inking the present to the past is sometimes the best way to ignite a community.

Remembering the people who helped build the town you live in and who made it a special place to grow up in is something that often gets forgotten in today's fast paced world.Like most small towns across Pennsylvania, Lansford was a community based around its sports heroes. In the 40s and 50s its historic Thanksgiving rivalry with Coaldale on the gridiron brought close to 10,000 fans out of their homes and to the stadium.It was moments like those rivalry game atmospheres that made Lansford a special place to live.Now, a group of gentleman have started a project that they're hoping brings some of the pride back to Lansford. That project is a specially customized Lansford Sports Hall of Fame wing located in the Sports Zoo sports bar on Snyder Avenue.Emmett McCall, Bobby Gelatko, and Vince Spisak currently make up the Lansford committee for the Carbon County Hall of Fame and came up with the idea to move the plaques to the Sports Zoo."Originally we had a display in the Panther Valley Mini Mall and we started to run out of room," said Gelatko, a 2005 inductee. "I had some plaques at my house and so did Emmett and Vince. We needed a place where people would see the plaques, so we approached Jesse and Dave Hiles to see if they would be interested in housing them."When approached, the Hiles brothers jumped at the opportunity and even decided to remodel a section of the bar to give the hall of fame its due respect."The committee approached us and it took us a little bit to decide where we were going to put it," said the brothers. "Then we remodeled a part of the bar where the ceiling was lower and all the plaques would be eye level, so we knew it would be perfect. It's just simply an honor to house this hall of fame."It's an important part of the history of Lansford and its always enjoyable to watch people go up and down the rows looking at the athletes."The Sports Zoo is located right down the street from Panther Valley Stadium, which is the central sports hub for the town. Now, with the Lansford Hall of Fame plaques located in the same vicinity, it adds another sports dimension to the area."I think it's important for people to see who made this town such a special place," said Spisak, a 2012 inductee."Sports is such an important element of this community and the sports heroes of Lansford are all in here. To have a place like this to showcase them where so many people can see them is a great thing."The original idea for a Lansford Hall of Fame wing came many years ago when the committee members used to drink coffee every night down at Harleman's Restaurant located in the PV Mini Mall.The owner of Harleman's, Bill Harleman, suggested putting the hall of fame plaques in the hallway right outside his restaurant. That is where they resided until the space was no longer adequate.Today, Dave and Jesse Hiles along with the Lansford HOF Committee of the Carbon County Hall of Fame have helped make the plaques available to the public once again. Their idea has linked the present to the past - and will hopefully play a role in improving the future for the coal region town that is heaped in sports tradition.