Category Archives: Year Inducted

2000 - 2009, All, Builder, Male

WAYNE HUNWICKS

Leave a comment

As a teacher at Collingwood Collegiate Institute (CCI) from 1968 – 1999, Wayne Hunwicks spent his time divided between the classroom and the football field throughout his 31 year career.

Coach Hunwicks has been involved in football for almost 50 years.  He began his career in 1961 as a player at Royal York Collegiate. Upon his arrival to Collingwood in 1968, he quickly became involved in the school’s football program.

Through the years, fifteen local students have carried on their careers at the
collegiate level in the OUAA and other Canadian University Conferences.

Across the country, the “Fighting Owls” continue to fill the rosters of many Canadian
universities such as Queen’s, University of Western Ontario, Wilfred Laurier, Guelph, York and Acadia. Hunwicks coached three players who achieved All-Canadian status at the university level in Todd MacKay, Reinhardt Kellar and most recently Nick Comly.   Both MacKay and Kellar have won the Vanier Cup.

Awaiting his arrival, two existing Hall of Fame members Ryan Potter and Scott Lecky cut their football teeth playing for Coach Hunwicks at CCI and enjoyed successful professional football careers in the Canadian Football League (CFL).  Both players experienced the ultimate goal as participants in Canada’s ultimate football prize, the Grey Cup.

Over the years, it is estimated 1,000+ former students played under his leadership.
Many of these players have grown to become influential citizens as police officers, firefighters, business owners, skilled trades people, lawyers, accountants, school superintendants and teachers, several of whom coach high school football!

Unquestionably, it is the reverence of former players for Coach Hunwicks that has contributed to the success of the Fighting Owls Football Alumni program through their continued support. As per usual, he would deflect all praise for the success of
the Fighting Owls Football Alumni however it is his hand that is the driving force behind its of social fundraising initiatives.

Following his retirement in 1999, Wayne became a volunteer Coach for special teams and the offensive line. The 2008 season will mark Wayne’s 40th year involved in the CCI football program.

1970 - 1979, All, Builder, Harness Racing, Male

CLARENCE “SHORTY” LOCKHART

Leave a comment

The name of Shorty Lockhart must have top billing when Collingwood harness racing
history is written Horsemen like Paddy Stone, Joe Welch and Paddy Neville were
big names in the sulky game at the turn of the century but Shorty completed dominated the scene for thirty-five years. Born in Honeywood, Shorty farmed in the Osprey district before he took to harness racing seriously in his early twenties. His
first good horse Dorothy Peters, was an instant success and he always likes to
talk about Make Believe, a handsome trotter that won him forty races in a
single season.

As implicated by his nickname, “Shorty” is small of stature but his courage and determination offsets the size handicap. He needs nobody to run interference for him because the little man from the Osprey Hills has always been on his own.

One of his greatest triumphs was a victory with Sonny Creed against top drivers like Keith Waples, Dell McTavish and Harold McKinley. Three outstanding match races stand out in his memory; Two against his old rival, Honourable Earl Rowe at Greenwood with Make Believe and at Grand Valley with Dorothy Peters. His match race with Sonny Creed against Dr. Morrish’s – Lochlinvar King was staged before the largest crowed ever to witness a harness race at London Raceway.

Shorty has trained and owned more than one hundred trotters in his days. His ace pacers, Sonny Creed and Single Chips have carried him over the mile at 2.03 at one time ore another and A.W. Chips and McCarr Hanover have stepped it in 2.04 with Shorty in the sulky.

He has fine memories in the racing exploits of such fine horses as Dorothy Peters, Make Believe, Dr. Fleet, Laurentide, Prince Demon, True Spencer, Frisco Van R., Alex Hardy and Collingwood Boy.

Clarence “Shorty” Lockhart has left his mark on the big tracks like the Blue Bonnett and Richelieu in Quebec, Greenwood, Mohawk, Garden City, the old Thorncliffe and Dufferin in Ontario and Batavia and Hamburg across the border.

He just had to be No.1 in the harness racing section of Collingwood’s Sports Hall of Fame.

1900 - 1929, 1970 - 1979, All, Hockey, Male

JOHN DANCE

Leave a comment

They called him the “Hard Rock” and there never was a more suitable moniker to describe this rugged little policeman of the ice lanes in the days when hockey players had to be rugged to survive.

John Dance played in the shadow of such great Collingwood stars as Rabbi Fryer, Jack Burns, Frank Cook, Harold Lawrence, Angus McKinnon and the Foulis brothers but it was his back checking and bodychecking that gave the stars the chance to shine.

He played junior for several years before he made the Intermediate club in 1911, the year after the Shipbuilders won their first O.H.A. title.

The team missed out in 1911 and 1912 but it was Dance who knocked down the obstacles and led the team to the championship again in 1913.

It was his greatest year. He skated interference for the big scores and took many a thump that was meant for the top scorers, Fryer, Burns and Lawrence, but his goal came in the big clutches.

Three times on the way to the final round, Dance came through with game winning goals. Collingwood won the first game of the provincial final against London Acadians 6-5 and Dance poked in the winner. London won 2-1 at home and tied the round. The third and deciding game played before six thousands fans in Toronto went to the Shipbuilders 3-2. Dance scored one goal and set up the winner.

Collingwood did not win another championship until 1918 and once again John Dance bore the brunt of the enemy attack. He hung up his skates in 1919 but he took them down again twelve years later. With his old teams mates, Frank Cook and Jack Burns, he came back to help the Odd fellows win the Collingwood Senior Hockey title. He was forty-three years old at the time.

John Dance died on April 14th, 1965, in his 77th year.

 

 

1900 - 1929, 1970 - 1979, All, Athlete, Male

TOM FOLEY

Leave a comment

Very few old timers are alive to-day to recall the rowing exploits of Thomas “Iron Man” Foley.

The glamorous days of the great waterfront regattas are long past but seventy-five years ago rowing was the number 1 sport in this neck of the woods.

Foley built his own sculling shell and he learned the rudiments of the game without benefit of a professional coach. But he met and defeated some of the greatest scullers of his days-Jack Gaudaur, father of the president of the Canadian Football League, Matt Bisley, Mel Herman, Ben Dempster, Billy Gerioux, Frank Gaudaur, Billy Hamilton and Bob Kennedy- the rowing giants of the eighties and the nineties.

Jack Gaudaur, winner of the famed Diamond Sculls and a consistent winner in the Henley-On-The-Thomas classic, met Foley twice. Foley beat him in Midland and Jack reversed the decision in Orillia on Dominion Day, 1896.

Bob Kennedy was the American champion seven years in a row and Tom Foley beat him twice in one afternoon.

At the height of his career he hung up his oars. He was in the process of raising a large family and building a successful leather tanning business and he could not afford the time to train. It was Ned Hanlon,Canada’s greatest oarsman, who said. “Foley could have won a world title had he stayed another three years”.

Tom Foley died May 4th, 1939. We have always regretted that many of his trophies were destroyed in the fire which swept through the Huron Institute about 25 years ago.

1980 - 1989, All, Builder, Male

HUGH DAVIDSON

Leave a comment

The Hugh Davidson Cup that is presented each year to public school students is a tribute to this former school principal who was entered into the Sports Hall of Fame as a
Builder in 1984.

He organized many sporting competitions during his many years as Principal of Victoria School.

1950 - 1969, 1980 - 1989, All, Hockey, Male

RAY CREW

Leave a comment

Born in 1934, this hockey player got his start with the Collingwood Minor Hockey Association.

He played with the Collingwood Junior C Club, before playing with the Junior ‘A’ – Guelph Biltmores. He played professional hockey in several cities, including New
Haven, Three Rivers Knoxville and Philadelphia in the Eastern Hockey League (EHL). His career in the EHL ended following the 1968-69 season as a player-coach with the Syracuse Blazers.

He moved to Wallingford, Connecticut where he coached a high school hockey team.

1950 - 1969, 1980 - 1989, All, Baseball, Hockey, Male

CHARLES FRYER

Leave a comment

In Collingwood, Charlie Fryer was known as an all-round athlete, but he was best known in baseball and hockey.

The only position Charlie played on a baseball field was pitcher, and later in the fifties after pitching spectacularly with the Collingwood Chev-Olds baseball club, Charlie would continue to show his excellence by being invited to the spring training camp of the St. Thomasclub in the Inter-County baseball league, not making the club due to injuries.

As a hockey player, Charlie was no stranger to championships, having been a defenseman on six all-Ontario championship teams.

Charlie eventually worked his way up to be captain of the Collingwood Greenshirts that won three consecutive all-Ontario Junior “C” titles in 1952-53-54.

As well as playing for the Greenshirts, Charlie while still junior age, was called up to play on the intermediate Shipbuilders team.  Again, his play and leadership style helped win two more Ontario championships.

Charlie has been a referee of minor and recreational hockey for 30 years.  He is carded to referee CMHA finals, OMHA, the Central Ontario Hockey League and Western Ontario Hockey League.

When he finished playing hockey and baseball, Charlie returned to Collingwood where he was assessor for the town form 1960 -1987, leaving that position due to health reasons.  During that time, Charlie stayed involved in the Collingwood Minor Hockey Association coaching Midget and Juvenile teams.

1990 - 1999, All, Builder, Male

DON PAUL DR.

Leave a comment

Born in Hamilton on March 5, 1933, Don Paul grew up in Pamour, Ontario.  Following his schooling in South Porcupine, Toronto, and University of Toronto, ‘Doc’ as he is known to all, moved to Collingwood in 1961. Don and his wife Joan have raised three children, Margo, Gordon and Douglas.

Unquestionably, Don’s recognition as a ‘Builder” is the result of his ongoing efforts on behalf of the local charities and sports. A list of his contribution to our sports scene is all-encompassing as illustrated by this summary of his involvement.

-Past President and executive member of the Collingwood Shipbuilder hockey clubs

-Past President and charter member of the Collingwood Blue Mountain Golf and Country Club

-Member of the management committee of the Ontario Winter Games (1991)

-Chairman of the fundraising committee for the Ontario Winter Games (1991)

-Executive and charter member of the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame (1974-1990)

-Member of the executive committee for fundraising campaign for the Collingwood YMCA (1978)

-Past Chairman of the Collingwood Recreation Board.

–Player, coach and manager Christies’s Men’s Wear Slo-Pitch Club,(a) All-Ontario finalists 1978-1990; (b) Summerfest Tournament champions three times; (c) League champions three times.

-Collingwood Summerfest Slo-Pitch Tournament chairman (1985-1990)

-Member of the Foundation of the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital.

-Past president of the Collingwood Rotary Club.

-Presented the Order of Collingwood, January 1, 1991.

Don Paul was inducted into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame on June 20, 1992, into the Builders’ Category.

2000 - 2009, 2010 - 2019, All, Male, Other

CHRIS STOUTENBURG

Leave a comment

Chris Stoutenburg’s was an all-around athlete that excelled in football, basketball, golf, track and field. During his senior year at CCI, many Canadian Universities scouted his football talents with Guelph ultimately being selected as Chris’s choice to wear their colours for the coming season.

In 1997, after sustaining a spinal cord injury, Chris refocused his athletic talent into the sport of wheelchair basketball where he has never looked back! A life-long Collingwood resident, Chris has become a collector of gold – gold medallions! Within 2 years, Chris became a member of the national team in 1999, Chris’s national team athletic career is represented by two Paralympic gold medals   (2000-Sydney & 2004-Athens) and one silver medal (2008 –Beijing; a world championship and Wheelchair Basketball Canada All Star (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008).
Today, a recent retiree from the national wheelchair basketball program, Chris has begun to focus his energies towards sledge hockey.Away from the world of athletics, Chris dedicates himself towards for the seamless integration of disabled persons into society. As a spokesperson on Accessibility and Paralympic Sport, Chris represents Canada Basketball, Sunnybrook “Life after Injury” and Breaking Down Barriers. Annually, he is the featured guest speaker at 20+ engagements annually.

In 2008, Chris’s services were called upon as he was the honorary chair of the 2008 Ontario Paralympic Winter Championships held in Collingwood. In his words, “never stop keep making people aware of disabilities but don’t hesitate to beat the odds yourself, make yourself important and build the muscles that still work and find another way.” Unquestionably, words that have driven Chris Stoutenburg to his incredible number of achievements in Paralympic sport. His international successes in Wheelchair Basketball have made Chris Stoutenburg a global ambassador for the Town of Collingwood.

2000 - 2009, All, Builder, Male, Skiing

JIM SINCLAIR

2 Comments

Having never been much of a cross-country skier as a youth, Duntroon’s Jim Sinclair still can’t explain why he became so involved with the sport that has earned his induction as a builder into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame.

After being exposed to Nordic skiing while on a three-year teaching stint in Sault Ste. Marie in the early ’60s, the 74-year-old Sinclair stepped into the coaching role of the Collingwood Collegiate’s cross-country squad for almost 20 years while also serving as an automotive instructor at the school. “I don’t know why we were drawn to
it, but we were. We used to ski as a family at Blue Mountain all the time – and I know it seems like a pittance now – but $5 for a lift ticket was too much,” Sinclair said. “So we tried something different. I took some technique lessons and it just grew from there. It was a pretty young sport at that time. Another teacher, Greg Titus, tried to get a Nordic team going, but he was involved with so many other sports, so I put my name in.”

Sinclair literally wrote the book on organizing cross-country skiing races for the
Southern Ontario Division for the provincial sports association and he helped
establish the successful Highlands Nordic facility in Duntroon, which is now owned and operated by his oldest son, Larry. With approximately 500 members and over 21 kilometres of trails, Highlands Nordic has become a world-class facility that has hosted several major competitions, including national championships, the 1993 world high school meet and the 1997 Special Olympics World Winter Games.

Sinclair played a key organizing role in those events, along with many others, including the 1991 Ontario Winter Games and the OFSAA championships in 1974 at Kolapore.

He downplays his role as a catalyst behind the development of Highlands Nordic and cross-country skiing at CCI and in southern Ontario in general, but his dedication continues to this day. He planned and worked on trails in Loree Forest, what is now Central Park in Collingwood and Huron Highlands and began hosting Georgian Bay and Ontario high school meets.

“I always said I was never going to do another trail after those and then I got into it big time at Highlands Nordic,” the Ottawa native added. “(Duntroon Highlands Golf Club founder) Dalt Sampson started the skiing and he cleared a lot of the trails himself. I don’t think that man ever skied, but he knew enough to make a nice, wide trail and didn’t make turns at the bottom of hills. Everything was done right the first
time around.”

This evening, October 23, 2004, the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame welcomes Jim
Sinclair as an enshrined member for his role as a Builder of our athletic community.