Ontario

Strength-Kevin Fast

Kevin Fast

 

Kevin Fast

Born: April 13, 1963, St. Catharines, ON

Family:

Wife- Suzanne
Children – Abigail, Jacob, Matthew

Education:

North Park Collegiate, Brantford, ON.  Diploma  1982
McMaster University B.A. 1998. (Bachelor)
Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary, St. Catharines, M.Div., 1992.(Master)
Concordia Lutheran Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., D.Min., 2002.(Doctor)

Strength Sports:

Heavy Events amateur competitor 1994-1996
Heavy Events professional competitor 1996- still going
Games organizer 1996- still going
Competed in Canada, USA, Scotland, Norway, Italy, Switzerland, China, Singapore, Thailand and Germany

World Records:

Guinness World Record 1998– Heaviest truck pulled over 100ft – 16 ton
Ripley’s Record            1999– Heaviest trucks pulled over 100ft -2x16 ton
Guinness World Record 2001– Heaviest truck pulled over 100ft. – 27 ton
Guinness World Record 2003– Heaviest truck pulled over 100ft. – 28 ton
Guinness World Record 2004– Heaviest truck pulled over 100ft. – 51.4 ton
Guinness World Record 2007-  Heaviest truck pulled over 100ft  - 63 ton
Guinness World Record 2008– Heaviest truck pulled with arm wrestling – 8.5 ton

Guinness World Record 2008-  Most people walking on stilts for 100 m

Guinness World Record 2008-  Heaviest truck pulled over 100ft - 63.2 ton

Guinness World Record 2009-  Heaviest plane pulled – 208 ton

Guinness World Record 2010-  Lifted and held 500kg for longest time 42s

Guinness World Record 2010- Heaviest House pulled 40 ton

Guinness World Record 2011- Heaviest truck pulled with arm wrestling– 12 ton

Guinness World Record 2011– Heaviest vehicle pulled by two people – 75 ton

Ripley’s Record             2011– Most people back lifted – 22 people

Guinness World Record 2011– Lifted and held 500 kg for longest time 60s

Guinness World Record 2011-  Most people lifted with shoulders – 10 people

Guinness World Record 2013–Heaviest truck pulled with arm wrestling–12.5 ton

Guinness World Record 2013-  Most people lifted with shoulders – 11 people

Guinness World Record 2013-  Most cabers tossed in 3 minutes - 14

Guinness World Record 2013-  Heaviest sled pulled by Santa – 17.5 ton

World Record 2013- Stan Lee's Superhumans- Heaviest truck pulled - 140 ton

Guinness World Record 2014– Most cabers tossed simultaneously - 52

Guinness World Record 2014– Most cabers tossed in 3 min. by two people - 11

Guinness World Record 2014– Most cars pulled 5 meters – 15

Guinness World Record 2015- Most cabers tossed simultaneously - 69

Guinness World Record 2015- Most cabers tossed in 3 min by 2 people– 15

Guinness World Record 2016– Heaviest truck pulled with arm wrestling – 16 ton

Guinness World Record 2016– Heaviest vehicle pulled by two people– 91 ton

Guinness World Record 2016– Heaviest vehicle pulled by one person– 75 ton

Guinness World Record 2017– Heaviest vehicle pulled by one person– 109 ton

Guinness World Record 2017– Heaviest vehicle pushed by one person-  12 tons

Guinness World Record 2017– Heaviest vehicle pulled in seated position–12 tons

Guinness World Record 2018– Most cabers tossed in one hour – 122

Guinness World Record 2020-  Heaviest sled pulled – 18 ton

 

World Records set in Canada, USA, Italy, China.

Height: 5’ 9”
Weight: 300 lbs.

Charities:

Pulled trucks to raise money for:

Pull for Kids (Lung Association – Asthma)
Waumer Walk (ALS)

Tim Horton’s Kid’s Camp

Soldier On

McDonald’s Children’s Charities
Fire Prevention Week

Habitat for Humanity

Alzheimer’s Society

TV appearances:

TLC “World’s Most Awesome Record Breakers”
TBS, “Ripley’s Believe It or Not”
CTV “Canada AM”
CBC “The X”
Global “News Special”
Global “100 Huntley St.”
City TV “Breakfast TV”
Real TV
Discovery Channel “Record Breakers”
Documentary, “Good to Finish”
Discovery Channel “Daily Planet.”

ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox “Regis and Kelly”, “Anderson” “Steve Harvey”

AT&T Uverse – Record Breakers

History Channel - Stan Lee Super Humans

 

Museums:

Shoes are on display at Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, St. Augustine, Florida
Shoes are on display at Guinness World Records Museum, Niagara Falls, Canada

 

Books and Magazines:

Guinness Desk top calendar 1999
Guinness World Book of Records 2003
Guinness World Book of Records 2004
Guinness World Book of Records 2005

Guinness World Book of Records 2009

Guinness World Book of Records 2010

Guinness World Book of Records 2011

Guinness World Book of Records 2012

Guinness World Book of Records 2013

Guinness World Book of Records 2014

Guinness World Book of Records 2015

Guinness World Book of Records 2016

Guinness World Book of Records 2017

Guinness World Book of Records 2018

Guinness World Book of Records 2020

Guinness World Book of Records 2021

Ripley’s Believe It or Not 2005 (Blue Ed.)
Ripley’s Believe It or Not 2005 (Scholastic)
Ripley’s Believe It or Not “Odd-inary People”  

Ripley’s Believe It or Not 2011, 2013

Muscle and Fitness April 2005 (Ten Greatest Strength Feats)
Muscle and Fitness December 2005

Sports Illustrated Dec.11, 2009 Best Pictures of the Year

ESPN The Magazine Sept. 21, 2010

 

 

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Boxing-Mandy Bujold

Mandy Bujold

Mandy Marie Bujold was born July 25, 1987 in Cobourg to Roger and Brigitte Bujold. She had two older brothers. The family moved to Moncton, NB where she spent her youth and then to Kitchener, ON where they settled in 2002.

In Moncton her dad hung a heavy bag for her two brothers to pound away on. Mandy at 10, was drawn to it and was on it all the time. In 2004 Mandy was introduced to the sport of boxing and began training. Her first fight was in 2005 when she won at the Brampton Cup Tournament. In 2006 she won the Canadian Junior boxing title in the 50kg class. 

In 2007 Bujold won the senior Canadian title in the 50 kg class and gold at the American Women’s Continental Championships. In 2008 she made her first appearance at the AIBA Women’s World Championships. She has made almost annual appearances since. Her best result was 2014 when she finished top 8.

Mandy’s career highlight came in 2011 at the Pan American Games when she won gold. It was the first-time women’s boxing was included at that multi-sport competition. In 2013 she was the Canadian Golden Gloves Champion. In 2014 Bujold earned another multi-sport medal when she captured bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. That year Mandy finished Top 8 in the International Boxing Association World Championships.

In 2015 Bujold successfully defended her Pan Am Games title. In March 2016 she earned an Olympic berth with a gold medal win at the American Continental Qualifier. At the Olympics Mandy ranked #2 in the world, made it to the flyweight quarterfinals. She became ill the night before and ended up losing her match.

During her athletic career she received a number of other awards Including the 2016 KW Citizen of the Year, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal, Oktoberfest Women of the Year (sports category), 2x KW Athlete of the Year, WOW award recipient, and alongside other local VIPs, had “The Golden Bujold” burger named after her by The WORKS Gourmet Burger in Uptown Waterloo.

Bujold took some time to get married and to have a child. The 11-time Canadian champion now wants to earn a berth on the Canadian Team to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Boxing Canada wanted her to move to Montreal to train but Mandy didn’t want to be apart from her family. So, she paid for the training costs herself and asked the public for financial support.

Bujold trained hard in preparation for the Olympic qualifiers. In January 2020 at Montreal she won gold at the Canadian Olympic qualifier. In early February at the Bocskai Memorial Tournament at Debrecen, Hungary Mandy earned a bronze. Next up, the Continental Olympic Qualifiers at Buenos Aires at the end of March where she qualified for the 2016 Olympics of Rio. 

Fifteen years and 165 fights behind her, Mandy needed at least a fourth-place finish to qualify for the 2020 Olympics and become the only Canadian female boxer to earn her way to 2 straight Olympics.

However, Buenos Aires was cancelled and the Olympics at Tokyo postponed because of the coronavirus. For Mandy Bujold nothing is certain right now.

Updated August 2020
 

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Softball-OASA Newsletter December 2007

OASA newsletter

OASA AGM was held in Cobourg November 2007

NOTES FROM NEW PRESIDENT LARRY SHERWIN
I would like to welcome all of you to a new season of hope and growth.

We are starting down a road where growth is our only option, and we will grow. You will see a new program starting under the guidance of our Out Reach Program, where new ideas will be brought forth to help the grassroots of our game grow.

A lot of you barely know me. You will find that I am a great supporter of this game having played and coached it for many years. So, over this season, I hope to be at most of our tournaments to meet with you and find out ways to help you and the OASA make this game better, not only for the men but also the minor players. Our men's and minor committees are moving ahead with many great programs, so please join with them to make them succeed.

Our convenors are going to be asked to take a more active role, and more details will follow at a later date. There are a number of new executive members joining us this year in expanded roles, and some of our longer serving ones are stepping back. They are not gone, and they will be leaned on from time to time for guidance, because you cannot lose this experience, it is too valuable.

We lost many great people last year and their loss has touched us all. If you have any local stories or happenings, please forward them to our H&I editor, or our secretary for publication.

So once again, welcome, and if you have any ideas please contact our men's or minor committees, myself, or any of our executive, because it is your game. We are only here to assist you in the running of it.

Regards.
President
OASA
*****************************

SHERWIN, ABBOT HEADLINE OASA 2008 EXECUTIVE
Soft spoken Larry Sherwin of Cobourg was acclaimed President of the Ontario Amateur Softball Association at the 85th AGM in Cobourg in November. Sherwin, the 47th individual to head the Association joined the OASA in 2003 when he was appointed registrar, a slot he held for two years. He was elected to the executive in 2004 and 2005, became a Vice President in 2006 and was the group’s first Executive VP in 2007.

He has extensive ball and executive experience beyond the OASA and will need it as softball has fallen on hard times in the past number of years. He emphasizes the use of teamwork to solve problems.

Bob Abbot of Huntsville will enter his 28th year on the Executive as the Executive Vice President. The veteran Treasurer of the OASA announced his intention of giving up that post last year and spent 2007 coaching Paddy Fitzgerald-Nolan of Warkworth, who officially succeeded Abbot at the 35th AGM.

Abbot, an extremely skilled and knowledgeable money manager, served as Treasurer for a total of 21 years handling the post from 1984 through 1989 and then again from 1993 through 2007, after a tenure as President in 1991 and 1992. All told he was the second longest serving OASA Treasurer after Lloyd Alguire of St. Catherines, who held the post for 35 years (1937-1971) Abbot was acclaimed to his new position on the Executive.

Four delegates allowed their names to stand for the two Vice Presidents positions with Gary Wren of St. Thomas and Roy Patenaude of Toanche/Penetang being the successful candidates. Wren is returning as a VP while Patenaude served as a director in 2007. Christine Patenaude of Toanche/Penetang was acclaimed as Secretary a position she has held since 2005.

Seven individuals competed for the six directors posts and the second election of the afternoon saw Jeff Geddes of Ridgetown, Bill Horne of St. Thomas, Sylvia Ryan of Whitby George Ryder of Port Dover, Scott Tuttle of Cobourg and Bruce Young of Waterloo elected. Five of the six are returning to the elected executive while Horne is returning to the Executive after a one year absence.

Dave Reynolds of Napanee, President in 2006 and 2007, will be the Immediate Past President while Mary Myers of Gormley will again be the Registrar. Ron and Sharon Taylor of Havelock will handle the Insurance program again and Roy Patenaude has assumed control of the Constitution and By-Laws book.

****************************

BILL O’NEILL - OCTAGENARIAN HONOURED WITH FEAVER
"I started paying softball in public school when I was ten years of age and I've been with the game ever since, as player, manager, coach, executive, and I was even an umpire for thirty years". The speaker was Cobourg's Bill O'Neill and he had just been named the 2007 winner of the F.R. Feaver Memorial Trophy for his extensive services to the game. "I'm very happy" he continued, "this is the nicest award I've ever received." O'Neill, is the possessor of an iron handshake ("I like a man with a firm grip"), a transforming smile and an excellent memory.

Most enjoyed his twenty-nine years of coaching which began in 1963 when he arrived in Cobourg from Windsor to work at General Foods. That same year he started coaching the General Foods entry in the Cobourg Men's League. In 1970 he began coaching Juvenile and Junior teams and he mentored clubs in those age brackets for nineteen seasons. From 1970 through 1975 he piloted Cobourg to four OASA Juvenile 'B' titles in five seasons. "We should have won it in 1974 too" he confides, "we had a 3-1 lead in the final game in the 9th inning, back then we played nine innings, but we lost it (to Binbrook) in the 13”.

When H & I asked the white haired O'Neill why he stuck with the game, and played so many roles in its development, he replied "I guess it was dedication to the sport and a passion for the game - but you know, those kids I coached had respect and I think they turned out better citizens for having played the game - overall I think, looking at it thirty years later it was a worthwhile effort.

O'Neill, who reportedly was never ejected from a game in 29 years of coaching, also served his local association as treasurer for almost 40 years and performed many other duties, such as checking field conditions and re-scheduling matches. He helped to organize Peewee ball tournaments for a decade and umpired ladies and youth ball as well as men's slow-pitch until age 79.

All told O'Neill devoted some 42 years to the development of softball in Cobourg and area and as his nominator wrote "He is disciplined, responsible, reliable, accountable, honest and is known for his integrity."

The Feaver award was instituted in 1972 and is named in honour of Frank Feaver, OASA Secretary from 1943-1956 who was renowned for his hard work, dedication and devotion to the sport. There is no question that Bill O'Neill is in the Feaver mould and is an excellent winner of this prestigious award - he has truly made an outstanding contribution to the game for over four decades.

The OASA invites individuals, league or associations to nominate any player, coach, executive, or official who has made an outstanding contribution to softball. Information and documentation supporting the nominee should be included.

*********************************

85 & 50 ADD UP TO MUCH MORE THAN 140
The 85th OASA Annual General Meeting was held in Cobourg, where the community was celebrating 50 years of ball with the Cobourg Legion Minor Softball Organization.

Several speakers at the celebratory banquet held Saturday evening November 24th, after the afternoon business session, pointed out the value of both organizations in the life of the province and the community. Mayor Peter Delanty remarked that "three generations of Cobourg children learned the skills of life " through the Legion ball system.

MP Rick Norlock (referred to as "Dr. Phil" by MC Rob Faulds of Sportsnet-and there is a resemblance!) presented a letter from P.M. Stephen Harper to the OASA for 85 years of service. Later in the evening a communique from Governor General Jean was read, celebrating 50 years of community work by the Cobourg Legion Ball system.

Host chair Rory Quigley took the some 150 in attendance back fifty years and credited an article by veteran sportswriter Layton Dodge with triggering the start of the Legion Minor Ball organization. Dodge, the 1987 winner of the F. R. Feaver award, was in attendance at the dinner, seated almost beside the 2007 winner, Cobourg's Bill O'Neill. Quigley pointed out the CLMSO is "truly family" and remarked that the night before some 50 championship teams had been invited to a celebration of a half century of softball in Cobourg.

Outgoing President Dave Reynolds of Napanee presented Presidents' Merit awards to Agnes Cole of Churchill and Bob Abbot of Huntsville. In Reynolds words "Agnes works behind the scene and has always been available to help the OASA and that help has been extremely important to the Association".

With regard to Abbot, Reynolds called the life member his mentor and alluded to many conversations at all hours where Abbot helped him see his way through some tricky situations. "He likely won't be pleased getting this award but he's getting it anyway", Reynolds remarked-but Abbot's wide smile belied that emphatically.

The Association of the year award was presented to the Waterloo Minor Fastball Association and Gil Read Coaches Honor Roll plaques went to Richard Venne and Rob Way. The evening concluded with an extensive prize draw and a dance;

Reviewed August 2020

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Softball-Fastpitch-Cold Springs Cats 2000-04

Cold Spring Cats

By Ewart Timlin, Manager   Edited by Donna Cole

2000
The Scarborough Blues won four straight games to capture the OASA Masters Elimination Tournament at Mitchell for the second consecutive year. The Blues and the runner-up Kitchener Waterloo Classics qualified to represent Ontario in the Eastern Canadian Masters competition in August of 2000.

The Cats won our opener 8-1 over Sudbury and then lost to Scarborough. We rebounded from the loss to win the next three straight: 8-0 over Cobourg, 9-5 over Sudbury again, and 4-1 over Mitchell. However, we were eliminated by K.W. Classics in the semi-final. Roger Cole, who hurled in all or part of the club's six matches, was named the Most Valuable Player in the tournament.

2001
Toronto McMurphys won all four of their starts to take the OASA Masters Elimination tournament in Mitchell this year. Nine teams took part and it marked the first time a Toronto team had won the event. In 2000, the title was taken by the Scarborough Blues, and the Cold Springs Cats won the championship the first three years the category was offered by the OASA.

In 2001, we finished third in the nine-team event with a 3-2 record. The Cats nipped Scarborough Blues 2-1 in the opener but then lost to Toronto before coming back to blank Mitchell Masters 5-0 and squeeze past the Blues again 5-4. Then we were eliminated by Oshawa in the semi-final.

Although we finished out of the money in Mitchell, Chris Calbury, Roger Cole and I decided to host the Eastern Canadian Masters Championship in Baltimore in September. After several telephone calls and meetings, we managed to engage two teams from out-of-province, namely Fredericton, N.B. and Calgary, Alberta. They joined the Ontario teams of Cobourg, Oshawa, Scarborough, Fingal, Toronto, and of course the host Cats. On a bright, warm weekend the Cold Springs team went undefeated in the competition as we won our three round robin matches 3-1 over Fredericton, 9-0 over Fingal, and 1-0 over Oshawa.

In the gold medal game against Oshawa in the seventh frame, Roger Cole fired a 1-2-3 punch to send the 1-1 tie into the eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth, Bill Shannon laid down a perfect bunt single before advancing to second on a Stephen Mitts sacrifice bunt. Shannon then charged to third on a wild pitch. With only one out, Oshawa decided to walk the next two Cold Springs batters, loading the bases and hoping to force the Cats into a double play.

However, things didn't work out as planned. With two strikes against Ray Bickle and the bases loaded, another errant Oshawa pitch sent Shannon racing for home, but he never made it there. He was tripped and tagged out but the umpire called interference and the run counted, giving the Cats a 2-1 championship victory. Another dramatic finish! Besides winning the title on the field, the Cats helped to provide a good sum of money for the new Baltimore Arena as well.

2002
In 2002, the Stoney Creek Gators won six straight games to win their first OASA Masters Championship in a ten-team tournament at Ingersoll. Later in the summer, the Gators won the Eastern Canadian Masters Championship at Fredericton, N.B.! According to the tournament director Bruce Wills, the total number of teams dropped to four because the Ontario club was allowed 35-40 year olds and the Maritime teams had older players. Thus, two teams decided not to participate.

In the Ontario Championship this year, the Cats defeated Ingersoll and Mount Elgin. However, we were eliminated with two losses to Mitchell 6-2 and Stoney Creek 9-4.

2003
In the winter of2002-2003, Roger Cole and I decided that the Cats would probably fold because of the diminishing supply of appropriately-aged players in the area. Consequently, I helped Alec Rutherford with another Masters team, namely the Colborne Merchants. We worked along with Harry Jeschke, Legion Fields manager, to bring the OASA Masters Championship to Cobourg, where the Cold Springs club had hosted it in 1997.

Later in the spring, Roger made last minute phone calls to Gary Latchford and Mike O'Hearn to try to muster up players from the defunct Scarborough Blues team. Gary and Michael were successful in recruiting two valuable players - namely Mike Raccioppio and Mark Thompson - from the former Scarborough team. Also, another significant addition was Mike McCaw, whom Don Goodfellow recruited out of Belleville. Thus, along with the old stalwarts and new bodies, the Cats were rebuilt in 2003, and I was wearing two hats.

The Masters Championship schedule that materialized was composed of teams in three distinct divisions. In Division B, the Cats dominated by winning all three of their starts: 4-3 over Waterloo on a sixth inning home run by Mike McCaw and a four-hitter by Gary Vowles, 11-9 over Stoney Creek, and 15-0 over Fingal.

In quarter-final play, Cold Springs advanced with a 6-0 victory over Cobourg, behind Gary Vowles who gave up just four hits in recording the shutout. The Cats reached the final with a 5-2 decision over Stoney Creek, thanks to a grand slam in the fifth by Mike McCaw. Gary Vowles threw five innings for the win and held Stoney Creek runless.

The Cats seemed to "run out of gas" in the gold medal final against Oshawa. As I recalled in the 2001 Eastern Canadian Masters Championship game against the same team, we were victorious. This, perhaps, gave the Oshawa team the incentive to win the rematch in front of 350 fans at Legion Fields. The final outcome was a resounding win by Oshawa: 8-1.

Nevertheless, the Cold Springs club qualified, along with Oshawa, to play in the Eastern Canadian Championship at Truro, N.S. in September. In the Ontario tournament the Top Pitcher award was presented to Gary Vowles, who threw 21 innings with a 1.0209 ERA. Mike Raccioppio was the top hitter batting 9 for 18 at the plate.

Four Cats players from the silver medal winning squad - Mike McIvor, Ray Bickle, Mark Thompson, and Gary Latchford - did not travel east to the Maritimes that year. In their place we chose Ron Rosengren of Mississauga and Tim Chant of Cobourg, both members of the Colborne Merchants, as well as Cobourg Masters player Robbie Ellis, of Campbellford. I felt that these players would add the extra hitting depth to the club. We already had solid pitching with Roger Cole, Gary Vowles and Jim Oakman making the road trip east.

The Cold Springs Cats captured the bronze medal at the 2003 Eastern Canadian Masters Championship, held in Truro. We opened the tournament on Friday with a 1-0 setback against Durham, N.S.. However, Roger Cole pitched a gem and was named the Cats Most Valuable Player with a two-hitter.

On Saturday, the Cats rebounded with a 7-0 mercy victory over Glasgow, N.S.. Gary Vowles, with some fine hitting and pitching, was named the game's MVP. In game three, Cold Springs defeated Fredericton, N.B. 7-6. In the bottom of the seventh inning with two out and the game deadlocked at 6-6, Tim Chant cracked a homerun to give the Cats the win. Tim was named the game MVP while Jim Oakman and Gary Vowles combined for the win on the mound.

Cold Springs posted their third straight victory of the day, another 7-6 decision, over Calgary, Alberta in game four. With his fine fielding play and strong hitting, Chant earned the second MVP nod of the tournament. Vowles and Cole combined for the victory, Cold Springs' 3-1 record tied us for first in our pool with Minesing, Ontario and Calgary, Alberta. In the Cats first playoff game on Sunday, our bats were silenced when Calgary mercied us 7-0. Calgary went on to win the Eastern Canadian Championship, defeating Minesing 2-0 in the gold medal final. Thus, the Cats gained a third-place finish. Another highlight of the tournament was the hitting of a true Cats stalwart - Stephen Mitts. He finished the round robin play with an amazing .769 batting average.

On the East Coast we had an excellent time in rekindling old acquaintances. However, on the field our power hitters didn't come through in key situations, which accounted for our flat finish in the tournament.

2004
In 2004, after staging two fund-raising events with the great help of Bill Elliott, Barry Dawe, and Roger Cole the Cats planned to compete in at least 2 fastball tournaments. One was basically an intermediate tournament (The Jim Bradford Classic) held in Baltimore during June. The other was the Masters Eliminations (The Jack Cook Classic) held in Port Perry in July. The OASA elimination tournament in Port Perry is staged in honour of the late Jack Cook, who was an ardent worker in the OASA as a president, secretary and convenor.

I remember Jack distinctly one September in the mid 1990's after the Eastern Canadian Championship in his hometown, when he greeted me with the usual "old farmer" salutation. Then we discussed the current status of the softball world, after which Jack walked to Diamond One, where he succumbed to a major heart attack. What a tragic ending for such a fine person.

At the Masters level, especially, a manager requires a great deal of help in enlisting players from year to year. In this regard, I discovered that Mike McCaw and Mike O'Hearn fit the bill to a "T". The former was responsible for recruiting a fine fielding catcher - Darren Crouter, and the latter a fleet footed outfielder, Steve Mo.
We entered the Jim Bradford Classic with two basic goals in mid-June. One was to practice together as a team and the second was to have fun while participating.

Consequently, we achieved both goals in Baltimore. On Friday, we started the tournament slowly as Cobourg Stingers humbled us 11-3. But then we roared back on Saturday with wins over Peterborough Juniors 8-1 and Stittsville 7-3. This placed us in the playoffs against Belleville on Sunday, when unfortunately, because of base running miscues in the early frames, we didn't score a run and were defeated 3-0.

Our second tournament occurred in Port Perry where we began the Masters Eliminations on Friday with a convincing victory 9-2 over Cloyne (comprised mainly of former fastball superstars). On Saturday we suffered our first loss at the hands of Kitchener-Waterloo (4-3) and a major setback to our long-time pitching ace Roger Cole when he severely injured his arm. Later that same day, the Cats clobbered Chepstow (8-2).

In the preliminary round, because of our wins and our hefty plus, minus aggregate we gained a first-place finish in our division. This standing meant we crossed over Sunday to meet our long-standing rivals, Oshawa in our first playoff game. We gained some revenge for the 2003 loss to Winchester-Arms in the final by defeating Oshawa 5-1. Later that morning we were defeated by Colborne 3-1 which placed us in the bronze medal game with Stoney Creek. Luckily, in the 7th inning we scrambled back to beat the Gators 3-1 and gain a 3rd place finish in the 15 team elimination tournament. In the tournament Gary Vowles came to the forefront and pitched stupendously during 5 and ½ games.

At the time of this writing, the Cats are preparing to attend the World Senior Fastball Tournament in North Bay on Labour Day Weekend. In one regard, it has been a disastrous summer of '04 in the fact that because of a serious arm injury, Roger Cole has been forced to hang up his pitching shoes after a long and illustrious career. I've told Roger, on a few occasions that when he retires from pitching, I'll retire from managing. This is perhaps, the cue to disappear from the fastball scene. However, that World's Masters Tournament in Edmonton in 2005 sounds very appealing. Well! That belongs to another chapter in a future book. Perhaps .... maybe .... I'll think about it.

During the last 30 years, I was fortunate enough to have been surrounded by several great ball players. This has resulted in winning 7 Ontarios, 2 Canadians, 1 Eastern Canadian, 1 Finalist, and at least 2 third place finishes. However, as I have stated before winning laurels is only one aspect of participating in this great game of fastball.

Another very important aspect is making and rebuilding friendships. In competing against eight provinces and territories, and US teams from states such as Ohio and New York, I have acquired relationships that will certainly last a lifetime.

My sincere appreciation is extended to Shannon Cole and Donna Cole for proofreading and transcribing my ramblings. Also, a great deal of thanks goes to the following people, publications, and facilities for providing reference material: Layton Dodge, Peter Handley, Darryl Thompson, Bonnie Timlin, Ray Bickle, Cobourg Star, "High and Inside", New Brunswick Telegraph and Journal, Softball Ontario News, and the Gordon King Centre.

 

Cold Springs Cats - Players and Management    "Through The Years"    
   
Rick Ainsworth               Rob Ellis                             Stan McKnight

Maurice Alderson          Gary Ferguson                   Craig Minifie
Roger Alexander            Ivan Ferguson                   Steve Mitts
Brian Beatty                   Wayne Ferguson               Steve Mo         
Phil Beatty                      Neil Francis                       Howie Mouncey 
Dave Bemma                 Murray Garrick                   Steve Neeley                
Ray Bickle                      Mike Gibson                      Tim Neron            
                                       Don Goodfellow                 Bernie Nicholls
Perry Bowles                 Paul Goodfellow                Jim Oakman                       
Terry Bowles                  Craig Gray                         Dave O'Connell               
Jim Bradford                  Rob Hardy                          Mike O'Hearn                            
Les Brill                          Dave Hare                         Gord Oosterhoff                   
 Don Burkitt                    Kent Harper                       Rick Palmateer                      
Jim Burkitt                      Paul Hasson                      Mike Raccippio                           
Allan Burnham               Dave Hedger                     Ed Ristan                                 
Eric Buttars                                           
Bill Buys                        Ron Herriot                         Bill Rollings
Chris Calbury                Rob Hook                           Pat Rutherford
Bill Campbell                Gary Hope                          Dave Ruthowsky
Doug Campbell             Mike Irwin                           Bill Ryan
Bill Cane                       Terry Irwin                           Frank Schram
John Cane                     Lorne Jamieson                 Bill Shannon
Peter Cane                    Rick Jaynes                        Phil Solomon
Bill Carrigan                  Marty Kernaghan                Randy Sughrue
Tim Chant                      Pete Landers                     Lynn Thackeray
Jim Chase                      Larry Landry                      Mark Thompson
Rick Clark                       Harold Lang                       Ewart Timlin
Roger Cole                     Scott Lang                         Greg Timlin
Brian  Condon                Gary Latchford                  Jeff Timlin
Mike Connolley              Terry Lewis                         Ross Timlin
Chris Cook                     Stu Little                             Dave Tinney
Darren Crouter               Don MacDonald                 Steve Virag
Phil Crouter                    Bryan Madge                     Gary Vowles
Andy Dalgarno               Todd March                        Roger Wakeman
Barry Dawe                    Paul Marineau                    Dave Waldie
Brain Dolley                   John Maughan                   Scott Wasson
Dan Donahue                 Mike May                           Joe Watters
Rob Doncaster               Mike McCaw                      Wayne Wells
Terry Elinsky                   Roger Mcintosh                 Kevin Woodward
Bill Elliott                         Mike McIvor    
Don Elliott        

 

Reviewed August 2020

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Softball-Fastpitch-Cold Springs Cats 1990-99

Cats1

By Ewart Timlin, Manager   Edited by Donna Cole

1990-1995
From 1990 until 1992 the Cats played in a number of fastball tournaments. Although there was a great deal of camaraderie and good fellowship during those years, the executive decided it was time to take a break from the competitive softball world. Consequently, the team folded for three years.

In 1993 until 1995, ex-Cats such as Roger Cole, Ron Herriott, and GM Ewart Timlin joined the Baltimore Rockets fastball club. During 1994, the Rockets were finalists in Chelmsford in the Intermediate A category. Then in 1995, the team progressed to the OASA Men's Championship title in Sturgeon Falls.

1996
In the winter of 1995-96, I had the opportunity to become a member of the OASA Men's Committee. It was an entertaining and certainly rewarding experience in the fact that a new OASA category was formed. That was, of course, the creation of the Masters level in fastball, for players who had achieved a certain maturity in physical and mental outlook in this great game. Thus, the Cats were reunited in 1996, which prolonged the interest in the sport for several years.

Eleven of the former Senior A champions who represented Ontario in the Nationals were involved in the new, mature Masters club. The members were: Roger Cole, Bill Elliott, Ray Bickle, Don Elliott, Barry Dawe, John Maughan, Stephen Mitts, Paul Goodfellow, Mike McIvor, Ross Timlin, and Ewart Timlin. Other key elements of that '96 team included Gary Latchford, Dan Donahue, Dave Ruthowsky, Jeff Timlin, Mike O'Hearn, Tim Neron, John Cane, Harold Lang, Pete Harrison, and coach Steve Nealy.

In the '96 OASA Masters Championship in St. Thomas, the Cats opened up with a 5-0 win over St. Thomas Rusty Spikes as Roger Cole threw a nifty two-hitter. In their next start they came from behind with four runs in the sixth to take a 7-3 verdict from the Toronto Force. Lefty Gary Latchford gave up only four hits to record the win. In the final, these same two teams hooked up again, with Cold Springs taking a 9-3 decision. Dave Ruthowsky was the winning hurler. Cold Springs carried the OASA banner north over the Labour Day weekend as they traveled to North Bay and won the prestigious 32 team World Old-Timers Tournament.

1997
During the winter of 1996-97, Harry Jeschke and I planned to make history in the fastball world by hosting the first ever Canadian Amateur Softball Association Masters Championship at Cobourg's newly opened Legion Fields. What fantastic facilities to showcase the event!

After planning the championship series over the course of several months, the tournament finally came to fruition in August, but it involved several problems in the beginning stages, which I will outline after I discuss the OASA Masters Championship. The Ontario Masters was also staged in Cobourg during July of 1997, when eleven teams answered the call. As defending provincial champions, the Cats already owned a berth in the upcoming Nationals. But rather than accepting the free pass, our team chose to walk through the front door, winning five straight games and taking the first of three qualifying spots.

In the first game of the Ontario's we managed to beat Toronto's Chick 'n Deli 8-5 in 10 innings, followed by wins over Scarborough 4-2, Mississauga Masters 11-3 in a mercy game, 10-2 over Wellesly/Wilmot in a mercy game, and 11-5 over Wellesly in the final game. All three finalists qualified to compete in the Nationals. Also competing in 1997 were teams from Grafton, Trenton, Ottawa, Etobicoke, Toronto, Scarborough, North Bay, and a second team from Mississauga. Roger Cole was the obvious choice for the Top Pitcher award at the Masters tournament in July.

As I stated earlier, in August there were some problems in the scheduling of the Nationals. Just two days before the largest ball tournament ever held in Cobourg, Harry Jeschke was informed by a telephone call that a second team from Nova Scotia - namely Sydney- was on its way to the Canadians. Due to a mix-up, Harry had not been told earlier. Needless to say, Mr. Jeschke scrambled to accommodate the Sydney team into the schedule. This left the tourney with an odd number of teams. Therefore, he added Cobourg Thomas Pontiac to increase the entries to ten.

Also, due to inclement weather, some of the games had to be re-routed to Baltimore where there were well-drained diamonds.
Branch 133 of the Royal Canadian Legion in Cobourg was an enormous aid in 1997 as they provided the facilities, food and refreshments for our welcoming party on a wet Wednesday evening in August. All the participants from British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, as well as officials and local dignitaries were entertained by the Cold Springs Cats and their wives. This set a positive tone for the whole tournament.

The Cold Springs Cats won seven consecutive games and captured the First Canadian Masters Fastpitch Championship at Cobourg in '97, in the inaugural event. What a fantastic ending for the final game! I couldn't have written a better script for the dramatic action-packed conclusion. The Cats won four in a row in pool play as they handled Sydney, N.S. 8-1 and mercied Bass River, N.B. 7-0. Their third and fourth wins were by 7-1 scores over Manitoba and Mississauga.

Advancing to the playoff round, the Cats dropped Wellesly, the same club they downed to win the Ontario title. Roger Cole recorded the victory. Cold Springs went into the next playoff match with Halifax, N.S. and edged the maritime crew 3-2. Dave Ruthowsky held Halifax to just five hits, although he gave up a 2-run homer in the first. Nevertheless, the Cats clawed back with three runs in innings l, 2 and 6.

In the exciting final, Cold Springs were leading 2-1 going into the bottom of the seventh against Victoria Payless. With one away and a runner on first base, B.C.'s Victor Malli slammed a double to right-centre. Tim Neron fielded the ball and relayed it to second baseman Stephen Mitts, who in tum fired it to catcher Bill Elliott, who tagged the oncoming runner and threw to Harold Lang at third who tagged Malli for the game-ending out. In that championship game Terry Lewis went the distance for the winner. Mike McIvor drove in both runs.

Ray Bickle was named the tourney's Top Hitter - he hit .700 plus in the round robin and then kept on the playoffs, finishing with a .583 mark. Mike McIvor, by the way, had three home runs and went 10 for 24, and he also drove in eight runs. The Cats batted .333 for the tournament.

Terry Lewis was named the Top Pitcher of the event as he allowed just two earned runs in 14 innings. The strong three-man staff of Lewis, Ruthowsky, and Cole allowed just nine earned runs in 46 innings for an ERA of 1.37. Even though we battled rain and unexpected teams at the beginning of the week, we felt that the tournament was a fantastic success for not only the Cats but also the throngs of fans who attended the inaugural event.

However, we weren't exactly perfect in '97 as we attempted to retain the World Old-Timer title we won in '96. With a small crew of twelve we lost in the final game in North Bay to Total Cleaning and Restoration in two extra innings. Bill Jacko was the winner while Dave Ruthowsky took the loss. Roger Cole had a two-run double for the Cats.

1998
In 1998 the Cats recorded our third straight Masters Elimination Championship, the tournament for which was held in Mitchell. This qualified us to defend our Canadian title in St. John, N.B.. We didn't have the easy road that we traveled in 1997, as we had to come from the loser's bracket to challenge for the OASA crown.

The Cats won our first two games 12-4 over Kitchener-Waterloo and 13-6 over Mitchell before being nosed out by Scarborough 1-0. In the final, the Cold Springs Club had to win to survive and we came up with a 2-1 victory over the Scarborough Blues and then won the sudden death rematch 7-0 to emerge as champions for the third consecutive year. Cold Springs (as defending champions), Scarborough, Sarnia, and Mitchell all qualified for the Canadian Masters Championship in New Brunswick.

Bill "Cowboy" Elliott has always been a great catcher and cheerleader for the team. However, in 1998 he particularly shone as a fundraiser. Bill began the year by staging a 29-table euchre tournament in February, helped organize our first annual golf tournament in May, staged a yard sale, meat roll and raffles in the summer. As a result of his efforts, sufficient money was raised to pay for all the room reservations at the gorgeous Delta Brunswick Hotel in St. John, N.B. at the Nationals. What a year we had!

The Cold Springs Cats won their second Canadian Masters Fastpitch Championship in a row, but it was far from a cakewalk. In the Nationals at St. John, Cold Springs took top spot, followed by Mitchell, with Sarnia third and St. John Whistle Shop placing fourth. In the round robin series the Cats lost their opener 4-1 to Nova Scotia's Captain Eli's. They came back to take their next four games to win the Spalding Division. The Cats blitzed Sarnia 12-1, beat York Sunbury Minglers 4-1, and blanked Dairy Queen 7-0 with Landers fanning a dozen and giving up only two hits. They took the division title with an 8-0 win over Bass River, N.B. as Roger Cole gave up only one hit.

The Cats opened up the playoff round the same way they opened the round robin set-with a loss. Labatt’s Division winner Mitchell came up with a 4-2 decision. That win threw Mitchell into the final and Cold Springs against Sarnia in the semis. In the semi-finals, the Cold Springs crew nipped Sarnia 2-0 as Dave Ruthowsky fired a one-hitter. In the final the Cats blanked Mitchell 7-0 with 50 year-old Canadian Softball Hall of Famer Pete Landers tossing a neat no-hitter, fanning ten and walking just one man.

In '98 we had a plethora of splendid pitchers and great swatters as well. However, we needed every one to capture our second Canadian Masters Championship. The question at that time was, can we make it three in a row? Little did we know then that there would be no more Canadians staged at the Masters level.

The Cats had won the title in '97 and '98 - the only years this championship has ever been held. Therefore, some type of historical softball record has been set by our team. To conclude our successful activities in '98, Barry Dawe once again organized a golf tournament at Ashbrook in September, followed by a year-end party at E.T. 's, We certainly had lots to celebrate!

1999
In 1999, I felt that one of the main reasons for the Canadians not continuing was the lack of dissemination of information by Softball Canada and its provincial bodies, such as Softball Alberta and Softball British Columbia. In discussing the national tournament, for example, with players from Western Canada, I discovered that many were unaware that the Canadians even existed in '97 and '98. Thus, the Cats decided to enter both the Western Canadians and Eastern Canadians this year. Our team made history again by becoming the first OASA club to be allowed to compete in a Western Canadian Softball Championship, which was held in Calgary.

We got off to a slow start in the event as we lost our first two games: 8-2 to Victoria, B.C. and 9-7 to Manitoba #1. To have a chance at the playoffs the Cats had to win their next three games, which we did: 8-4 over Saskatchewan #2, 9-3 over Calgary Rockies, and 4-3 over Northwest Territories. That left us tied with the host Rockies and Manitoba# I for the second playoff spot in our division.

We defeated the Rockies again 7-4 but lost out to Manitoba 4-0. Hall of Famer Cliff Bishop was on the mound in the second tiebreaker, and he shut down the Cats. Bishop had previously beaten the club in 1980 in the Canadian Senior Championship in Saskatoon. Victoria, B.C. eventually won the Western Canadian Masters title by defeating Saskatoon in the final. The B.C. team reached the Canadian finals in '97 but were beaten 2-1 by the host Cold Springs Cats.

In September of '99, because of a lack of interest and the cost of the trip to the Maritimes, we could muster only a skeleton crew in the Eastern Canadians. Four Mitchell players bolstered our ranks, which included the stalwart members of Roger Cole, Ray Bickle, Stephen Mitts, John Maughan, Jeff Timlin, Dave Ruthowsky, Mike Gibson, and myself(that was pretty scary!) As a result, we managed only two wins and lost two games. One of the wins was a default, by the way. Nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves in the friendly city of Fredericton and renewed old friendships with players and coaches that we had met over the last three years.

Loyal Fans
Tom and Elsie Massey have been loyal Cats fans since the mid-seventies. You could always recognize Tom in his cowboy hat and high boots leaning over the fence beside the first or third base lines, taunting the opposing team's defense. In 1999, with their little red Honda, they roared into Calgary and then on to Fredericton to cheer on their team. They had little difficulty finding Calgary and the appropriate ball field because their son Tim lived nearby. However, traveling to Fredericton was another story.

I drew a map for Tom to follow through Montreal. Unfortunately, he drove through the tunnel and returned via the bridge, returning to about the same spot where he had started. He finally found the #20 highway and proceeded towards New Brunswick. I reserved a room for Tom and Elsie in the Lord Beaverbrook in Fredericton, but when they hadn't arrived at 11:30pm I cancelled the room. At 11:45pm Tom came lumbering into the hotel and I hustled to the front desk and luckily obtained a room for the couple.

After the tournament, Tom and Elsie left the hotel at 1:00am to avoid traffic and routing problems, especially while traveling through Montreal. Fortunately, they arrived home safely.

Updated August 2020

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Softball-Fastpitch-Cold Springs Cats 1975-89

1989 Cats

By Ewart Timlin, Manager   Edited by Donna Cole

Pre-Cats (1973)
Where the h--- is Cold Springs? That was a common question people asked about our ball team in the 80's and 90's, especially when we traveled out of province. However, in the 60's and early 70's everyone usually played for their own team in Cobourg or Port Hope, or their village such as Bewdley, Harwood, Baltimore, Plainville, or Cold Springs. Therefore, everyone knew everyone else who played softball.

And there were several local leagues in which to participate, such as the Port Hope Town League, Cobourg Town League, Haldimand League, Cobourg Industrial League, and of course the Hamilton Township League. All the leagues were well organized and highly entertaining, as witnessed by the huge crowds at playoff time, when I've seen the parks in places such as Cold Springs and Plainville packed with exuberant fans.

The executive of each league controlled the player eligibility of each locale as well. For example, in the Hamilton Township League for several years, we were only allowed two imports. An import, at that time, might come all the way from Cobourg, Port Hope, or a different township.

After participating in the Hamilton Township League for a number of years, the team decided to go one step further and try OASA Championship play. We chose a few pickups from the Hamilton Township League in order to participate in the OASA Men's C playdowns, and we were fairly successful.

Even though the township league was great locally, we realized that in order to meet good playmanship every night, we should proceed to another league, perhaps the Peterborough City League. Nevertheless, there were several key questions about the change.

Another key query that has been asked is "How did the name Cats originate?" In the mid-seventies, Keith Ferguson, who followed our team as his brother Ivan played with us, was continually cheering us on by shouting, "Let's go Cats!" This title permeated throughout the years for Cold Springs.

Cats History (1975-2004)
Is this team competitive enough to enter our league? This was the question that the executive officers of the Peterborough City League asked Ross and I when we attended their inaugural meeting in the winter of '74-'75. We certainly proved that we were competitive enough because we finished in first place in the league that summer, and also won the OASA Intermediate C title on a bitter October weekend in Capreol. Thus, the Cats came into existence in 1975, but little did we know that we would continue in the great game of fastball for approximately the next 30 years.

The nucleus of the Cats in 1975 hailed from Cold Springs and other areas of Hamilton Township. It included John Maughan, Harold Lang, Ivan Ferguson, Jeff Timlin, Lorne Jamieson, Ewart Timlin, Lynn Thackeray, John Cane, Bill Cane, Don McDonald, Paul Hasson, Jim Bradford, Roger Cole, Ray Bickle and Allan Burnham. Doug Alderson and Craig Gray acted as coaches while Ivan West served as manager.

1976
In 1976 the Cats participated in a new league called the Eastern Ontario Fastball League. Along with Cold Springs it included teams from Belleville, Trenton, Picton, Brighton, Campbellford, Cobourg, and Peterborough. The Springs played well and earned a first-place finish. However, in league play-offs the team was defeated by Belleville Devolins. Nevertheless, we successfully defended our Intermediate C crown by defeating teams from Brighton, Campbellford, Elgin, Port Elgin, and finally Capreol.

1977
The Cats had a poor year participation-wise. We finished in fourth position in the E.O.F.L. and were knocked out of provincial play-downs by Campbellford.

1978
There was new hope and several new faces in our line-up in 1978. Additions to our roster included Mike Mclvor, Ed Ristan, Phil Krauter, Neil Francis, Marty Kernaghan, Bill Ryan, Roger Mcintosh and Terry Irwin. Jim Chase was our new coach replacing Bill Rollings, who acted in this capacity in 1976 and 1977. Ewart Timlin served as manager again. In the E.O.F.L. not only were we pennant winners but also play-off champions. In Intermediate B play-offs we conquered Braeside (near Pembroke) and Bradford. Nevertheless, in a close series, the Cats were eliminated by Port Elgin.

1979
This was our final year in the E.O.F. L. as the league folded that fall. New players included the following: Bill Elliott, Don Elliott, Roger Alexander, Rick Palmateer, Jim Flesch, Terry Lewis, and Barry Dawe. Jim Chase again acted as coach and Ewart Timlin as manager. Our fortunes seemed to rise this season and we finished in first place. Unfortunately, the Cats were defeated in league play-offs and Ontario play-downs by Picton who went on to become Ontario Champions.

1980
In 1980, we participated, for the first time, in the Oshawa City and District League. In order to strengthen our team for senior play-offs we added several new players. They included Don and Jim Burkitt, Stephen Mitts and Paul Goodfellow. The Oshawa City and District League included teams from Oshawa, Whitby, Stouffville, and of course, Cold Springs. We were successful in finishing in first place during the regular season but were eliminated in play-offs by the Oshawa Merchants.

In the Senior A Ontario Eliminations in London, twenty six teams competed for the Gold Medal. The Cats defeated Toronto Fred's Sports 2-0, Sault Ste. Marie 1-0, Sarnia Gils 3-2, Oshawa Motor Carriers 3-0, and in the final game, Sarnia Gils 3-0. Mike Mclvor was declared the Most Valuable Player when he hit three home runs during the tournament.

Roger Cole and Jim Burkitt shared the pitching duties. They had only two runs scored on them during the tournament and they were both unearned. In being declared the Sr. A Champions, the Cats earned the right to represent Ontario.in the Canadian National Softball Championship in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. To reinforce our roster, we added a powerful hitting pitcher - Steve Virag from London and brutal batter Phil Solomon from Oshawa.

In Saskatoon the Cats did themselves, their fans and Ontario proud. We finished with a 4-2 record in the national event. No team won more games in the preliminary round than Cold Springs. Six clubs had 3-1 credentials and the tie had to be broken by comparing the runs for and against differential. Winnipeg earned first place with a plus 9 and Cold Springs had a plus 5 for a fifth-place finish.

Cats were the only team in the entire tournament to beat the eventual Canadian Champions from Nova Scotia. They nipped the Elks, 2-1, in an extra inning on Friday in their final game of the preliminary round. The irony of the situation was it cost Cats to be the home team in this case. Two men were on base when Al Burnham cracked a double in the bottom of the eighth inning and both would have scored had the game not been over as soon as the first runner (Terry Lewis) crossed the plate with the winning run. If the Cats had been the visitors, both runs would have counted, elevating them into the top four in the standings. That would have qualified Cold Springs for the double knockout elimination round rather than the single knockout section.

It should also be noted that Cold Springs also beat the silver medal team in the preliminary round. The Cats faced the legendary Gene McWillie from Saskatoon All-0-Matics, representing Saskatchewan, and tagged him with the defeat.
In all the games played in the Nationals, the Springs finished No. I in defensive play. However, our hitting was suspect and we finished 8th in this category.

Cold Springs felt the loss of Paul Goodfellow early in the tournament when a base runner collided with him and cracked his ribs. Bill Elliott got a standing ovation from the crowd on his last trip to bat. What an amazing year!

1981
During 1981, we played for our last time in the Oshawa City and District League. Additions to our line-up included Dave Ruthowsky, Bryan Madge and Doug Christie. We attained the league pennant and play-off championship this year. In the Ontario Sr. B Play downs we were eliminated by the host club Sault Ste. Marie.

1982
In 1982 Cats took a major step and joined the Ontario Fastball League (OFL). In the league itself we did very well for a rookie team and finished in 3rd place. During playoff competition, the Cats eliminated Owen Sound (led by pitcher Brad Underwood) but in turn were defeated by Agincourt (pitcher Jim Cowdrey), who were the Ontario Sr. A Champions for 1982.

1983
Cats moved up to second spot in the OFL in a problem-plagued 1983 and pushed Agincourt to the very limit in playoffs to lose by a single run in the final game.

1984
In 1984, the Cold Springs Cats team folded and consequently several members - namely John Maughan, Ivan Ferguson, Gary Vowles, Harold Lang and I joined the Cobourg's Bruce and Rick's OASA Intermediate B squad (Other members such as Pete Harrison, Dave Ruthowsky, Paul Marineau, and Roger Cole joined Tex's Rangers as a Senior B squad). In the OASA Championship game Trenton defeated Bruce and Rick's with Jim Burkitt, another ex-Cat, the victorious pitcher.

1985
After a one-year hiatus in 1984, life was rekindled in 1985, when the Cold Springs Cats elected to return to the Oshawa City Softball League rather than return to the shaky Ontario Fastball League. Cats, who once upon a time belonged to the Oshawa group, participated in a league comprised of Oshawa Copperfields, Port Perry, Whitby, Durham Merchants, and Oshawa Juniors.

Playing for the Senior B Cats that year were Bill Elliott, Perry Bowles, Brian Condon, Roger Cole, Wayne Wells, Stephen Mitts, Gary Hope, Terry Bowles, Jeff Timlin, John Maughan, Mike Mclvor, Paul Marineau, Marvin Moore, Ray Bickle, John MacDonald and Peter Harrison.

In 1985 the Cats signed their second "King" when they acquired National Hockey League star Bernie Nicholls. Nicholls, who played for the Los Angeles Kings, added a great deal of flair and depth to the shortstop position. At Kemptville, during the Senior A Eliminations, I offered to pay Bernie for his hotel reservations, along with the other players. Bernie replied nonchalantly, "That's okay E.T.; I sleep in a pup tent."

1986, 1987
In 1986 and 1987 the Cats were mainly a tournament team. They were quite successful in winning the annual tournaments in Hastings and Port Perry. However, in 1986, in the Intermediate B Championship tournament in Mitchell and in the Intermediate A tournament in Norwich the following year, the club achieved limited success.

1988
The executive of our team decided to host the OASA Intermediate A Championship tournament in Baltimore in the summer of 1988. After a great deal of planning, the weekend tourney was blessed with super weather and fine fastball involving eight teams from North Bay to Caledonia. Nevertheless, the Cats finished with a 2 and 2 record, but acquired loads of great memories in off-the-field activities.

1989
The Cold Springs Cats, who started the eighties by dropping a bombshell in winning the Ontario Senior Elimination Tournament, finished the decade with another startling explosion in North Fredricksburgh in September, by claiming the 1989 OASA Men's B Championship title. Cats surprised everyone, including themselves, by scratching and clawing for all their worth to reel off four straight wins in the eight-team, double knockout tournament and become all-Ontario title holders.

En route to earning the area's first ever Men's B title, Cats blanked Wahnapotae 5-0 and nipped Petrolia Squire Tavern 4-3 in 10 innings on Saturday, shaded Kirkland Lake Federal Tavern 1-0 in two extra innings Sunday morning, and then climaxed the weekend with a 2-0 verdict over the same Kirkland Lake team in the afternoon final.

The Cats now claim to having won provincial crowns in three different categories in our history: Men's C in 1975 and '76, Senior A in 1980, and Men's B in 1989. Roger Cole, John Maughan, GM Ewart Timlin, and director Ross Timlin are the only four men to have been part of all four of these Ontario championships by Cold Springs.

Veteran pitcher Roger Cole, named the Most Valuable Player in the tournament, said that he'd never before played on a team where there were no dominant figures and where all of the players had pitched in to contribute something significant to the cause. ln his estimation, the Cats performed as well as they possibly could as a team to make the fantasy come true.

Updated August 2020

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Softball-Cobourg Legion Minor

Cobourg Legion softball logo

Softball for kids began in Cobourg in 1958 when Cobourg Branch 133 Royal Canadian Legion stepped up as a sponsor. That support continues to this day providing boys and girls an opportunity to play and have fun with this wonderful game. That first year just over 60 boys participated spread over 4 teams, all in the squirt division (kids under 10 years).

The league organizer and head of the squirt division was Jack Bevan. Among the coaches were long-time star softball players Burke Clarey and Dick Turpin. At the end of the season the Legion hosted a season-ending banquet for the players and coaches. That tradition continued for many years.

In 1959 some 125 youth signed up to play squirt and peewee softball. In 1960, with the age limit raised, the number registered had risen to 380. It was decided that a formal executive was needed. Lionel Gutteridge was elected President. He would hold that position for 7 years.

In 1961 it was decided that all players and coaches would assemble at the Legion on Orr Street and then parade down King Street to Victoria Park. Once there, opening ceremonies were held. The parade became a tradition and in 1978 all the other summer sports teams were invited to join the parade. It became Cobourg’s “All Summer Sports Parade”.

By the summer of 1962 the Legion Minor softball Program had grown to 500 youth participating in the league. And in 1964 the number of youth participating would be 560. That would be the highest number of participants the league would reach.

In 1966 Lionel Gutteridge who had served as President for 7 years stepped down. Cedric Smith became President. He was another war veteran and a long-time supporter of Legion softball. In 1968 Bill Robbins, who had been the PeeWee Governor, took over as President. He declined to run in 1969 and Lionel Gutteridge was re-elected as President. Since then many well-known softball and Legion enthusiasts have held the prestigious role of President of Cobourg Legion Minor Softball.

As the organization grew, it became more aware of what it takes to keep an organization of this kind strong and healthy. Part of their mission was to give structure and direction to future Executive Boards. To that end, the 1978-79 Cobourg Legion Minor Softball executive created and approved a constitution. It would later become the blueprint that Napanee used when they started their minor softball program.

On the diamond, Legion Rep Teams have competed in many Ontario Amateur Softball Association Provincial Playdowns, and brought home several championships. Individually, Marty Kernaghan has to be the most successful alumnus. He has been recognized as one of the best fastball players in the world and was inducted into the International Softball Association’s Hall of Fame and the Cobourg and District Sports Hall of Fame.

In recent years, the first-class Legion Fields Park was developed and has become the home of Cobourg softball. One of its three diamonds is named after Jack Bevan, who started it all in 1958.

From 1958 until the present day, the Cobourg Legion has faithfully sponsored youth softball in our town.

Thank you Branch 133 and all of your volunteers.

Updated August 2020

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School-St Mary’s CSS Rugby:Boys

Thunder OFSAA Gold

From T-shirts to Champions

High School Rugby was becoming popular in rural Ontario so teachers Rob Majdell and Ray Heffernan thought they would start a rugby program in the spring of 1993. St Mary’s Catholic Secondary School (SMCSS) was still a small school of about 400 students. The expectation was that 20 firm participants would be needed at every practice, at every lunch, to continue with this program.

The other local high schools with their bigger population bases (around 800 students each) had already established rugby programs. For the betterment of rugby they agreed to play St. Mary’s new team in exhibition play for the first 3 years. These teams included Trinity College School, Cobourg East and Cobourg West.

During the first 2 years, players wore only t-shirts as jerseys. In year three, after the team became established, the school ordered and bought keeper jerseys. The fellas thought they were too nice to wear for games, so they decided to keep wearing t-shirts. The team began playing in the Kawartha league in 1996 and as they say, the rest is history.

In 2000, Greg Conway joined the coaching staff.  The team rebranded itself as the Thunder RFC and began to enjoy more success on the pitch – more coaches meant more skill development for the players.  By 2003, the team had its first player selected to Team Ontario – Sandy Sweet.  His skill and attitude started to turn the tide towards a more competitive approach by the players. 

The coaching staff had also added Drew Quemby to the fold.  This was massive as Rob Majdell had moved on to become a Vice-Principal at another school.  The team began showing potential, competing with or even defeating powerhouse teams from Lindsay and Peterborough – teams that only 2 or 3 years prior had been winning by 70 points!

In 2004, the team embarked on the first of many Rugby Tours.  The island of Bermuda was chosen.  The destination, along with amazing experiences like playing against the Bermuda U-18 team on the national pitch, drew even more athletes out to the team.  Touring became a mainstay and was the turning point in prying male athletes away from the mindset of only playing hockey.  The team now prides itself as a touring side, having embarked on 13 ruby tours to places like England, Hawaii, Barbados, Scotland, France, New York City and even the Rugby World Cup in 2015.  The opportunity to go on these tours has attracted many more athletes to try the sport, which has resulted in a very competitive side moving forward.

St. Mary’s has held the Saxon Cup (Northumberland championship) since 2005, after Port Hope won the inaugural competition in 2004.  The Junior Boys are the sole winner of the Junior Saxon Cup, winning it every year it has existed.  The Thunder take the local rivalry very seriously – the only loss by either the Junior or Senior team since 2002 to a local team came in the Saxons Cup final in 2004 to Port Hope.  Keeping the streak alive is taken to heart!

In 2005, the team qualified for its first COSSA Championship after making its first Kawartha Final in team history.  2010 saw the team win its first COSSA medal – a Silver – after toppling powerhouse Centennial from Belleville in the Semis.  They would lose a very tight COSSA final by 2 points and miss out on OFSAA.

In 2011, the Junior Boys won the team’s first Kawartha Championship.  2012 saw the team compete in its first OFSAA Championship – as host school.  Though ranked in the bottom half of the 16-team tournament draw, the team finished 5th overall!  That success was further demonstrated the following year, as the Senior Boys won their first Kawartha title in 2013.

The team had entered a new competitive phase – regularly competing for Kawartha titles and qualifying for COSSA.  They also had athletes not only competing for Ontario, but also being selected to represent Canada.  Brandon McLeod, or “The Missile”, played internationally on the Canada Sevens development team 6 times.  Owain Ruttan represented Canada for their U-18 and U-20 teams a total of 11 times, scoring two tries, including one against Wales!

2016 saw a Junior Team unlike any before at SMCSS.  They captured the Kawartha title and the team’s first COSSA Gold.  That same team won COSSA Gold again at Senior in 2017, 2018 and 2019.  During that run, they produced 4 more Canadian players – Josh Barss, Keagan Read, Adam McNee and Mason Flesch.
 
In 2018, the Senior Boys team reached new heights 25 years after the first team started play.  They toured Hawaii and defeated the powerful Kahuku – Hawaii state champions.  They returned home and won the Kawartha Championship as well as the COSSA Championship.  All that remained was OFSAA.
They entered as the #1 seed and dominated the tournament leading up to the final.  In a hard fought Gold Medal game, the Thunder prevailed 26-19 to capture its first Provincial Championship.  They outscored all opponents at OFSAA by a margin of 200-24 and finished the season a perfect 16-0.  

The 2019 team was not to be outdone.  That team won Kawartha and COSSA again, and went on the win the OFSAA Championship, becoming only the third school to ever repeat as Champion.  History was made however as St. Mary’s won the 2019 title game 40-0, which is the largest margin of victory in any OFSAA Boys Rugby Championship Final.

It has taken almost 30 years to reach the pinnacle.  They began in t-shirts and running shoes, losing by 70 or 80 points.  They have since seen the world and risen to the top, with back-to-back OFSAA Gold.  The coaching staff has grown as well – additions Tim Linehan, Adam Janssen, Shawn Carmichael have all played a part in the team’s growth and success.  As a coaching staff, we are excited to see where the team can go next!!!

Greg Conway - Head Coach, Thunder RFC

Updated August 2020

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School-CCI 2014-2020

Cobourg C.I.

Emerging in 2014 as the newly amalgamated public high school in Cobourg, Cobourg Collegiate Institute (CCI) has brought together the rich athletic histories of the former Cobourg District Collegiate Institute East and Cobourg District Collegiate Institute West schools.  Moving from medium sized “AA” schools (between 500-900 students) to a larger AAA school (1150 students in 2020), C.C.I. offers its students an extensive selection of sports teams, with the continued pride and success that was enjoyed by the former East and West schools.  

Since its inaugural year in September of 2014, C.C.I. sports teams have won many Kawartha (local) and COSSA (regional) championships.  This has led to many trips to the Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association (OFSAA) provincial championships with its sports teams, including Girls Hockey, Boys Hockey, Boys Volleyball, Girls Volleyball, Boys Soccer, Girls Soccer, Wrestling, Cross Country, Badminton, Tennis, Track and Field, and Swimming.  

A trip to CCI’s Dillon-Lawless Gym (named after renowned local high school physical education teachers Del Dillon and Jerry Lawless) will also allow you to see the growing number of team and individual OFSAA honours, including medal performances for finishing in the top 4 in the province.  

As of the winter of 2020, OFSAA Honours include the Girls Hockey team with a 4th place finish, and the following individuals: Wrestlers-Amara Hill (4th place), and Jayden Sparks (3rd place), Track Athletes- Cameron Bruce (4th place, 300m Hurdles) and Kate Current (2nd place, 800m), and Swimmers- Lauren Burleigh (2x 1st place 50m Para Backstroke, and 1st place 100m Para backstroke), and Carlie Bilodeau (1st place, JR 50m Backstroke).  Some of these athletes, and many others have enjoyed success at the college and university sports level following their years of competing for Cobourg Collegiate Institute.

In addition to an impressive C.C.I. OFSAA presence to date, they also consistently have demonstrated exceptional character through sport. Two teams were awarded with the OFSAA Sportsmanship Award during their OFSAA debuts – the varsity girls’ hockey team in 2016, in Stratford, and the senior boys’ soccer team in 2018, in Thunder Bay.

Beyond the successes of sports teams to date, dedicated coaches have planned a variety of trips to enrich the students’ experiences, and to provide lasting memories.  One of the highlighted trips include rugby teams taking part in tournaments in New York City and New Brunswick (Rothesay Netherwood Private School in Rothesay, NB).  As well, basketball teams have annually made trips to prestigious American Colleges and Universities to play games, tour the facilities and watch high-level teams train and compete.  Recent trips have been to Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, Washington D.C., Virginia, West Virginia and New Hampshire.

Building on the excellent athletic facilities on the C.D.C.I. East school site, one major facility upgrade enjoyed by C.C.I. students was the installation of a 6-lane rubberized track.  This has attracted athletes and visitors, including the likes of Canadian Olympic medalist Andre De Grasse, for a training session before his trip to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.  Highlights on our track to date include running our school’s annual Relay for Life event, and a Board-Wide “Inclusive Track and Field Day”.  

The Inclusive track and field day is open to all Learning and Life Skills high school students around the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, and includes running, wheel-chair and field events, along with a barbeque lunch.  We are also happy to be able to accommodate local and regional elementary schools, housing our future C.C.I. athletes, who need a venue to run their annual track and field meets.

C.C.I has also been a support to many community members and visiting schools looking to access our gym facilities.  This has included a close relationship with the Lakeshore Minor Basketball Association, who has been a partner in helping us to invest in new glass backboards, adjustable nets and a padded score table.  The local Badminton Club, along with the Northumberland Sports Council, used our gym for the Ontario 55+ Winter Games in 2017, which was a unique opportunity to open our school to athletes from all age groups.  Our gyms are rented most nights, and weekends, throughout the year to service local sports clubs for training and competition, including volleyball, badminton, basketball, soccer, rugby, softball, baseball, lacrosse, rowing and more.

As Cobourg Collegiate Institute continues to grow its history, they are proud to be an important and vital part of the Cobourg community.

Updated August 2020

 

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Plowing-1st World Match to Canada

1953 World Plowing Cobourg

The Cobourg Sentinel-Star, Thursday, October 8,1953

In the following historical reference to the inception of a National Agricultural Show in England, Alfred Hall, Roseneath, Seaton, Cumberland, England, secretary of The World Championship Plowing Organization, tells of the growth of the World Plan development in agricultural organization, and how the First World Contest has come to Cobourg. Ontario.

"J. D. Thomas," writes Mr. Hall, "of the Ontario Plowman's Association flew to Scotland on special mission to invite the Provisional Board of what was to be known as The World Championship Plowing Organization to hold the First World Match in Canada.”

In the early 19th century, the Lord of the Manor of Workington, in Cumberland, England, a man called John Christian Curwen founded the original Workington Agricultural Society. Curwen was a farmer and a member of the British Parliament for 40 years. He carried out many experiments with crops, cultivation, machinery inventions, the fattening of livestock, and other farm practices.

The name of Curwen was adopted on his marriage to the heiress to the estates of the Curwen family. He was of the same family as the famous Mr. Fletcher Christian, the Chief Officer of the "Bounty" who led the mutiny against the notorious, Captain Bligh. Having set Bligh adrift Fletcher Christian and his mutineers settled on Pitcairn Island and there founded a community some members of which occasionally return to the land of their forefathers.  

It was John Christian Curwen and a farmer colleague, the famous Mr. Bates, of Northumberland, who together first suggested to the Secretary of the then Board of Agriculture the idea of holding a National Agricultural Show. Thus was started the "Royal Show of England" as we know it today.

Curwen's Workington Agricultural Society had a branch in the Isle of Man and another at Wigton in Cumberland. For some reason, however, the Workington Show did not survive after Curwen’s day. In 1945 George T. Weir suggested to Alfred Hall and to James Lancaster who was at that time Mayor of Workington, and a few other enthusiasts the idea of forming another Workington Agricultural Society. This was one. James Lancaster was made chairman, Alfred Hall, General Sec., and George Weir Treasurer, and a three-day Agricultural Show and Industry Exhibition was held on Curwen (?), Workington.

In 1946, Alfred Hall suggested the holding of a Ploughing Match, to which the Society agreed. He learned that a champion team of Ontario ploughmen were to pay a visit to the United Kingdom, the trip being their prize for having won the Ontario Championships. There were to be four of them and a team manager. Their sponsors were the Imperial Oil Company of Canada, Ltd., and the Salada Tea Company.

An invitation was at once extended to them through the Ontario Plowmen's Association to compete in the Workington Ploughing Match. The invitation was accepted but when the time for the Match came there was severe frost and after two postponements the event had to be cancelled. But a banquet was held; the visitors were taken on a tour of the Lake District and the invitation was extended to cover another team of Canadians for the next year.

After that each year's Ontario champions came annually to plough at Workington Ploughing Match. Later came competitors from Northern Ireland and from Sweden. And more and more competitors came from further and further afield in Britain, too.

In 1950 the Workington Agricultural Society's Ploughing Match was held at Penrith, in Cumberland, with the assistance of members of Skelton. Plough Match was growing too big to remain a local affair.

The Ontario Plowmen's Association had invited the Workington Society to send a team to compete in Canada; a further invitation came from the State River Valley Plowmen's Association in Canada, and promises of hospitality were forthcoming through the Canadian Vice-president of the Workington Agricultural Society, L. A. Greene, of Port Arthur, Ontario, who began life in Workington.

In the winter of 1951 Ontario's team of champion ploughmen planted Canadian Maple trees round the War Memorial in the Vulcan Park, Workington, as a token of thanks and friendship for the Cumberland hospitality enjoyed at successive parties of Canadian ploughmen.

By now John A. Carroll, who was then Secretary of the Ontario Plowmens' Association (now Assistant Deputy Minister of Agriculture for the Province of Ontario and President of WCPO) were closely liaising on the idea of getting as many countries as possible represented at an international ploughing contest. By various means and in particular, through the good offices of Ford Motor Co. Ltd., Alfred Hall established liaison with interested parties in several European countries.

Lack of finance made it impossible to accept the Canadian invitations, but it was felt that, in time, it might be possible for British plowmen to be sent to European countries in exchange for ploughmen from those countries having visited Britain. The idea of this was discussed by Alfred Hall and Gunnar Hubinette, of Sweden, at Workington in November of 1950. They decided to work; together in the job of interesting other European countries and securing their co-operation.

One of the first steps towards this end was the calling of a meeting by the Workington Agricultural Society in collaboration with the Northern Ireland Ploughing Association in Belfast at the time of the Northern Ireland Ploughing Match in February 1951. It was felt that if international matches were to be successful there was a need to draft rules and agree styles of ploughing, common to all for competition purposes.

This meeting was attended by a representative gathering from the British Isles and from a number of European countries. There was a frank exchange of views and opinions and the outcome was the undoubted desire for the formation of a fully representative international authority for the conduct of international ploughing matches.

Since there was no national society in Great Britain, although Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (Erie) each had their own national organizations to which local societies were and, of course, still are affiliated, the Workington Society decided to invite all the local ploughing societies in Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) to attend a meeting to consider the formation of a British Ploughing Association.

Because there was no collected record of ploughing societies this entailed considerable research and this job of finding the addresses of secretaries was carried out in the main by George Merryweather of the Goodyear Tyre Company of Great Britain Ltd. Mr. Merryweather and Mr. Frank Ellis, of Essa, were two of the earliest associates of the Workington Agricultural Society in connection with the developments in competition ploughing.

The meeting thus convened by the Workington Society was held in Leeds, Yorkshire, on the 17th of May, 1951, when about 150 delegates attended and were entertained to a buffet lunch by the Esso Petroleum Company Ltd., before commencing business. By a unanimous vote the British Ploughing Association was formed and arrangements were made for the first British National Ploughing Match to be held at Newton Kyme, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, England.

With a national authority such as the BPA, Great Britain was in a position to co-operate on representative national basis with similar organizations in other countries for the purpose of establishing a world ploughing organization and so provide a World-wide incentive to encourage better ploughing for better crops for more food everywhere.

In Britain most local ploughing match societies, some of which have been existence for well over 100 years, are affiliated to the British Ploughing Association. The British National Match is now held annually at a different place in either England, Scotland or Wales on the second Wednesday of November each year.

In February, 1952, the British Ploughing Association convened an International Conference which, at the kind invitation of the then Mayor of Workington (?) attended by the BPA Council and representatives of ploughing organizations in Canada, Sweden and Holland when it was agreed to form a Provisional Governing Board for the organization of a World Ploughing Match and when international rules were drafted for further consideration by each delegate's respective organization. J. J. Bogin, Sec. of N.P.A. of Ireland sent the encouraging news that the N.P.A. would donate to the new organization a trophy to be known as the "Irish Shield".

In October and September of that year. Alfred Hall, who was now Secretary of the British Ploughing Association and also of the Provisional board and owing to the weight of the new duties had relinquished the Secretaryship of the Workington Society, attended specially convened meetings held in Sweden and in Norway to further discuss the promotion of a World Ploughing Contest and to consider the standardizing of international rules and ploughing styles which would be fair to all participants in such a contest. These conferences were also, attended by delegates from Finland, Denmark and Germany as well as from Norway and Sweden.

To all these Alfred Hall extended, on behalf of the British Ploughing Association, an invitation to send either competitors or observers to the second British National Match which was to be held at Stirling, Scotland, in November. It was agreed that the semi-digger class would be held according to the draft international rules as an experiment and that afterwards their practical application would be considered in the light of experience thus gained.

The BPA Match at Stirling was, as a result, attended by competitors and official observers from Canada, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany and the Republic of Ireland. Not only was a final code of rules and a style of ploughing decided upon for the first World Championship Ploughing Contest but, thanks to the generosity of Canada, it became possible to arrange for the first World Contest to be held at Cobourg, Ontario, in October, 1953.

J. D. Thomas, of the Ontario Plowmen's Association flew to Scotland on special mission to invite the Provincial Board of (?) Organization to hold the first World Match in Canada. Mr. Thomas said that Canada would be happy to be host and would cover all the expenses of a party of two national champions and a team manager from each country whilst they were in Canada, and as many countries as could enter were welcome.

This kind offer was gratefully accepted and delegates returned to their respective countries intent on organizing first local or area ploughing matches and then a national match from which to select competitors to go to Canada. They were also intent upon trying to find enough money to pay the fares to Canada, too.

In March of this year Secretary Alfred Hall received an urgent call to fly to Canada at once to make arrangements for the World Contest which is to be held in conjunction with the Ontario Plowmen's Association. Whilst there he had a busy week of meetings and conferences and was able to accept on behalf of the WCPO the "Esso World-Plan". Some time earlier representatives of the world-wide Esso oil organization had met in Germany and one of the items they discussed was the sponsorship of competitors to the World Ploughing Contest.

Esso affiliates in certain countries were prepared to offer as a national championship prize the free trip to Canada. This sponsorship would cover two competitors and a manager. Also, all the affiliates would subscribe towards a premier trophy to be known as the "Esso" Golden Plough, to be symbolic of world supremacy in championship ploughing and to be competed for annually.

Thus a big problem of finance was solved and now twelve countries will be represented in the World Contest at Cobourg.

Since the BPA Match held in Scotland great developments have taken place in several countries.

Reviewed August 2020

 

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