

– Organized JH/HS art shows for Preston and Easton Valley

 

Pic 5 – 1988 Preston Football Team – Teams / Groups

 Class 1A State Runner-up

Team Members:  Craig Thines, Jason Bohannon, John Lane, Brad Schipper, Joe Trenkamp, Darren Jargo, Jason Miller, Nick Keen, Mike Marvin, Darin Bormann, Koby Kreinbring, Ritchie Whitmore, John Schneider, Mark Kilburg, Matt Petersen, Ryan Zeimet, Steve Schlarmann, Randy Schmidt, Kurt Bormann, Mike Andersen, Doug Clark, Ron Driscoll, Joe Kuhse, Dale Nolting, Dan Lane, Brad Bormann, Jason Brown, Shawn Zeimet, Scott Bormann, Ken Feller, Chris Reuter, DJ Budde, Brad Knutsen, Troy Knutsen Managers: Daryl Michel, Dan Feller, Todd Schiess Head Coach:  Dave Miller Assistant Coach: Dan Beck