1935 - 2017
Restaurateur, Inventor of the Hawaiian Pizza

 Sotirios ‘Sam’ Panopoulos was born August 20, 1934, in the small mountain village of Vourvoura, Greece.

 One of six children born to Vasilios and Georgia Panopoulos, he is best known as a cook, restaurateur, businessperson, community builder, and innovator, and is widely credited as the inventor of Hawaiian Pizza.

 After arriving in Canada in 1954, Sam lived in several communities, including Sudbury, Wallaceburg and Chatham, eventually settling in London. Along with brothers Elias and Nikitas, Sam owned several restaurants in Chatham, including the Satellite Restaurant, the Sunshine, the Satellite Drive-In, Alberto’s Tavern, and the Family Circle Restaurant.

 In 1962, he famously had the idea to place canned pineapple chunks and ham on a pizza, calling it the ‘Hawaiian’ Pizza.

 In 1965 Sam became involved with the planned development of the Thames Riverfront, expanding the existing restaurant and later opening a second location in Chatham before selling the Satellite in 1980.

 In 2020, Sam’s birthday (August 20) was posthumously established as International Hawaiian Pizza Day, in honour of the polarizing and enduring legacy of his creation.

1981 -
Ballet Dancer, Teacher

 Chatham native Patrick Kastoff is a Canadian ballet dancer whose career spans major companies and international stages.

 He started dancing at an early age, receiving his first training in tap and ballet at the Florence Abel Dance Studio before acceptance into Canada’s National Ballet School in 1991. As a student he performed with The National Ballet of Canada, touring Europe and gaining invaluable professional stage experience at a young age.

 After graduating in 2000, he joined BalletMet in Columbus, OH, under the artistic leadership of Chatham-born David Nixon.

 He danced with the North Carolina Dance Theatre (now Charlotte Ballet), in Charlotte, NC, from 2001-2007 under the direction of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride.

 He is applauded for his versatility, stage presence, and dedication to the craft of ballet.

1928 - 2019
Jazz Musician, Pianist

 Kenneth George Crone was a jazz musician with a career lasting over 80 years.

 He was born on April 29, 1928, in St Thomas, ON, where he began piano lessons at age six, playing his first recital later that year.

 Ken moved to Chatham in 1946 where he played jazz with Windsor and Detroit musicians and the local Wilf Lancaster Band. In 1958 he took a job as pianist at the Iroquois Casino in London, ON backing up the shows.

 He formed the Ken Crone Trio during the 1970s and performed for many years at area clubs including the Top Hat Casino, The Other Place and The Airforce Club.

 The Trio’s Friday Night Jazz shows were a mainstay at the Chatham Cultural Centre for years. He continued to offer piano lessons, while serving as a church organist and playing in the Primitive Roots Jazz Band.

1886 - 1975
Composer, Songwriter, Musician, Comedian

 Born in Amherstburg, ON in 1886, Shelton Brooks spent part of his childhood in North Buxton.

He taught himself to play the pump organ and piano in his father’s church.

 Shelton worked as a ragtime pianist in Detroit and Chicago clubs. He toured the U.S. and Canada as a vaudevillian and played in bands such as Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds.

 Shelton Brooks is best known for his work as a songwriter. His biggest hit, Some of These Days, was inspired by an argument he overheard between a woman and her companion at a restaurant.

 Shelton moved to Los Angeles in the 1940s, remaining there until his death in 1975. He was honoured at the 25th anniversary of ASCAP in 1940 and was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005.

1952 -
Author, Historian

 Author Bryan Prince is most strongly associated with the Buxton National Historic Site & Museum where he has developed numerous historical initiatives including re-enactments, and history and genealogy conferences.

 Bryan is the author of four books about slavery, the Underground Railroad and the American Civil War. A Shadow on The Household, was one of The Globe & Mail’s 100 best and most influential books in 2009, described as “a superb piece of scholarship”.

 He scripted the television documentary A Thousand Miles to Freedom and was historical consultant for the Rogers TV and WNED (Buffalo, NY) documentary The Stationmaster on the Underground Railroad, about Philadelphia abolitionist, William Still. He served as editor for the Adam Matthew Digital Collection from Wiltshire, England.

 Most of Bryan’s projects have a particular connection to Chatham-Kent’s history, and he says, “It has been my pleasure to research and share many of these remarkable stories.”

1981 -
Screen Composer, Musician

Wallaceburg native Steph Copeland is a multi-award-winning screen composer, producer and recording artist, best known for thriller, drama, and genre film scores.

In 2025 she earned two Canadian Screen Music Awards - Best Original Score, Dramatic Series or Special (Mord Auf Der Inka-Pfad [Murder on the Inca Trail]) and Best Original Song “Trapped in the Spotlight”.

Other projects include Alpine Phapsody, Christmas in the Spotlight, Cascade, Vicious Fun, The Retreat, Outpost, Laced, The Oak Room, and Bite. In 2022 and 2023, Steph took home three Canadian Screen Music Awards for best score for a Narrative Feature Film, for The Retreat and Outpost, as well as best score for a Television Special (Lethal Love).

 Her original songs have been used in series including Tiny Pretty Things, Snowpiercer, L.A.’s Finest, UnREAL, the animated series Mysticons and The Unicorn Academy.

 Commercial works include music for NBA Canada, Thule Sweden, The North Face, Destination Toronto, Pan-Am Games, BOSE, and the National Ballet School of Canada.

In addition to composing for the screen and songwriting, Steph is a classically trained vocalist with roots at The Royal Conservatory of Music.

1964 -
Actor, voice artist and writer Tracey Hoyt was born in Chatham to the late Alexander (Sandy) Hoyt and Alice Hodder.

Trained at The Banff Centre and York University, she toured nationally with The Second City, then taught Improvisation for them extensively.

A respected coach and director, Tracey’s voice career began by dubbing Japanese performances in anime projects like Sailor Moon and Keroppi and Friends into English. She then originated roles in The Care Bears Big Wish Movie and The Cat in The Hat Knows a Lot About That!

Appearing in the premiere productions of Donut City, The Drowsy Chaperone and Real Estate, Tracey has also produced several solo improvised shows. Her comic play Harts Crossing was read at the Simon Joynes Playwrights’ Festival in Port Stanley. Tracey’s family drama The Shivers won the Cayle Chernin Theatre Development Award and was short-listed for the Tom Hendry RBC Emerging Playwright Award.

1972 -
Pop Surrealist, Painter

Canadian artist Troy Brooks was born in 1972 in Chatham.

 Despite having no formal training, he developed a unique style that led to international exhibitions. As a child he was inspired by the Hollywood studio photographers of the 1940s using the photographs as models for his drawings. This influence can still be found in his work - traditional oils that evoke vintage film noir through their depiction of dramatic light and shadow.

 Troy is best known for his narrative film noir style portraits of elongated female protagonists, dubbed ‘The Women of Troy’ and is firmly entrenched in the contemporary Pop Surrealism scene. His portraits of strong women are a lasting homage to the icy and unapproachable goddesses of those pictures.

 Troy’s works can be found in galleries and private collections all over the world and have featured on the covers of numerous magazines.