Malden Golden Tornado Club Hall of Fame Induction this Saturday

The 2012 State Finalist Girls Softball Team headlines starry list of inductees

The long, rich history of Malden High School sports teams will once again be on display Saturday night when the Golden Tornado Hall of Fame Committee hosts its 35th Annual Banquet and Induction ceremony. Malden High has long been regarded as the region’s most successful sports program since its inception in the early 1900s, with many state and Eastern Mass. champions in football and many other sports, as well as prominent professional and collegiate athletes through the years. Malden High School has produced:

—An NFL Super Bowl Champion (Breno Giacomini, Class of 2004, Seattle Seahawks 2014 Super Bowl Champs)

—A World Series pitcher (Kevin McGlinchy, Class of 1995, Atlanta Braves, 1999 NL pennant winner, World Series vs. NYY)

—12 other MLB baseball draftees since 1985 and pros in the NFL (Dan Jones Class of 1988) and other sports

—Hundreds of college scholarship and other collegiate players in virtually every sport offered at that level

The proud “Wearers of the Blue and Gold” and their friends, family members and supporters will gather at Anthony’s on Canal Street, Malden to usher in the newest class of Hall of Fame inductees. A reception will be held from 6:00-7:00 p.m., and a full course dinner will be served at 7 p.m. sharp. The induction ceremony will be held immediately after dinner.

Honored tomorrow night will be the following:

—Daniel O’Boyle, Class of 1977, an outstanding wrestling team member who excelled at the regional and state levels

—Dana Marie Brown, Class of 1973, a standout three-sport athlete in basketball, soccer and softball

— Jimmy Chery, Class of 2007, the only football running back for Malden High to rush for over 1,000 yards in two consecutive seasons, in 2005 and 2006

— Coach Dana Brown, who led the Malden High School girls basketball team back to prominence with several State Tournament berths and also some of the first women’s college basketball players in many years

— The 2012 Malden High Softball team, which won the Greater Boston League Championship along with the North Sectional and Eastern Mass. titles. The 2012 Softball team made it all the way to the MIAA State Finals before falling in an exciting 2-1 game

— The 2023 Distinguished Service Award this year is presented to Joe Levine, a 1973 Malden High School grad and longtime coordinator of the Malden Recreation Department and superintendent of Macdonald Stadium, who has supported and helped teams and players at Malden High attain goals in many ways

— Present Malden High School Boys Tennis Head Coach Mark Gagnon will receive the Peter Donoghue Golden Eagle Award. The Golden Eagle Award goes to an MHS coach who has been inspirational to a player.

Golden Tornado players can submit essays on this topic, and a winner is selected by a committee and awarded the $1,000 Peter Donoghue Scholarship, which was named in honor of the late Hall of Famer Peter Donoghue, who served as an inspiration to many before his passing. The 2023 scholarship presented tomorrow night will be to MHS 2023 graduate Naveen Nemalapuri.

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This year is the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the Golden Tornado Club

This year, 2023, represents the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the Golden Tornado Club, which was established in 1953 as the booster club for Malden High School and all its sports teams. Roy Finn, for whom the Malden High School gymnasium is named, is regarded as the chief founder of the Golden Tornado Club, along with others such as then football coach Eddie Melanson.

The very first Malden High School Golden Tornado Athletic Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony was held in 1986 at the Malden Moose Hall with 21 charter inductees. Since then, the Hall of Fame banquet was held annually from 1986 through 2017, when it was voted by the Golden Tornado Club Board of Directors to hold the event biennially (every two years). The last Hall of Fame banquet was held in 2019, and after tonight’s induction, the next event will be held on November 18, 2023.

Over the past 20 years, in addition to its Hall of Fame hosting, the Golden Tornado Club has been intricately involved in the awarding of scholarships to deserving student-athletes on an annual basis. Since the late 1990s, under the leadership of former Golden Tornado Club President Domenic Fermano – himself a Hall of Famer – the Club has awarded over $300,000 in scholarships to deserving student-athletes – unmatched by any sports booster organization or alumni group in Eastern Mass.

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Nearly 250 former Malden High greats now enshrined in Hall of Fame

Since 1986, nearly 250 former Malden High Golden Tornado athletes have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. The earliest athlete inducted is the late David Morey, Class of 1909, a football and baseball standout. The youngest and most recent inductee will be tonight’s honoree, former three-sport Malden High standout (soccer, basketball, softball) Annie Abber, Class of 2009. There have also been 11 teams (12 counting tonight’s 1973 Boys Hockey Team) inducted into the Golden Tornado Hall of Fame.