Guests were always happy whenever they saw Sue Kavanagh at the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. Yes, that was often because she was the one who delivered the news that they’d won a great prize, but it was also because she was the familiar figure who’d greeted them upon arrival to the festivities over the course of the past 25 years.

“She was the go-to person for not just the board, but for a lot of people around the Hall,” notes Ottawa Sport Hall Board Chair Dave Best. “She’s always in a good mood, always very positive, always so welcoming and attentive.”

After a quarter-century of involvement with the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame, Kavanagh has retired from her role with the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame board of directors, which coincides with retirement from her professional career.

It was her job that first brought Kavanagh out to a Hall meeting in 2002. As a paralegal with Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP, she joined a lawyer who was on the board to help take minutes and send out reminders.

“There were many different chairs, and different board members came and went, and I was still there,” recounts Kavanagh, who was officially appointed as board secretary after eight years of involvement, although note-taking became a very small part of what her role evolved into.

Kavanagh was instrumental in all aspects of event planning, including coordination with the host venue and caterer, plus managing auction items and ticket sales. She was relieved when “technology caught up” and eliminated the need to collect cash and cheques in exchange for printed tickets.

One task that still isn’t quite fit for a robot yet is determining who’s coming with who and crafting a seating chart.

“I would have a spreadsheet of all the tables and who was buying tickets,” Kavanagh explains. “Then I would take my schematic out of what the room looked like, figured out where the tables were going to be, fit in who was going to sit where, and then keep my fingers crossed that I didn’t annoy anybody.”

Best says it was crucial for the Hall to have someone as skilled as Kavanagh powering the Ottawa Sport Hall engine behind the scenes. Kavanagh was instrumental in transforming the Hall of Fame inductions from a wine and cheese reception to a full-fledged sit-down dinner for nearly 500, he adds.

“Sue was our rudder. She’s so organized, and she kept us organized. She could do a lot of jobs. She took care of, you know, 15 different things, so we’ve got to replace her with 15 different people,” Best smiles. “We’re so grateful for everything Sue’s done for the Hall.

“We were really blessed to have such a great worker and supporter for so long, and she just brings such great energy to the absolute end. We’re really, really going to miss her.”

Kavanagh says she enjoyed meeting and working with “lots of great people who served on the board.” She found it particularly rewarding to see how much the honour meant to inductees, along with their families and supporters.

“A lot of the people in the Hall are not people who ever played professional sports, but they all deserved the recognition that they would get,” highlights Kavanagh, who is looking forward to golfing and spending time with her grandkids in retirement. “It was always so heartfelt when you’d see someone get up there and they’re so happy and deserving of the award. It would just warm your heart.”