Reprint post Cobourg Now
8 Local Legends – Brooks – Cane – Fast – Matthews – Milligan – Simpson – Petrie – Sommerville
Article and images by Bill Hornbostel
Eight new local sports legends were inducted into the Cobourg and District Sports Hall of Fame at the Cobourg Community Centre on March 1.
“One of the great things about this,” said Joel Scott, the event’s emcee, “is we’re going to get to hear really amazing local stories of not just great athletes, but great builders, great sports builders and great community builders.”
Joel Scott
The eight new members are:
- Gord Brooks, Cobourg’s first National Hockey League player. Starting with the Cobourg Church Hockey League, he went on to play with the Cobourg Cougars before playing with the St Louis Blues and the Washington Capitals.
- Neil Cane, a skilled softball catcher and umpire, as well as a volunteer and worker in the local sports community. He helped acquire and install the lights to enable night games in Baltimore when there was only one field, and under his leadership three more ball diamonds were built.
- Dr Reverend Kevin Fast, the “Powerlifting Pastor” whose feats physical strength – including pulling a 188-ton aircraft by hand – set 31 records in the Guinness Book of World Records and raised thousands of dollars for charities.
- Margaret Anne Matthews, a multi-sport athlete who won championships in softball, basketball, and volleyball as a teen – enough that an award was named after her at CDCI West – and went on to win 18 golf club championships as an adult.
- Daniel Ross Milligan, a champion lawn bowler who represented Canada in five international competitions, winning a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in 1986 and Canada’s Confederation Medal in 1992 for his contribution to the sport.
- Fred Simpson, a runner known as the “Ojibway Thunderbolt” who competed with the Canadian team at the 1908 Olympics. He also competed professionally on a race circuit that took him around the US and Canada.
- Kenneth Wayne James Petrie, a volunteer in the minor sports community who served as a coach, manager, trainer, fundraiser, among other roles, and he worked with the Cobourg Church Hockey League, the Legion Minor Softball Association, and the Cobourg Baseball Association.
- Robert Clarke Sommerville, who started as a hockey player with the Junior A and American Hockey League before going on to found Sommerville’s Sporting Goods and helping to create the Cobourg Cougars.
Cobourg Mayor John Henderson thanked the volunteers of the Cobourg and District Sports Hall of Fame for their efforts. “What they’re doing which is so critically important to any community,” he said, “[is] telling our history. And I can’t think anything more important than telling the history of our areas.”
John Henderson
Alderville Chief Dave Mowat spoke about First Nations participants in the early Olympic Games, like Simpson. “They did so to win gold. They also did so wearing the Canadian maple leaf, and they did so on behalf of our own nation,” he said.
Dave Mowat
Cramahe Mayor Mandy Martin recalled growing up in Gore’s Landing. “What bound us together was really to cheer for those teams and their successes. It’s a celebration of who we are and the teams that we had,” she said.
Mandy Martin
Another part of the event was the unveiling of the new cabinets of sports memorabilia. The Cobourg and District Sports Hall of Fame now has nearly one thousand pieces of memorabilia, ranging from photos and articles to jerseys and equipment. “We’ve identified 98 different sports organizations, events or competitions that have been significant in this area,” said Ross Quigley, the organization’s president. “And we’re trying to write as complete a story as we can on each and every one of them.” He added, “If you happen to have some old scrapbooks, football sweaters, hockey uniforms in your basement, please don’t throw them out. Bring them to us and we’ll make sure they are kept forever.”
Ross Quigley
The cabinets for the hall of fame were donated by local cabinet-maker Frank Bouwmans. “I figured, if I give something back and if I can give it back where it benefits the kids and the older people as well, it’s a good thing,” Bouwmans said.
Frank Bouwmans
There will be an induction dinner at the Best Western on June 20, where the inductees will be officially given their plaques; tickets to the event will go on sale in early May.
See also: http://www.cobourgnow.com/?p=12870
The Cobourg Galloping Ghosts are the most famous team in Cobourg sports history. Managed by Fred Dufton, the Ghosts won eight Ontario championships, five after World War II. They were Canadian Dominion champions in 1946, 1948 and 1950. They were the first team in Canada to wear aluminum cleats and the second to wear white uniforms.
