IRON RIVER — Several schools in the Upper Peninsula have established a “Walls of Fame,” a designated area within the school to celebrate the accomplishments of chosen alumni and the school’s history at large.

West Iron County has joined that group of schools.

The West Iron County School District, which began its existence as a consolidation of the Iron River, Stambaugh and Bates school districts in 1967, will display its Wall of Fame inside the entrance to the Charles Greenlund Gymnasium on the south end of the high school/middle school. The wall also displays the school’s trophy case and is next to the ticket table for school athletic events.

The purpose of the Wall of Fame is to recognize accomplishments, commitments and contributions to the West Iron County Public Schools. The Wall of Fame honors individuals who are worthy of recognition and serve as examples for others to emulate.

The West Iron County Wall of Fame will be a program under the jurisdiction of the WIC Athletic Department. The Wall of Fame will be governed by the Wall of Fame Selection Committee, which currently includes: Superintendent Kevin Schmetzler; athletic director Mike Berutti; long-time West Iron media member and sports broadcaster Jay Barry; WIC athlete, graduate and current Iron River City Clerk Bernadette Coates; West Iron graduate, member of the U.P. Sports Hall of Fame Council and Michigan Sports Hall of Fame Task Force Dan Hinch, WIC athlete, graduate and teacher Jim Kralovec, West Iron graduate, athlete and current assistant vice president of First National Bank and Trust in Iron River, Gary Scalcucci; and WIC graduate and athlete Glenn Treado, who was a member of the 1975 Division 2 national championship Northern Michigan football team.

“I am moved by the fact that I am able to help in this effort, as I remember and treasure West Iron County area history dating back to 1961 when I moved here from Bessemer,” said Hinch, the committee president. “I have such good memories from my experiences with (the) inductees and remember well growing up here.”

The inaugural class of the WIC Wall of Fame, as chosen by the committee, consists of (in alphabetical order), Willard Anderson, Toby Brzoznowski, L. Brandon Giovanelli, Charles Greenlund, Lee LeBlanc, Harry Monson and Lewis Reimann.

Anderson graduated from Stambaugh High School, where he was captain of the basketball team and a standout football player. A letter-winning football player for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he began his 40-year teaching career at Stambaugh High and later West Iron County in the fall of 1931. He was named head football coach at Stambaugh in 1938 and racked up a 97-40-8 record, as well as winning t he first Barber Trophy in 1949 (awarded to the best football team in the Upper Peninsula). More than 35 of his former players went on to coach, including Greenlund.

Anderson retired from coaching in 1961 and was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 1974.

Brzoznowski graduated from WIC in 1988, where he was a decorated athlete, earning 11 varsity letters and was a U.P. champion tennis player three times, earned all U.P. recognition in basketball and football and was an all-conference baseball player. He attended the University of Michigan, where he earned four varsity letters on the Wolverine baseball team. After one year of teaching, Brzoznowski began a career in the tech sector, where he has achieved remarkable success. He co-founded Llamasoft, a global leader in continuous supply chain design, which grew to 750 global employees. The company was sold in 2019 for $1.5 billion.

Brzoznowski remains involved with tech companies. He and his wife Kathy and their children Ava and George have created a multi-million-dollar philanthropic fund, supporting causes in mental health, child grief support and educational equity. Brzoznowski has donated more than $1.5 million to the WIC School District, supporting scholarships, technology, athletic facilities, the robotics team, the Locker Lunches program and annual purchases of footwear for elementary school children.

Giovanelli was born in Iron River in 1937 and graduated from Iron River High School. He earned a master’s degree from Northern Michigan, studying under the famed artist Fletcher Martin. Giovanelli taught in local schools, finishing his career at West Iron in 1992. He devised the Wykon mascot and drew the mythical beast, whose mascot flag hangs in the Charles Greenlund Gymnasium to this day.

Greenlund graduated from Stambaugh High School in 1955. He served in the U.S. Marines and attended Northern Michigan University before beginning his teaching and coaching career in the West Iron County School District. Greenlund was the first coach in Michigan history to lead both a football team and a basketball team to the state finals.

LeBlanc graduated from IRHS in 1931 and continued his education in art in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York City. He was then employed in Hollywood as an animator for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and did matte work for such epic movies as “Ben Hur,” “North by Northwest” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

LeBlanc retired in 1962 and began a career in wildlife art, mostly from his home studio in Iron River. He won the Federal Duck Stamp competition in 1973 and has wildlife preserves in Arkansas and Manitoba (Canada) named in his honor. The Lee LeBlanc Memorial Art Gallery at the Iron County Museum commemorates this native son.

Monson graduated from Michigan State College and earned a master’s degree at the University of Michigan. He served his country during World War II, participating in the North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Normandy and Okinawa invasions. He was honorably discharged as a lieutenant second grade in 1945.

Monson restarted his teaching and coaching career at IRHS in 1945, coaching football, basketball, track and baseball. His football teams went undefeated in 1950, 1952 and 1953, years in which he was named U.P. Coach of the Year. He served as a high school football referee from 1955-75 and as principal in what became the West Iron County School District from 1954-77. He served on the committee that established the playoff system in Michigan.

Reimann graduated from IRHS in 1908. He attended the University of Michigan where he was a second team All-American lineman and a Big Ten wresting champion. After graduation, Reimann became a national leader in the early efforts for at-risk youth by funding the University of Michigan’s Fresh Air Camp near Port Huron. He also founded Camp Charlevoix where he served as the camp director for more than 20 years.

Reimann was an authority on U.P. history, authoring several books on the subject. He was a candidate for mayor of Ann Arbor and for the Michigan State Senate. He was inducted into the U.P. Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.

The West Iron Wall of Fame’s charter class, the class of 2023, will be inducted at a banquet in October (date to be announced.). The WIC Wall of Fame has established a Facebook page, where nominations for future classes and information for donors is posted.