Hall of fame a tribute to love

Posted By Douglas Glynn

Posted 2 years ago

This is a love story, sort of.

It's about the love of sports that binds this historic community; about the accomplishments, locally and on the world stage, of its athletes, and it's about the builders: those people whose dedication has helped thousands of kids achieve their athletic potential and, over the years, inspired so many to achieve stardom. It's about kids with dreams; about men and women who spend endless hours offering encouragement and bits of wisdom to kids in hockey and curling rinks, at dusty ball diamonds and running tracks, at swimming pools, on golf courses, in gymnasiums, at bowling alleys and wherever else they learn to hone their skills.

Mostly, though, it's about a dream made possible by a community's love of sports and the determination of its people to have a place where that love story can be told; a place where, in the words of David Dupuis, "kids may find someone to look up to and be inspired to pursue their own dream."

That place, of course, is the Penetanguishene Sports Hall of Fame, which officially opens on Oct. 6.

The idea of having a sports hall of fame began, appropriately enough, on a golf course 21 years ago.

It evolved from a conversation among Vince Moreau, Paul DeVillers and Jerry Murphy. They soon enlisted Ron Marchildon, Mike Dubeau and Ken Tannahill, formed an ad hoc committee and within a year the hall was opened in the lobby of Penetanguishene Memorial Arena.

It was modest, to say the least: a glass display case containing pictures of the first 13 inductees with stories of their achievements.

As public enthusiasm grew, so too did the number of inductees. By 1994, there was no space left in the display case. Coincidentally, that was the year the renovations and expansion of Centennial Museum was nearing completion.

A home was found for the hall in the museum's east wing. A year later, it was moved to a stairway leading to the Great Hall, and finally, in 1995, upstairs to a new wing where there was space to add artifacts and sports memorabilia. The museum's new archival research room, located adjacent to the hall, was used to house archival material and files.

In 1996, Moreau stepped down as chair of the committee and David Dupuis who, as board chair had helped guide the museum's revitalization, took over the helm of the Sports Hall of Fame committee. It wasn't long before the hall was once again getting too big for its space. It was then the committee decided the hall needed its own home and undertook a decade-long fundraising effort that generated more than $200,000.

"We were just going to do a small room," Dupuis recalled. "Then councillor Randy Robbins came to us and said they needed staff space at the arena. He suggested putting an addition on the front of the building. Never in our wildest dreams would we have thought that possible, but it evolved into a plan. Then we discovered the washroom facilities were not up to code and the addition grew to upgrade the facility to meet current standards."

By 2001, the proposal had won town council's endorsement and the rest, some might say, is history.

But it would be neglectful to forget the hard work of the hall of fame committee and the scores of volunteers, and support of the larger community that has made the hall a reality.

"Sadly," Dupuis said, "John Desroches, who worked tirelessly to make the dream come true, won't be at next month's grand opening."

Desroches, a driving force behind the fundraising campaign, died in 2005. A meeting room adjacent to the hall is being named in his honour.

Dupuis recalled that Desroches used to say he wanted the new hall to be "a place we can all be proud of." When they cut the ribbon to officially open the hall next month, the odds are that people will agree it is everything John Desroches hoped it would be, and more.

"If you get things entrusted to you to display, they should be taken care of," said Dupuis, whose museum experience is reflected in most everything about the new hall.

The collection will be housed in a dozen high-end museum cases in a climate-controlled environment designed to ensure the humidity remains at a safe level. The specially lighted glass museum cases - bought at a cost of $55,000 - seal tightly and the 1,700 square-foot room is closed in to help keep out dust, dirt and bugs.

Dupuis said the museum cases were purchased with part of a two-year $134,600 Trillium grant.

"As soon as we got the grant, we called Stephanie Meeuwse, a former curator of the Centennial Museum, and asked her to help with the design and displays, because she knew the collection,"?Dupuis said. Waxy Gregoire, a committee member, has also been busy helping with the displays and conducting interviews with past inductees. What attracts him is his love of sports and an interest in research.

"The hall is a portrayal of the history of sports in Penetanguishene from before the 19th century to the present day," Gregoire said.

"When you consider the size of this area, it's unbelievable that we've produced so many top athletes in so wide a range of sports," Gregoire enthused as he checks out the displays.

Among the notable athletes whose careers are depicted are figure skater Brian Orser, pitching ace Phillip "Babe" Marchildon, Hockey Hall of Fame member George McNamara, track star Jean Thompson, a member of the Matchless Six who captured Olympic medals in 1928, and jockey Gilbert "Gil" Robillard, who rode Epigram to victory in the 1952 Queen's Plate. Of course, there are displays as well about builders and teams.

Gregoire wants to compile a historical timeline, year by year, of the town's sports history.

"Some families have lived here for four and five generations and they've put stuff aside over the years. We want them to dig it out and bring it in. We need to know when a league started, when it finished and who played during those time periods.

Dupuis has also appealed to people to check their attics, cellars and barns for items that can be used to portray the town's sports history.

"If people brings in items they will be catalogued and become part of the collection,"?he said.

One item of memorabilia that he is familiar with is a goalie mask that his brother fashioned long before NHL goalies wore them.

"He should have patented it!" Dupuis remarks. His brother, Jake Dupuis, who had won the Canadian junior and university hockey championships, incidentally, was the first athlete nominated for induction to the original hall.

"But the hall is not just about the athletes," Dupuis said. "Even though the athletes are the greatest glory of the Sports Hall of Fame, you have to remember they are a product of the builders. Without the builders, without someone coaching them week after week, the athletes wouldn't develop, wouldn't go on to accomplish great things.

"By builders, I mean the coaches, managers, trainers, referees and the many volunteers, like those who built our arena.

"After the Osborne Arena burned down, the community came together, raised the money to buy the materials and built the arena that the new hall is now part; built it with their own hands. It was understood that you would help. Whether you handed up bricks, carried lumber or held a ladder, you were expected to do whatever you could to help. And everyone did.

"Without volunteers, you don't have facilities, you don't have teams, you don't have leagues and you don't have athletes. It's the volunteers who create the conditions that allow athletes to thrive." "We're a sports town," Dupuis said. "In most communities, sport is a unifying force, a thing that builds community, builds character, future leaders and future volunteers. To me, a community is defined by sports and its history. Penetanguishene is so rich in both. I think people will be proud of this facility and surprised to discover who all of our inductees are.

"The hall is an ongoing process. The remainder of the Trillium grant will be coming next year. It means we will be able to do research and more inductee interviews; to build the collection and build files on the sports history of the town. As with any museum, the displays will be ever changing.

"It won't be weekly or monthly. It may be every year, because you want people to want to come back."

He hopes that eventually the hall will partner with the Centennial Museum so the museum staff can assist with the hall's growth and development.

Dupuis, who grew up in town, is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to Penetanguishene. He has written a history of the town, a book about St. Anne's Church, which he said was the first Martyrs' Shrine, and a book about NHL goalie Terry Sawchuk.

"I believe we have a responsibility to talk about our heritage and our history and do something about it," he said.

The Sports Hall of Fame does that by telling the stories of its inductees, whose accomplishments and contributions to sports will continue to capture the hearts and imagination of future generations by keeping alive Penetanguishene's love affair with sports.

Legacies will live on at PenetanGuishene Sports Hall of fame