International Frisbee Hall of Fame and Museum Exhibit to close with ceremony Nov. 15

HOUGHTON -- A closing ceremony for the International Frisbee Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit "You Gotta Have Guts" will take place from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Carnegie Museum in downtown Houghton. Local players and Frisbee fans are especially invited.

Frisbee memorabilia covers walls in the lower floor of Houghton's Carnegie Museum, now officially endorsed as the International Frisbee Hall of Fame and Museum. (Photo © 2008 Dennis Walikainen)

The Exhibit, which has been on display in the lower floor of the Carnegie Museum since last summer, follows the history of the International Frisbee Tournament as well as other tournaments, held in the Upper Peninsula and elsewhere. It includes the plaques of the 25 members of the Hall of Fame, numerous photos of past Frisbee action and T-shirts worn by teams over the years. Scrapbooks, newspaper articles, pins and listings of the teams and players all add to the memories of Guts Frisbee and the tournaments.

Recently, the United States Guts Players Association officially endorsed the International Frisbee Hall of Fame and Museum in Houghton's Carnegie Museum as the OFFICIAL Frisbee Hall of Fame and Museum.

"I first played Frisbee in 1977," says Mark Pavlovic of Laurium. "A few of us had not played in 20 years until last year, the 50th anniversary of the 'International Frisbee Tournament.' It brought us out for sentimental reasons. We had such a great time we continued on and have played in 4-5 tourneys in the past year and a half. We took 4th at the nationals last year, and this year we defeated the Japanese team in Detroit."

Members of the Forest Inn frisbee team of Calumet, Mich., are seen here in action during the last International Frisbee Tournament held in July 2008. (Photo © 2008 Johnna Dudenas)

The International Frisbee Hall of Fame and Museum celebrates the history of Frisbee games and tournaments, focusing on Guts Frisbee, its history, players and tournaments around the globe. It also houses the aforementioned original International Frisbee Hall of Fame, established by Wham-o, Inc., and the Copper Country Chamber of Commerce with an original induction class in 1978. Additional members were inducted in 1980, 1982, 1987, 1997, 2005 and 2007. Another class will be inducted during the 2009 International Frisbee Tournament in Hancock next July.

Wham-o is also working with the International Hall of Fame and Museum on a fund-raising initiative that will be announced soon.

For more information please contact Dennis Walikainen, Curator, International Frisbee Hall of Fame and Museum, at wally@mtu.edu.