P R E S S R E L E A S E CITY OF MIRAMICHI SPORTS WALL OF FAME The Board of Directors of the City of Miramichi Sports Wall of Fame has selected ten (10) honourees to be inducted to the wall at a ceremony to be held on Friday, February 19, 2010 at the Rodd Miramichi Inn. The inductees include one (1) team, five (5) athletes, three (3) builders, and one (1) team in the veterans category. Following are brief profiles of the inductees for 2010. KEVIN BURCHILL ATHLETE Kevin Burchill is recognized for his achievements in Judo. Another of Ian Barry s students, Kevin began his mastery of the sport in 1975. By 1978 he had become accomplished enough to win New Brunswick and Atlantic senior championships. In 1979 he repeated as Maritime and N. B. Senior champ, and also won a gold medal at the Canada Winter Games in Brandon, Manitoba. In June 1980 he won gold at the Canadian Junior championships at Baie Comeau, Quebec. In December, 1980, Kevin was chosen to represent Canada at the Pan American Junior Judo Championships in Mexico City. He lost only one bout on his way to the gold medal. Kevin is the holder of a Fourth Degree Black Belt in Judo, and has competed in Canada, the U. S., Mexico, and Europe, winning numerous titles and awards for his prowess in the sport....continued...2
-2- BILL FENELON BUILDER Bill Fenelon began umpiring baseball in Newcastle in 1960 at the age of 12. Forty plus years later Bill retired from umpiring, having officiated at all levels from minor to senior baseball, at the local, provincial, and national levels. Bill was the zone chief umpire for more than thirty years, assuming responsibility for scheduling and supervising his fellow officials. He was a certified softball umpire, and also refereed hockey for a twenty-five year period from 1970 to 1995. Bill was an accomplished athlete and coach in baseball, hockey, and football, giving much to the youth of his community over thirty years, but it is mainly for his work as a baseball umpire that Bill is esteemed, honoured, and respected in the Miramichi community, and beyond. BRIAN KING ATHLETE Brian King is recognized for his achievements as a baseball and hockey player. Brian became a senior baseball player, at the age of 17, with the Chatham Ironmen. He was recruited, at 18, to play with the Moncton Keefe Cubs at the national junior tournament in 1968, and, again the following year, he played with Moncton, helping the 1969 team to a bronze medal. Brian played on five provincial-championship Ironmen teams, and his pitching and hitting were often instrumental in leading the Ironmen to victory in key games. In 2000 Brian was inducted into the New Brunswick Baseball Hall of Fame. Brian also had an outstanding hockey career, primarily with Chatham intermediate and senior teams, and he was noted as a hard-nosed, rugged player, who also displayed a deft touch around the opposition s net. Following his playing days, Brian became a respected hockey referee and a respected city councillor in Miramichi, but his achievements as an athlete are well remembered by his peers and fans of Ironmen baseball and hockey....continued.../3
-3- PETER MANDERSON ATHLETE Peter Manderson has been called the King of the Mound in the New Brunswick Softball world of the 1960s. He was the recognized team leader as the Loggieville Bisons won the Maritime Intermediate A championship in 1964, the Maritime Senior B title in 1965, and the Maritime Senior A title in 1966. From 1961 through 1969, Peter Manderson pitched 200 softball games, winning 138 and losing 62. He was inducted into the Softball New Brunswick Hall of Fame in 1994. Peter was also an accomplished hockey player, competing in the Chatham minor hockey program, and at Mount Allison University from 1963 through 1968. He was Athlete of the Year at Mount Allison in 1968, and subsequently played intermediate hockey with the Newcastle Northmen in the late 60s and early 70s. JANE MARSHALL BUILDER Jane Marshall has been involved as a coach, manager, promoter, and organizer for the sport of ringette for more than twenty-five years. She has coached teams of all ages and skill levels from house league to national competitions, including her work at three Canada Games competitions and eight Canadian National Ringette championships. She has been Ringette New Brunswick s Director of Coaching and its Technical Director for many years. This valued experience at local, provincial, and national levels, the longevity of her career and commitment to ringette on the Miramichi, and her expertise and leadership, have made an inestimable contribution to legions of young ringette players on the Miramichi and elsewhere, and to the continuing development of the sport in her community....continued.../4
-4- MIKE RUTTER BUILDER Mike Rutter s contributions, primarily related to hockey, span a period of more than three decades, beginning in the early 1970s. From 1972 until 1989, Mike was the head coach of the Chatham pee-wee Penquins. During his tenure the team won numerous tournament titles and were the provincial champs in 1984. Mike was also a successful and respected linesmen and referee for more than 10 years in the 1970s and 80s. He served for many years as an organizer, manager, and committee member for the Miramichi Minor Hockey Salmon Tournament and the Green and Gold Cup Hockey Tournament. Mike s more than thirty years of dedicated involvement have included volunteer service to the Chatham Recreation Council, the Miramichi Golf Club, Hockey New Brunswick, and numerous committees, tournaments, and events. Mike was one of fourteen individuals cited for special recognition by Miramichi Minor Hockey as part of the 50 th Anniversary Celebrations of the Lord Beaverbrook Arena. MICHAEL SOKOLOWSKI ATHLETE Michael Sokolowski was a gifted sprinter who excelled in track and field competitions from 1976 to 1988. In 1980 he was the MVP in track and field at James M. Hill Memorial High School. From 1980 through 1983 he competed for Springfield College, Massachusetts, where he was named to All-East and All-New England honours, and where he achieved multiple records which stand to this day. From 1983 to 1988 he was a member of the Canadian Track and Field team. His crowning achievement was to compete in the Olympic games. He was a member of Canada s 1600 metre relay team, which was a finalist in that event on August 12, 1984, at the XXIII Olympiad, at Los Angeles, California. Mike has achieved world-class personal bests in the 100, 200, and 400 metre events, and will always be remembered as one of the few Miramichiers to have competed at the Olympic Games....Continued.../5
-5- JIMMY WOOD ATHLETE Jimmy Wood will be inducted posthumously to the Miramichi Wall for his achievements in baseball and hockey. A member of an iconic Miramichi sports family, Jimmy was a stalwart with the Douglastown Combines of the Miramichi Valley Baseball League and a member of numerous league, provincial, and Atlantic championship teams. Jimmy was a standout hockey player, with the Chatham Minor Hockey program, in high school, at St. Thomas University, and, most notably, with Newcastle intermediate teams of the 1960s and 70s, including the 1969 Maritime Championship team. Jimmy was noted as a gifted, skilled hockey player, a quiet leader, a determined and intelligent team player, and a formidable opponent. He joins his brother Michael as a respected member of the Miramichi Sports Wall of Fame. STEPHEN ADAMS CURLING RINK, 1988 TEAM After numerous years of participating in the N. B. Provincial Mens Curling play downs, which included two runner-up years, the Stephen Adams rink, with third, Ward McDonald, second, Greg Gallivan, and lead, Roger Gallant, prevailed as N. B. Tankard Champions on February 8, 1988. From there, they represented N. B. at the Brier in Chicoutimi-Jonquiere, Quebec in March, 1988, finishing with a 3 and 8 record in national play. Dodie Dickison was the team s fifth player at the national spiel. The Adams rink was the winner of numerous cash spiels during the 1970s and 80s, and the members of the rink contributed to their sport by continuing to coach and support the various activities at the Newcastle Curling Club. The rink was a dominant one at the Miramichi Bonspiels in the 1980s, and its members, individually and collectively, represent the best of Miramichi curling....continued.../6
-6- LOGGIEVILLE BASEBALL BISONS, 1935-38 TEAM VETERANS CATEGORY The Loggieville Bisons baseball team was an aggregate of accomplished athletes which represented Loggieville in the latter half of the 1930s with outstanding success including a N. B. And Maritime Intermediate Championship in 1936, a New Brunswick Intermediate final appearance in 1937, a New Brunswick Intermediate Championship in 1938, and a New Brunswick-P.E.I. Intermediate Championship in 1938. Six members of the team also played with the Allied Services Champions in England in 1942. The members of the 1935-38 Bisons, all now deceased, included: Hazen Archer, Dick Burke, Godfrey Burke, Lawrence Comeau, Earle Fergerson, Bob Fraser, Willie Jardine, Faye Kitchen, Percy Lanteigne, Chester MacDonald, Joe Malley, Wilfred Malley, Alex Nolan, Albert Paulin, Eddie Robichaud, Harold Russell, Ned Russell, Goughie Vienneau, coach Manford Landry, managers Vince Flaherty and Parker Manderson. Contact: John Lordon (506) 773-3315 mjlordon@nbnet.nb.ca