Signs honoring retired ‘Voice of the Planets’ proposed
ADAMS TWP — It’s a rare achievement to see your name written in the skies.
But it may soon be a reality for the recently retired “Voice of the Planets,” Kent Shoemaker.
At a Mars Area school board meeting Tuesday night, Valencia resident and Mars High graduate Corey Utz proposed the creation of, and fundraising for, signage on the Mars Athletic Complex in honor of Shoemaker, who retired in June as the Planets’ announcer, after 38 years of service.
Shoemaker retired from teaching in 2007 and works with the Quality EMS ambulance service. He was inducted into the Mars Area High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
Utz cited the positive responses that Shoemaker received on a post on Facebook that announced his retirement, and said he wanted to honor the announcer in a more permanent way.
“I think it’s our turn to do something tangible, meaningful and lasting, more than a social media post, to say ‘thank you,’” Utz said. “What it looks like, what it says, is way less important to me than that it gets done.”
Utz shared a mock-up he had made which labeled the announcers’ box as the “Kent Shoemaker Skybox — The Shoebox,” and said he was willing to help raise funds and to donate $1,000 to help accomplish the project.
He suggested inviting Mars Area art students and art classes to design the signs.
“I think it’s a nice gesture. It gives kids, curious for decades to come, a reason to look up and say, who was that guy, and what did he do,” Utz said. “Everything that he stands for, everything that he has done in this community, is probably stuff that we would like to emulate.”
Board members expressed their support for the project, and some offered to donate. Board member Megan Lenz suggested reaching out to the Butler County Vo-Tech School for sign design.
“You have me — I love Mr. Shoe, I’ve worked with Mr. Shoe,” Lenz said. “I’ll write you a personal check right this moment.”
“I like the fact that it would be a community project, where people felt like they also participated in helping him,” said board member Anthony Depretis. “I’ll donate something to it, too. It would be a neat thing to have the community feel like they all truly did that, also.”
“We can start with a design and a cost, and go from there,” said superintendent Mark Gross.
