Agganis Week begins Sunday with breakfast

LYNN – The Harry Agganis Foundation’s weeklong extravaganza of all-star games gets under way Sunday with the awards breakfast at Manning Field.In addition to recognizing the dozens of game participants and the 16 scholarship recipients, the Agganis Foundation also picks Sunday to honor five special inductees into its Hall of Fame.The inductees will be announced at Sunday’s awards ceremony/breakfast, which begins at 10 a.m.Each award is named for a person who either had a direct influence on the growth of the games or whose life reflected the principals of both Harry Agganis and the foundation that bears his name.”It’s truly a unique event,” said Foundation president Ted Grant. “Outside of the Bay State Games, there really is no other continuous event where so many sports are represented at one time. It is certainly a celebration of our community and of our graduating high school seniors.”Visit itemlive.com/tournament often for the latest coverage, photo galleries and to download rosters.Agganis was a standout baseball and football player at Classical High, who went onto to become one of, if not the, greatest athletes in the history of Boston University – a fact reflected in the naming of the school’s sports complex in his honor. A statue of Agganis stands in the foyer of the arena.Agganis put football on the map at BU, but when it came time to make a choice, he chose baseball and the Boston Red Sox over professional football. In 1955, while enjoying a good start at first base for the Sox (he was hitting over .300), Agganis fell ill and was taken to the hospital.On June 27, he suffered a pulmonary embolism and died, at the age of 26.This year – for the first time ever – two of the all-star games (baseball and softball) will be played on the 57th anniversary of his death.Agganis’ death resulted in one of the largest funerals ever seen in the city, with crowds lining up along the streets from St. George’s Church to Pine Grove Cemetery, where he was buried. His tombstone can be seen just inside the entrance to the cemetery off North Bend Street.Upon his death, The Item and the Red Sox set up the Agganis Foundation at the urging of Lynn attorney Charles Demakis and his coach/mentor Harold O. Zimman (whose family still runs a successful program design business on the Lynnway, which includes printing the Super Bowl program).The foundation, since its inception, has awarded exactly $1.5 million in scholarhips to more than 800 student athletes. Fifteen years ago, the Yawkey Foundation pledged an annual contribution for four Boston-area students to go along with the 12 Lynn-area scholars the foundation recognizes.Both Zimman and Demakis are among the five men after whom the foundation has named its Hall of Fame awards. The Zimman Award winner is recognized for his or her work on behalf of the foundation and the nine all-star games (this year, men’s and women’s lacrosse has been added to the mix) while the Demakis recipient is given to a member of the Greek community who best embodies the principals of Agganis and the foundation.The Elmo F. Benedetto Athletics Award goes to the person who best keeps the Agganis legacy alive through his or her work in the schools, or in other aspects of youth sports. The Paul Cavanagh Community Award is given to the person who reflects the Agganis ideal by his or her contributions to the community; and the David C. Weidner Award is given to a member of the sports media who keeps the legacy alive through his or her reporting on youth sports.Steve Krause can be reached at [email protected].