Scholarship winners announced; Agganis Week begins on Sunday

Agganis Week — the five-day celebration of the legacy of Lynn?s greatest athlete ever — will begin Sunday at 10:30 at Manning Field with five new inductees into the foundation?s Hall of Fame and recognition of the 19 latest scholarship winners.Since 1955, the Agganis Foundation has awarded $1,627,000 in scholarships to 897 student-athletes.The foundation was named for the late Harry Agganis, a three-sport Lynn Classical standout who later played both football and baseball at Boston University.At the time of his death, on June 27, 1955, “The Golden Greek,” as he was called, was a first baseman for the Boston Red Sox who was hitting over .300.The Hall of Fame will induct five people whose efforts in various walks of life have furthered the cause of student-athletes in and around Lynn. Each recipient?s award is named after someone who was central in the advancement of the Agganis Foundation, beginning with attorney Charles Demakis, after whom the Heritage Award is named. It was Demakis, upon Agganis? death, who prevailed upon the then-Daily Evening Item to help establish a scholarship foundation in the “Golden Greek?s” memory. His son, attorney Thomas Demakis, is the chairman of the foundation.Other awards are the Dr. Elmo F. Benedetto Athletics Award, named for the longtime athletic director for all of Lynn?s schools, who worked assiduously to get students into college; the Paul F. Cavanagh Community Award, named for the late FBI agent who worked hard as a local recruiter for Boston College and helped found the Lynn English Boosters Club; the David C. Weidner Media Award, named for a former reporter at The Item and generally given to a reporter or radio broadcaster whose efforts have furthered the cause of both the Agganis games and youth sports in general; and the Harold O. Zimman Foundation Award, named for one of the original creators of the foundation, and given for dedication to the foundation and its ideals.Following the awards ceremony, the 17th Agganis softball game will be played at 1 p.m. at Fraser, with the 20th baseball game (3) immediately thereafter.On Monday, at St. Mary?s, there will be the 10th annual women?s (6) and men?s (7:30) basketball games.Tuesday it?ll be the third lacrosse games, with the women at 5:30 and the men at 7, both at Manning Field. The following night is the 19th men?s (5:30) and women?s (7) soccer games at Manning.Finally, the 53rd Agganis football game will be at 7 p.m. at Manning Field.