Allen Park will now include a more permanent sign reflecting Fisher’s 32 years of volunteer work with the Jamestown Midget Football League. He also coached youth basketball at the YMCA and youth Babe Ruth teams. A petition submitted to Jamestown City Council to erect a plaque, valued at $500, in honor of Fisher to be placed at Allen Park, 31 Hughes St. will be discussed soon by the city government elected officials.

“He (Fisher) started coaching just before I did, which was in 1996,” said Steve Sischo, the co-coach of the Southside Blue Devils and Fisher’s long-time coaching partner and friend. “I believe we’re just waiting on approval from Jamestown City Council to place a 11-by-3 plaque with his name on it at his homefield.”

Currently, a blue and white sign, which reads, Tom Fisher’s Field of Courage, is currently mounted on the side of the team-owned storage shed at the same location where the new plaque is being proposed to be mounted at or near.

“His loss to the football league, Southside team and city is hard to comprehend,” said Bob Whitney of the Jamestown Midget Football League. “They don’t make them like him anymore.”

Tom Fisher is pictured coaching a group of Southside Blue Devils during the 2022 season.

Beyond being a football great, Sischo said that Fisher coached baseball.

“He coached baseball for many years,” he said. “He ran his teams like a family. His loss is still felt today.”

Installation of the plaque and acceptance of the donation was approved by the City Council’s Finance and Public Works committees on Monday. The full council will formally approve the measure during its voting session at the end of the month.

“I sit on the Jamestown Midget Football board as a commissioner and I worked with Tom,” said Councilman Randy Daversa, R-At Large, during Monday’s council work session. “He was a real legend and he gave a lot of his time toward the youth of Jamestown. He passed last year, way too early. He will be sadly missed. We are going to put a plaque up on the Southside midget football fence over there. I think that’s a very nice gesture. It’s something that’s been in the works for a little while.”

In the fall of 2019, the Buffalo Bills selected Fisher for the inaugural Project Play Western New York Coaches Honor Roll. Project Play WNY is a nonprofit initiative launched by the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation through the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. Its mission is to ensure children in the eight-county WNY region have the opportunity to be active through sports and build physical literacy. Also, the project continues to work toward making sure every child, regardless of location, income, or ability, has access to fun and fulfilling physical activities that build confidence.

A sign that reads “Tom Fisher’s Field of Courage” is affixed to the Southside Blue Devil’s storage barn, located at Allen Park and is in memory of the team’s 20-plus year coach who passed away in late Sept. 2023.

He was a popular disc jockey who hosted his first dance in elementary school with 45’s and a record player. “DJ Fish” had played music at Shawbucks for 25 years and for wedding receptions numerous times every summer.

Tom Fisher is pictured with his Southside Blue Devils team on the turf at Strider Field in the 2022 season. Submitted photo