Mineola High School’s Hall of Fame is set to have eight more members this month.
“We’re just recognizing people from the community that did something good, that were good athletic players and usually good players,” said Daniel Guido, a longtime Mineola wrestling, football and lacrosse coach. “We’re letting people know about them.”
A ceremony to induct the new members is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, before the high school’s football game. It will be the hall’s seventh induction ceremony since it was officially formed in 2021.
“People come out because a lot of people know those being inducted, watched them play, know their brothers or sisters or relatives,” Guido said. “People are just happy to see people that they know and remember good memories of them.”
Seven All-American lacrosse players are being inducted, including 1965 graduates Kevin O’Connor and Stanley Kowalski, 1969 graduates Dwight Blomquist and Gary Besosa, two 1972 graduates Rich Meade and Bob Guido and 1979 graduate Jeff Homire.
Guido said all of the men had significant accomplishments to their names: Kowalski played on elite lacrosse teams after high school, including the Long Island Athletic Club and the World Team. He was a high school and college lacrosse coach. Mead was named the National Division One Lacrosse Coach of the Year, and Homire scored the winning goal in multiple national lacrosse championships.
Some inductees also made contributions outside of winning games, said Guido, who included his older brother, Bob Guido, on that list. Daniel said Bob helped lead his Nassau Community College lacrosse team to two national championships, started the Mineola Alumni Lacrosse Game and helped raise over $150,000 in scholarships for Mineola students.
Doug Szigethy, an undefeated Mineola High School quarterback, will also be inducted next Friday.
“Doug Szigethy was a high school quarterback for two years in a row,” Guido said. “The team didn’t lose any games while he was the quarterback, and they were the county champions. He was a runner-up for the [Jim] Thorpe Award, which is considered to be given to the best football player in Nassau County.”
To date, there have been roughly 25-30 individual players and around seven to ten teams inducted, including the girls’ state softball team from 1983, Guido said. He added that referees and coaches are also inducted.
Guido said the Hall of Fame committee has generally worked backward to honor everyone, starting with the oldest players and moving to the more contemporary ones.
“We’re up to finishing up the guys in the ‘60s and getting into the 1970s,” Guido said. “Hopefully by next year, we’ll be into the ‘90s and getting a little bit more current.”
He said the players are chosen based on individual assessment, though generally they are All-American players, have significant accomplishments in their respective sports, and/or have helped further the sport through coaching.
The Hall of Fame exists as a permanent display in Mineola High School.
