Category Archives: Sport

1990 - 1999, 2000 - 2009, 2010 - 2019, All, Golf, Male

BRIAN FRENCH

Respected and competitive golf professional Brian French has been a member of Team Ontario five times in Titleist Cup match-play action. His team won the 2010 event played at the Royal Quebec Golf Club in Boischatel. ‘Frenchie’ holds course records locally at Cranberry Resort (66), Mad River (68) and Monterra (66). Among his many achievements was being the leading money winner in the 1989 Ontario Assistants’ Order of Merit.

The winner of more than 10 Ontario professional golf tournaments, French shot a 68 at Deerhurst and a 64 at Tor Hill Golf Club in Regina; both course records. He captured two consecutive championships in the Pro-Am event at the National Golf Club in Woodbridge. He also won the Head Professional T.P.D. Fall Classic at the Barrie Golf and Country Club. In 1986, French won the Saskatchewan Open and was a three-time member of the Willingdon Cup. As part of the Willingdon Cup, he was among the top four amateur golfers in Saskatchewan.

French has shot one double-eagle — on hole #14 at Cranberry — and collected 11 aces in his strong golfing career.

French has been the head golf professional at Mad River Golf Club in Creemore since 1994 and is in his 25th year as an accomplished golf instructor. He was also head pro at Cranberry. He continues to be an avid supporter of developing and promoting popular junior golf programs. Along with being a prolific squash player, he was a class ‘A’ squash referee and a member of the Saskatchewan Squash Association.

While attending Collingwood Collegiate Institute, French was part of the badminton team and continued playing the sport at university. The CCI golf team one year featured French, his brother Tim, and the Jacksons, Mike and Paul.

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

BRIAN BAILEY

Brian Bailey is the wind beneath the wings of the Collingwood Sailing School, which has been recognized by the Canadian Yachting Association and teaches the ropes to
more than 100 youth and adults each year. A Collingwood Yacht Club member since
1973, the Manchester, U.K.-born Bailey raced DEIMOS, an Express 30, for 29
years. The long-time sailor has been the club’s Keel Boat Champion three times. He has been commodore of the local yacht club as well as a member of its board of directors for more than 20 years. In Toronto, he was part of a successful racing crew on a custom C & C 34 which won the Royal Canadian Yacht Club’s;Champion of Champions.

Bailey was the catalyst in the history of the successful Collingwood Sailing School. He
channeled his energy, knowledge and pride into a unique educational opportunity
for budding sailors in the region. Bailey’s early involvement in the sailing school resulted when his son, Kyle, was hired by the former Watts Skiff Sailing School in 2001 as its sole instructor. The following season, he became the volunteer course director helping to drive increased enrolment, improved classroom instruction on the second floor of the Collingwood Terminals warehouse, and organized the repair of a collection of cast-off boats.

The Sailing School, in 2011, had close to 120 students and five instructors. (Almost
all of the instructors hired have been former graduates of the program.) The school’s fleet of 20 boats receives heavy use throughout the summer season. Student volunteers earn valuable experience for their instructor certification and community placement hours for high school graduation requirements. The school offers Canadian Yachting Association White Sail I, II, III, and Bronze IV; V courses at the Collingwood Harbour. The school uses a variety of dinghies from 7.5 feet to 14 feet.

Bailey is an avid skier, working as a Blue Mountain patroller from 1995 to 2004. He was a Mosport racer from 1961 to 1967 with his Sunbeam Alpine car. His first race was in front of a crowd of 50,000 people. He is passionate about all three sports; sailing, skiing and racing; describing how participants carve into turns in each of them. “You feel it”, he said. “You slide through it. If you have done all three, you can relate.”

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

ADRIAN VAN DEN HOVEN

Adrian van den Hoven is a sailing master of the Great Lakes. He is the first Canadian to complete solo racing on all five of the lakes, has won his division in all but one of the lakes, and was our country’s first participant in the Super Mac marathon race. For his outstanding efforts, he was awarded the Collingwood Yacht Club’s James Russell Memorial Trophy in 2011 for Meritorious Navigation skills. He’s proven to be one of the best in his racing division.

Seven years after beginning the sport of sailing, van den Hoven set sail on a racing career in 1997. Three years later, he was racing solo and placed first in the 2003 Collingwood Yacht Club Invitational Race. Three out of the five times that he entered the Georgian Bay Sailing Regatta from 2000 to 2008, he placed first in his division and took overall honours in ’00. As part of the crew aboard the 42-foot Benateau ‘Smokum Too’ out of Thornbury, he worked the foredeck handling sails and spinnaker from 2000 to 2011. In 2006, the boat became the first-ever Canadian entry to win overall honours in the Chicago – Mackinac race.

van den Hoven enjoys working out and training, skis alpine and cross-country during the winter months. He works as a full-time employee with Hydro One as a Hydro One Lines Supervisor in Stayner, Ontario.

1950 - 1969, 1970 - 1989, 1980 - 1989, All, Male, Other

ROBERT “BOB” STOREY

Known as “Mr. Bobsleigh” in Canada, Bob Storey was involved in the Olympics for 45+ years as an athlete, official and volunteer.

In the 1960’s, he was a young competitor that trained on rollerblade wheels given
Canada’s lack of any bobsleigh training facility. His first taste of the  Olympics came during the 1976 Innsbruck games as a breakman. Subsequently, he  moved to the front of the sleight piloting Canada I at the World Cup and
Championships until his retirement in 1974. He competed in the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games in the two and four man categories finishing 17th and 19th respectively.

Following his competitive career, Bob began his second career as a representative for the sport of bobsleigh. In this role, he advised national and international sports  bodies and was instrumental in the decision to allow Womens’ bobsleigh and skelton into the 2002 Olympics. He has served as a director and member of the Canadian Olympic Committee that was successful in securing the 1988 Calgary and 2010 Vancouver host bids.

In 1998, he was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Sports Hall of Fame as a builder.

1930 - 1949, 1980 - 1989, All, Hockey, Male

CLARENCE “RUSTY” BUTTERS

Rusty Butters was another rugged East Enders who learned his basic hockey on Legatt’s Mill Pond.
His hockey career spanned almost two decades but his long athletic career was not confined to the winter pastime.
Rusty was an exceptionally good football player-good enough to be offered a tryout with the Balmy Beach O.R.F.U. senior team back in 1930. He didn’t accept the offer but instead went to work in the Enterprise-Bulletin. It might have been the biggest mistake of his life. Several big league football coaches were of the opinion that the big outside winger could have made it easily.
His hockey career started with the East End junior and seniors in the old Collingwood Town Hockey League and he graduated to the local O.H.A. junior entry.
For the next fifteen years he made his presence known as a hard hitting, rock ribbed defense player with Collingwood Intermediate and Senior clubs. Rusty and the late Dutch Cain, the King of the body checkers, struck terror into the hearts of opposing forwards for a number of years. Dutch dropped them like stones with his wizardly body checks and the two hundred-pound Rusty crunched then into or over the boards.
Butters had the privilege of playing with such Collingwood hockey greats as Rabbi Fryer, Buck Walton, Jack Burns and Wink Foulis, when this formidable quartette was finishing off their careers in the thirties.
His one and only championship medal came in 1939 when the Collingwood Shipbuilders won the O.H.A. Intermediate “A” title.
Rusty played his last hockey game in Kingston in 1947 when the Shipbuilders were eliminated in the O.H.A. Senior “B” semi-finals round.
At the urging of Red Farrel, he took to refereeing in the O.H.A. and wound up by handling a hundred or so games in the Junior, Intermediate and Senior series before hanging up his skates in 1955.
His track and field career was short but despite his two hundred-pounds stocky stature, Rusty could step the 100 yard sprint in eleven seconds.
A good swimmer and a cracking fine diver, he won the annual Collingwood Aquatic Meet senior diving title three years in a row in the early thirties.
A hard hitting second baseman in the old Collingwood Senior Softball League, hit fifteen home runs in 1931 to help Huck Caesar’s Beavers win the championship. He had a short fling at lacrosse in 1937 on Collingwood’s last lacrosse team.

1980 - 1989, All, Builder, Female, Skating

SADIE HOUGHTON

The Blue Mountain Figure Skating Club has been on of the main attractions in the Eddie Bush Memorial Arena for the past 35 years (as of 1986), and the person almost totally responsible for its foundation was the late Sadie Houghton. She was an enthusiastic and accomplished skater herself and she lost no time in creating interest in the sport when the new arena was built in 1948. She found out the late “Mac” McDermid, the first arena manager, was once a member of the famed Granite Club of Toronto, and she immediately went to work on Mac to help with the formation of a club in Collingwood.

In 1951, the arena staged a benefit night for the General and Marine Hospital and Sadie make sure that several of her top skaters, including her niece, Joanne Houghton, Carol Brophy and Pauline Pitz were on the program. The skaters were an immediate hit with the crowd and The Blue Mountain Figure Skating Club was born with Sadie Houghton as the first president. The group became a member of the Canadian Figure Skating Association and Pauline Pitz and Joanne Houghton were the first two Collingwood skaters to pass the difficult Canadian Figure Skating tests.

Sadie remained as president of the club during its first four years and then was made honorary President for the rest of her life.

She spent most of her free time in the arena and made sure that every child got full opportunity to take part in the ice shows. Sadie died on May 17, 1960, at the age of 58.

Sadie Houghton was inducted into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.

1930 - 1949, 1950 - 1969, 1980 - 1989, All, Female, Skiing, Track & Field

MARCELLA PLATER KEITH

Marcella Keith was inducted into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame in July, l984 through her exploits in Track & Field and Alpine Skiing.

Marcella was a recognized Track and Field Champion in 1946, 1947 & 1948 at meets in Kitchener-Waterloo, Owen Sound, Orillia. In 1947, she was the C.C.I. Girls Champion while in 1946 & 47 Marcella was 1st in C.C.I.’s inaugural Alpine Ski meet. In 1947, 1948 & 1949, Marcella was combined champion at meets in Huntsville, Own Sound & Collingwood.

Marcella was a graduate of Blue Mountain’s first Ski Patrol class in 1949. When not patrolling the hills to assist others, Marcella was crowned Collingwood Ski Club Senior Ladies Champion in 1963 & 1964.

The sporting community was saddened when Marcella passed away in November 2021

1950 - 1969, 1980 - 1989, All, Female, Skiing

GRETA McGILLIVRAY

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Skiing became part of Greta Jepsen’s life five years after she was born in the Caledon Hills and she followed the snow trails in competition and for pleasure for forty-five years.
A member of an athletic family, (her father, the late Svend Jepsen was once a star member of the Danish National Gymnastic Team), Mrs. McGillivray not only excelled in skiing but was proficient in tennis, swimming, gymnastics and figure skating. Ski training came natural as she skied two and a half miles to school every day in the wintertime from her Caledon home to Inglewood.
She went to work at Quebec’s Mount Tremblant in 1952 and started competing in all races in that area to gain rating with the Laurentian Zone. At that time there was no rating in Ontario. She won Class “A” rating with her performances at St. Savieur, Mount Gabriel, St. Jovite and Val Cartier.
Her first big victory came in the 1952 Tachereau, where she set a record. This success was followed by a Gold Medal win at Mount Tremblant and another record for women. In 1953 she competed in all the major Class “A” races-Ryan Cup, Canadian Championships, Kandahar-and finally was selected to go win the Canadian National Team to the North America and World Championships at Mount Mansfield, Stowe, in Vermont. At the world championships she placed thirteenth. In 1956 Greta won the Ontario Ladies Class “A” title and repeated in 1957.
She has won the Southern Ontario title six times and the Osler Bluff Senior championship on several occasions. Over the years she has taken a keen interest in the development of young skiers and at the present time conducts a cross country school two days a week in the winter months. Greta was been a valued official in local ski meets for twenty years – principally as a chief starter.
Mrs. McGillivray is very much into cross country skiing and she feels she is part of her beloved Blue Mountain. “There is no part of the Blue Mountain that is foreign to me. “I’ve criss-crossed its contours on foot and on skis and usually climb it three or four times a week. Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter- the Blue Mountain is my home” she stated recently. Mrs. McGillivray’s son and three daughters all competed for the Queen’s University Ski Team.
Greta McGillivray had come along way in the world of skiing since she cavorted over the hills of Caledon. She is a worthy and welcome addition to Collingwood’s Sports Hall of Fame.

 

1990 - 1999, 2000 - 2009, 2000 - 2009, All, Female, Other

JILL MILLER

Jill Miller was born in Birmingham England in 1951, moving to Collingwood in 1977. After joining the Blue Mountain Weightlifting Club in 1991, she started competing Internationally on the Canadian Masters Weightlifting Team in 1993. During this time, Jill organized and competed provincially at competitions taking home numerous – Ontario Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, as well as the Ontario Open Championship. Jill has won the Canadian Masters Weight Lifting Championships in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2003.

Every year, since 1993, she has competed International at events hosted in Austria, Australia, Canada, United States, Scotland and the Dominican Republic.

Jill competed for 15+ years through to the World Masters Weightlifting Championships and was honored as “Best Lifter” in her age group on a number of occasions which is determined by the use of a formula that equalizes both age and body weight. 

Record Lifts:

World Masters Games Record Holder
Pan American Record Holder
Commonwealth Record Holder
Canadian Record Holder

Weight-lifting accomplishments include:

Pan American Masters Champion – 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005
World Masters Championship – 2nd Place – 1999, 2000
Canadian National Masters Champion – 2001, 2002, 2003
World Masters Champion – 2003, 2004
World Masters Games – 2nd Place 2005

Jill’s passion for weightlifting is not focused entirely on competition as she has often assumed the required administrative tasks to ensure that the sport of weightlifting continues to flourish not only in Collingwood but provincially and nationally. Her various undertakings have brought Collingwood worldwide recognition.

In addition to weightlifting, Jill’s is a Level alpine ski instructor, Swimming Instructor, Lifeguard and Swimming Course Instructor.

1) Co-chair of World Master Weightlifting Championships – Collingwood 1996
2) Co-chair of Pan American Masters Weightlifting Championships – Collingwood 1999
3) Co-chair Canadian Weightlifting Championships – Collingwood 2001
4) Co-chair of annual Collingwood Open Weightlifting Championships Approx 8 times
5) Representative of Collingwood on the Provincial , National & International weightlifting scene
6) President of the Ontario Weightlifting Association
7) Member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Weightlifting Federation
8) Chairperson of a Coaching Association of Canada committee for the development of new coaching resources for Weightlifting Canadian Coaches
9) Master Learning Facilitator training coaches in Canada
10) Level 3 Nationally Certified Coach
11) Coach of the Blue Mountain Weightlifting Club – 50+ members
12) Developer of strength (Olympic style weightlifting ) training program for older adults
1930 - 1949, 1990 - 1999, All, Baseball, Female

IZORA MUSSELMAN

Izorz (Keith) Musselman attended King George Public School and Collingwood Collegiate Institute. She was an outstanding athlete and was always considered a team player.

From 1942 to 1944 Izora played for the Clyde Aircraft sponsored baseball team. They played in a league with Thornbury, Wyeville, Barrie and Base Borden. Izora was the teams number one pitcher as well as an excellent outfielder.

In 1945 Clyde Aircraft closed and Izora was recruited by the Stratford Krochler Team. The Krochlers played in the Provincial Women’s Softball Association League. The other teams were from Brantford, Preston, Hespler, Waterloo, Kitchener and London.

Izora was a much valued member of the team. Her personality and team value were always held in high regard by her teammates as well as management. During Izors’s term with the Krochler’s they won five Provincial Championships in 1946, 49, 50, 53, and 55. Izora was very versatile, playing both infield and outfield, but was very outstanding as a right fielder.

Izora moved to Stratford with her husband Stan where they raised their son who served in the Canadian Navy.