Historical Society presents sports night
By Lynda Berney

Many came a distance to participate in the celebration of Caledon East & District Historical Society's 100 Years of Sports in Caledon East night. A splendid variety of sports memorabilia, such as sponsors' shirts and jackets, the progression of equipment, as well as many trophies and badges surrounded the great hall in St. James Anglican Church. Displays that ranged from the early years recreational sports activities, such as local skating haunts, swimming, picnicking, dancing and even courting experiences at Innis Lake and Poplar Park were recalled with much laughter along the way.

Former students shared the wonderful accomplishments of Frieda Pinkett's Swim School and her exhibit received much interest, thanks to Patricia Kolb. The exhibits of these early years activities had many priceless artifacts of that era on display, as well as newspaper articles and photographs.

Memories of the Mono Road and Caledon East horseshoe team competitions of years ago struck a chord among both the older, and younger sets in the audience because of Lou and Edith Hutchinson's History of Mono Road. Not to be outdone, the men, youth and women's softball exhibits were simply astounding, and many revisited these displays. Ralph Naylor gave a rousing softball presentation, which took us back in time. One of several unique artifacts was Hal "Hammer" Heatheringtod's life-sized hammer something to see! Karen Hamilton certainly reminded everyone of the glory days of women and girls softball and touched on many nostalgic moments. Karen and Susan (McCaffrey) Switzer and crew(s) are to be commended for the terrific exhibits.

Football -past and present was also a great hit, with a football helmet and rugby

ball, courtesy of Robert F. Hall physical education dept., as well as a regular football, and a Mayfield secondary championship Maverick shirt and medal were on show, thanks to the Norrie Family.

An old photograph of the 1907 Caledon East football team in its original frame, with several old prominent family players, added to the atmosphere compliments of the Cannon Family. While a picture of the 1957 tackle football team was a crowdpleaser. Men's and women's hockey caused quite a stir with several medals displayed in the women's exhibit as well. Isobelle Bottoms gave a great delivery on women's hockey, which was well received. And, Art Morrison added to the fun when he told of how he was determined not to let a woman player score on him and shut her out.

The Sandhill Bluedevils won the Perkins Bull Trophy two years in a row. Everyone could see the Perkins Bull Trophy with their names inscribed on it, as Diane Allengame, registrar, Heritage Archives not only brought the unusual trophy, but gave us its history.

Ray King, not to be outdone, captivated the audience with his many memories of fantastic and hilarious hockey events, much to the amusement of the audience. George Berney followed with lacrosse, and told of several gruelling events during his lacrosse years, and informed us that lacrosse is "alive and well." Betty Johnston enthralled the audience with exciting rodeo tales of the Caledon East Rodeo Jack O'Donohue Rodeo at Twin River Ranch in which Bert Speirs competed and won a trophy for the cross-country race, and the Bolton Silver Spur Rodeo hosted at David and Sheila Lewis's property on King Road where calf roping, and several events were held.

Betty's exhibit housed several artifacts, and trophies and was well viewed. Neil Marr grabbed everyone's attention with soccer, and told of several memories when he coached and refereed 20 years ago. We learned of the funny antics young players got into, such as scaling the trees and making dandelion chains. The soccer ball was the least of their interest.

The highlight of the night was our own hockey hall of fame NHL star and Olympic gold medalist, Bert McCaffrey. Bert's grandson, Mark Ebdon, and granddaughter Morna (Ebdon) Porter, as well as his great-grandchildren were all present. Bert's great-grandson's wife, Tara Porter, made a most moving presentation, which we were all honoured and privileged to hear. On display was his Olympic gold medal in its original case, which was given in 1924 when hockey was first accepted into the Olympic Games. The family shared their scrapbook, pictures, and memorabilia with us, and many revisited that exhibit several times over the course of the evening to see the high points of Bert's career from playing with the Montreal Canadiens, to the Foster Hewitt picture, and much more. Also, on display was a St. Pats (later known as the Toronto Maple Leafs) shirt with his name (McCaffrey) and his number (1) on it, which the Hockey Hall of Fame had sent to the family, upon their request.

Another important exhibit was the Hartley Davis Remembered exhibit, which Jean Proctor delivered with great personal touch. Hartley's medal and certificate from Premier William Davis and civic award from the Town of Caledon were on display along with several other family artifacts.

The Ralph Naylor Family shared the treasured hockey gear of his father, John Naylor, which all enjoyed. John, a volunteer firefighter, was well remembered for his valuable contribution to the local sporting community. A memorial awards section

was dedicated to the memory of George Switzer, Don Van Wyck and others, so that their contribution(s) would not be forgotten. Among the trophies on exhibit were the T. Roy McCartney (first softball trophy); a photo of the "lost" Reeve's Cup (first soccer trophy), the Herb Brooks

Memorial, the Cheryl Kelly Memorial, and several other North Peel Lions trophies.

More than 78 people enjoyed the opportunity to reminisce and renew old acquaintances. It was a grand evening of celebrating 100 years of sports in Caledon East.