Fitch schedules first athletics Hall of Fame induction

By John Bassetti

AUSTINTOWN — Think back to civilization before the cell phone.

Then before TV.

Then before the Great Depression.

Then before the 19th Amendment was ratified.

On Jan. 1 1916, Austintown Centralized School was dedicated with an opening enrollment of 267, 16 of whom were in the high school.

That’s how long Austintown schools have been without an athletic hall of fame.

Until now.

“It’s closing in on 100 years of football,” Tim Kelty said of the length of time the sport and sports in general have been played at the school.

Kelty, a vice principal at Fitch High School, is also chairman of the school’s first hall of fame.