“Jeep” Jackson qualifies for the Hall of Fame in many sports including hockey, baseball and softball.

His playing career spans 30+ years that was highlighted by his championship run of eight (8) provincial championships throughout the 1940’s on the ice and ball diamonds

This evening in 1984 marks the induction of “Jeep” into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame.

Big Don Jeffery, long time manager of the Collingwood Community Arena, was a born
diplomat.

He had to be to keep everybody happy in the day to day operation of the town’s
main recreation centre.

For a quarter of a century, Don wrestled with the problems of the Figure Skating
and Adult Skating Clubs, junior, intermediate and senior hockey organization,
community skating and hustling attractions to pay the light bills during the
off season.

On top of that he had to keep the Collingwood Council and the Arena Commission
happy by keeping the budget under control.

Since 1955, until his retirement in 1981, he served under five Mayors and eight Arena
Commissioners. “Jeff” was a police force in himself. It was a familiar sight to watch him elbowing a path through a hockey crowd to get to the scene of a disturbance in the seats. Usually, he managed to smooth things out by appealing to reason but if he was forced to use muscle he had the equipment. Even if the trouble makers were inflamed with the grape, they thought twice before tangling with his 6 feet 1 inch-230 pound frame and the courage to match. Jeff believed in that old adage,” Speak softly but carry a big stick.”

Besides running the rink, he served on the executive of the junior and intermediate teams. Born in Collingwood, Jeff’s own active playing career spanned a decade. He played on Collingwood Junior O.H.A. clubs in 1936 and 1937 and then jumped to the Senior “A” ranks with Amour Mines in 1938. That team was ousted by the famed
Kirkland Lake Blue Devils who went on to win the Allan Cup.

He came back to his old home town in 1939 to help Bern Brophy and the Collingwood
Shipbuilders win the O.H.A. Intermediate “A” title. Jeff was on the move again the following year with St. Catherine’s and that team went to the O.H.A. Senior “A” finals against a strong Toronto Goodyear team.

He returned home in 1941 with the Shipbuilders where his active career came to an end after a serious eye injury in a game with the Orillia Terriers.

Before his appointment to the manager ship of the arena he served as bench manager
under Coach Eddie Bush when the Shipbuilders won the Intermediate “A” title in 1951 and 1952.

Right from the start Jeff made it a point to try to keep the arena open to the public
the year around. The building closed for only two weeks during the early summer
when his staff painted the building from stem to stern.

During his tenure as arena manager he supervised many new additions to the complex and instigated the plan to add blocks of new seats every year. During the last ten years the renovation plans included a new floor and roof, new sideboards and glass backstops.

Don Jeffery is a welcome addition to the Sports Hall of Fame. He earned his induction as an Athlete and  Builder.

John Palmer’s racing boats were built for speed – at times exceeding 100 miles per
hour! Introduced to speed boat racing at that age of 14, John was Canada’s
highest profile, hardest working race boat builder, designer and racer.

John created the infamous Slokum II race boat in 1947 and captured Canada’s
Hydroplane championship for the next 7 consecutive years.

He reached the pinnacle of his career in 1969 when he rebuilt a 280 cc class
inboard hydroplane, including the engine to take the Canadian championships on
Couchiching Bay by 20 seconds in front of 10,000 spectators.

In later years, he transferred his mechanical engineering knowledge into an “ice
racing” boat.

John and his wife Phyllis are the proud parents of Sue Palmer-Komar, a world class
cyclist.

I would have liked to have written the story of Bill McLean while he was still
with us but he wanted no part of personal publicity.

Bill’s contributions to the development of sport and young athletes in Collingwood
were hidden under a bushel because that’s the way Bill wanted it.

This single incident, one of many, will attest to the true spirit of helping others
that was Bill McLean’s greatest human asset.

About forty-five years ago we were having a hard time assembling a Junior O.H.A. hockey team. The main stumbling block was the lack of cash. We didn’t have enough of that commodity to pay the entrance fee.

A hastily called meeting was attended by six or seven interested citizens. The
interested citizens ignored the poor turn-out and went ahead with the election
of a board of directors.

Bill McLean, who had returned to Collingwood to practice law after an absence of
many years, slipped unannounced into the meeting just before it broke up. He
didn’t even identify himself but sought out he newly elected treasurer- the treasurer without a treasury.

“Would like to help a little” he said, as he slipped a bill into the treasurer’s hand and departed. It was a one hundred-dollar bill. He didn’t even wait for a “thank you” and that was his only donation as the season progressed.

That was only one incident in the life of Bill McLean where he helped without
looking for anything in return-not even acknowledgement.

Born in Barrie in 1896, Bill taught public school in Collingwood for two years before moving out to Weyburn, Saskatchewan. He played centre for the Presbyterian Theolgian College team in Saskatchewan in 1922 and 1923 but his crowing athletic achievement came in 1923 when he coached the University of Saskatchewan Senior Hockey Team to the Allan Cup finals. This team lost by a single goal in a two-game series to the famed Toronto Granites, Olympic winners in National Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

A year later he coached the Regina girls’ hockey club to the provincial title.

An accomplished marksman he captained the University of Saskatchewan rifle team for two years.

Mr. McLean was admitted to the bar in 1925. He practiced in Indian Head,  Saskatchewan, and Barrie, before returning to Collingwood in 1944.

From 1944 until his death in 1977, he supported Collingwood hockey and ball teams in his own quiet way and during that time became involved in harness racing as a
driver and attained notable success with Billie Direct and Bunty Gratton.

Bill McLean, gentleman, scholar and sportsman, has well earned his niche in
Collingwood’s Sports Hall of Fame.

George “The Trainer” Montgomery was a pint sized man with the heart of a lion and the courage of a wounded wolverine.

Suffering from chronic asthma from the day of his birth, George tried his best but his
physical handicap prevented him from making an organized team.

However, “The Trainer”, as he was affectionately called by his host of friends, made a scientific study of every sporting event. He was an absolute authority on the statistics of hockey, baseball and football.

But his specialty was organization. George was the moving force behind the founding
of the Collingwood Minor Hockey Association back in 1946. He pounded on doors,
pestered the life out of pockets and peddled fund raising raffle tickets.

But he made Collingwood fans minor hockey conscious and laid the foundation for an
organization that now boasts the control of 400 young hockey players in five leagues, plus the sponsorship of Tyke, Novice, Pee Wee, Bantam, Midget and Juvenile teams representing Collingwood in the vast Ontario Minor Hockey Association. George Montgomery needs no stone commemorate his tireless efforts. The Collingwood Minor Hockey Association is his monument.

His proudest hour came in 1949 when his Collingwood Clubs won the O.M.H.A. Juvenile title. That was the greatest kid team to ever wear Collingwood colours and
every player came step by step up through the hockey organization he founded and help develop.

During his comparatively short lifetime, he served as President of the Collingwood
Minor Hockey Association, the Collingwood Hockey League, Collingwood Softball
League and served as director on several baseball clubs and the short lived Collingwood Lacrosse Club, back in the hungry thirties. This great little man died too soon-far too soon.

There is a popular cliché that goes “Let George Do It”. It is an expression
that is sometime bandied about in a light hearted manner when we are referring
to a person who will take everything you throw at him in the shape of work.

Just change that trite expression to “Let Andy Do It”, and, in the town of
Collingwood, it means only one individual-Andy Morritt of 5 Victory Drive (When you can find him at home).

More suitable addresses for Andy would be the Community Arena or ball park in town.

For almost twenty-five years Andy has been the eye pillar in Collingwood’s Minor
Hockey structure, the Collingwood Kiwanis Minor Softball League and the Blue
Mountain Softball League.

He first became involved in minor hockey in 1958 and since that time had served as
President, Vice-President, Secretary, Collingwood’s representative in the provincial Little N.H.L., equipment manager and the chief organizer for the difficult task of arranging ice time for seven leagues and a hundred or so tournaments.

He was the original organizer of the annual Blue Mountain Pee Wee hockey
Tournament always held during the Christmas school break.

One year the tournament netted fifteen hundred dollars through the sale of programs
and admissions. He was ably assisted by the ladies Auxiliary of the Collingwood Minor Hockey Association.

When he resigned as President, a trophy was dedicated in his honour. This annual
award goes to the person regarded as the most dedicated to Collingwood Minor
Hockey.

Andy, with the assistance of Sam McLeod, founded the Outdoor rink for children on Hurontario Street.

Back in 1957 Andy was a moving force behind the formation of the Collingwood Kiwanis Minor Softball Association under the guidance of Jim Durrant.

It was tough going for Morritt and the Kiwanis Club to keep a couple of dozen
teams in four divisions supplied with coaches, managers and umpires. As the
league grew, the Kiwanis Club found it getting more difficult to keep pace with
the growth and Andy went knocking on the doors for team sponsors. With the help
of the local media and the radio station merchants, service clubs and industries co-operated to keep the association going.

In 1975, a girls’ league was added to the association. Not long ago the  Collingwood Kiwanis Club presented Andy Morritt with and award in appreciation of his devoted efforts in helping the youth of the town.

He was the workhorse behind the Blue Mountain Softball League. On two occasions he rallied support for the league when it was on the verge of folding. He seemed
to be the chairman of every committee. He ran the league canteen, raked the
diamond, dusted off the sears, kept a sharp eye on the treasury and even took
on the duties of a Private Eye to track down the culprits who pilfered a couple
of fifty-dollar home plates.

It was a long time in coming but Andy Morritt is now a member of Collingwood’s
Sports Hall of Fame. No man deserves that honour more.

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 Shipbuilders’ 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.