Above, in back row, Lenny Kasten, Eric Bernotas, Zach Lund, Caleb Smith, Tuffy Latour, Bree Schaaf. Front row are Lea Ann Parsley-Davenport, Tristan Gale Geisler and Katie Uhlaender.

USA Bobsled and Skeleton Hall of Fame celebrated its 2025 inductees over the two weekends of the IBSF Bobsled and Skeleton World Championships.

On March 8, the Skeleton ceremony was held in the Mount Van Hoevenberg Mountain Pass Lodge, and the Bobsled ceremony was held on Saturday, March 15, immediately following the awards ceremony.

During the Skeleton Hall of Fame Ceremony, moderated by Tuffy LaTour, 2002 Olympic Silver medalist Lea Ann Parsley, 2007 World Championship Silver medalist Eric Bernotas, and longtime General Manager of the USA Bobsled and Skeleton teams Lenny Kasten were inducted.

In 2000, Lea Ann Parsley won the first World Cup medal, a silver, in skeleton for the United States at a meet held in Lillehammer, Norway. The former fundraiser for the US Handball team went on to win six more World Cup Medals and numerous top-six finishes. In 2002, at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Parsley won the silver medal. In addition, she was one of eight athletes chosen to carry the American flag in the opening ceremonies.

Parsley went on to win the 2004 U.S. Skeleton National Championships and coach the U.S. skeleton team for the 2006 Olympic games while pursuing a career as a fire-fighter, becoming Ohio’s 1999 Fire-Fighter of the Year.

Pictured is Joe Kent and Amy Homburger.

“A big shout out to Terry Holland, who was at the top of the Salt Lake City Track and said we’re going to know if you like this sport by the sound of your scream when we kick you off,” said Parsley. “You either won’t like it, or you’ll love it.”

Taking a wrong turn on the Northway in 2001 introduced Eric Bernotas to skeleton. He took a turn towards the track when he subsequently saw the sign to Mount Van Hoevenberg arriving while a skeleton school was in progress. Thinking that looked like a cool sport, he asked how he could get involved. Two weeks later, Bernotas was sliding down the track.

Introduced by teammate Zach Lund, the two-time Olympian Bernotas said, “The thing that keeps coming back to me is, even when not knowing exactly where I was heading, this community of people continued to push, drive, and support me. This place, these people, and their stories always pull me back, and today I find myself here again. This place, for me, was always about discovering my potential; it was a doorway for me to be able to do that, and I shall be ever grateful.”

The third inductee on March 8 was the beloved longtime USA Bobsled and Skeleton National Team Manager Lenny Kasten, who was responsible for the national team’s domestic and international travel, logistics at the meet, and seeking and signing sponsors.

“His relationships are legendary; there’s not a team on the tour that doesn’t have a Lenny story of him helping them,” said Tuffy LaTour. ”

Above are Zach Lund, left, and Tuffy LaTour.

Latour read comments from three athletes he felt could illustrate Kasten’s impact.

One example is from Jon Baily, “Lenny is one of those unforgettable individuals who leaves a lasting impression on everyone he meets. His unwavering dedication to the athletes he supports is truly inspiring, and his unorthodox methods, often teetering on the edge of legality, are legendary.”

Kasten thanked the many athletes he had the privilege of assisting and, most especially, his wife Alla for her support.

The first Bobsled team inducted on Saturday, March 15, was the 1932 Silver-medalists Saranac Lake Red Devils led by Henry Homburger, who also helped design and led the mile-and-a-half track construction.

The all-local Red Devils include Homburger, a civil engineer; Percy Bryant, a World War I vet who directed the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital; Paul Stevens, whose brothers won gold in the two-man and who served in World War I and World War II; and Ed Horton, an outstanding speedskater and owner of a greenhouse. The Red Devils’ achievements included many first-place finishes in various national races. Accepting for the Red Devils was Homburger’s grandson, granddaughter, and grand-nephew, who thanked everyone for recognizing the achievements of the Red Devils.

Eric Bernotas, right, and his coach Don Haus.

Homburger, who also assisted in the design of the Olympic Arena for the ’32 Games, went on to build several great camps in the Adirondacks and, with his brother, engineered the opening of Howe Caverns in Schoharie County, New York.

The second inductee was the 1948 Gold-medal winning 4-man team led by Francis Tyler, the last Olympic medal to be won for the next fifty-six years, though several came heartachingly close. Tyler was a local policeman; Ed Rimkus slid for only two years; Pat Martin, a Messina policeman, was the first Olympian to win three winter Olympic medals; and brakeman Bill D’Amico was an all-around athlete who excelled in skiing, speed skating, football, and golf.

“Heading to St. Moritz, Tyler’s team was considered America’s best, and they didn’t disappoint, winning the US their first medal since 1936,” said LaTour. “In 1936, he and his teammates placed sixth in the four-man. Because of WWII, Tyler had to wait twelve years to represent his country again.”

Accepting for Tyler were the 2010 Night Train Gold Medal-winning team members Steve Mesler and Curtis Tomasevicz.

The final inductees, who also delivered the most heartwarming reflections of the day, were the four members of the 2002 four-man Silver-medalists Todd Hays, Garrett Hines, Bill Schuffenhaue, and Randy Jones, who was inducted in 2021 and joined his teammates in the ceremony. Each had a poignant story or thank you for sharing, in many ways summed by Hays’ story of his dad introducing him to the Winter Olympics when watching the 1980 Games in their Rio Grand River Valley Texas home.

Provided photos Hall of Fame alums include, front row: John Philbin, Dennis Marineau, Matt Roy, Bill Rubio, Tuffy Latour, Danny Bryant, Sal Porterfield, Frank Briglia, Bethany Hart Gerry, Randy Jones, Aron McGuire, Don Hass, Bill Schuffenhauer, Eric Wilson. In back are: Don McMurrian, Dan Steele, Tony Carlino, Bruce Rosselli, John Morgan, Marc Dapas, Darrin Peterson, Jason Dorsey, Jim Herberich, Ivan Radcliff, Hunter Church, James Purvis, Curt Tomasevicz, Darrin Steele, Garrett Hines, Nate Weber, Chris Fogt, Steve Mesler, Pat Brown, Phoebe Hollrock, Todd Hays and Brian Shimer.

“My father started leaping around the room every time we won something, saying, “We did it, WE did it. Flash forward, and twenty-two years later, on our final run, we saw the scoreboard and started going crazy; the second thing I saw was my favorite athlete, the old man, leaping again, yelling, “Wed did it, by God, WE did it.” Now, flash forward twenty-three years after that; I look around this room; we did it; we did all of this. Right? It was all the older timers grinding it out from the top of Cortina, the men who came before us who did it not for any medals; they did it for the love of the game. That cannot be forgotten.”

“We are up here getting these awards; I want everyone to understand we’re on their shoulders, we’re on their backs, and I can only hope that the things we did will allow these other great men and women in this room, in this sport, to do the same thing. Brother and sisters, thank you for all this and everything you’ve done for this sport.”

“The Hall of Fame is a good way to keep everybody back in the sport by bringing people back here and reminding them that they are loved,” said Olympic gold medalist Jimmy Shea. “This event is a wonderful way of doing that. A big thank you is owed to Tuffy LaTour for all the work he puts into the Hall of Fame and for documenting and sharing the history of this sport.”

(Naj Wikoff lives in Keene Valley and has been writing his column for the Lake Placid News since 2005.)