The 2011 James A. Garfield Hall of Fame slate is completed by two young men a decade apart who displayed their talent and teamwork in several venues and at several levels.
Matt Paul, class of ‘85, earned letters in golf (3), basketball (3) and baseball (4);football only got one year of his time, golf took precedence for time avilable.
Baseball was where he really got a chance to shine. Garfield baseball teams took the PCL championship in his junior and senior years (‘84, ‘85)with Matt on the mound in his share of hotly-contested games. He was named to the all-county first team in each of those years and player of the conference in ‘85.
Basketball followed the same sort of script, as Matt was named to the PCL all-county first team in both ’83-‘84 and ‘84-‘85
Moving on down the road at Hiram College, Matt spent one year on the varsity basketball squad then chose to focus on baseball. Good choice!! He received the conference Cy Young Award (for pitchers) in his junior and senior years and the Donald M. Campbell Award for best male athlete in his senior year. He was elected to the Hiram College Hall of Fame in 2002; his picture’s on the wall.
Matt then chose to enter the field of education and is currently a principal in the Kirtland Schools.
He was chosen for the Garfield Hall of Fame earlier but had school duties required of him. Now is his day of recognition. A homer for sure!
The Garfield class of ‘95–and every crowd member there to watch–was frequently electrified by the performances of our sixth honoree, Barron Chambers. The numbers may have faded by now, but he at one time held the all-time Garfield rushing and TD scoring record as well as the most yards rushing in a season; at broken field running he was a whiz. He was twice named to the All State Team in football and was three times a PCL All Star in that sport. He was part of the PCL Championship teams of 1993 and1995, garnering letters in football, basketball and track during that time. Football didn’t take up all of his time; he made it to the honor roll too and served as a camp counselor for the annual trip to Camp Fitch.
Of course that wasn’t the end. Barron moved on to Tri State University at Angola, IN where his talents in football led to his being named MVP of the Quarter-final and Semi-final conference championship games and election to the Tri State Hall of Fame. He also acquired, through dint of considerable hard work, a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Can’t keep a good G-Man down
