HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2015-05-13, Page 5Wednesday, May 13, 2015 • Huron Expositor 5
www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com
letter to the editor
Marching Band looking for new members
Dear editor,
For over 60 years, the Sea -
forth and District All -Girls
Marching Band has been
offering an enriching musical
experience to the young
women of Huron County.
Now, we at the band are
seeking new, dedicated and
enthusiastic members for our
organization so that we can
continue to offer this same
experience for years to come.
We provide not only instru-
mental training for each girl,
but an opportunity to grow as
leaders, team players, and
friends. The band includes
brass, woodwind, and per-
cussion instruments; we
practise on a weekly basis and
perform in local parades
throughout the year.
We are looking for new
members between the ages
of 12-18; previous musical
knowledge is definitely an
asset, but not a requirement.
This is a great way to be
involved in the community
as well as complete high
school volunteer hours. And
for the first time this year,
past members interested in
reviving their musical skills
are also encouraged to
rejoin the band, contribut-
ing as musicians and as
experienced mentors. Help
us make the band not
merely a part of Huron
County s past, but a part of
these girls' future.
For more information,
please contact Band Direc-
tor Heather Dawe at heat-
dawe@fc.amdsb.ca or Char-
lie Kalbfleisch at
519-565-2244.
Yours sincerely,
Jeanette Schramm,
Auburn, Ontario
Gordon Wright: Canada's First Director of Fitness & Sport
In
his autobiography,
Gordon Wright
recalled watching a
barn -raising bee and
became greatly
impressed with what
teamwork could do. It
was an epiphany that
influenced the rest of his
life. In high school
sports today, there is
scarcely an athlete who
has not been directly or
indirectly touched by
Gordon Wright's work.
Gordon Wright was
born in Hibbert Town-
ship on Jan. 18, 1911 in
a blinding snowstorm.
His parents, Robert
James Wright and
Annie Stewart, ran a
farm and a rooming
house for teachers. In
June 1923, Wright trav-
elled all the way to Hen-
sall to write the
entrance exams for Sea -
forth Collegiate. His
first attempt was
unsuccessful.
He passed the next
year and entered Sea -
forth Collegiate Institute
in September 1924.
In an age before bus-
sing, Wright boarded
with a family in Seaforth
in order to attend school.
Huron History
David Yates
He recounted fond
memories of his stay
with the Butt family
where he was 'mothered'
by his landlady.
The Wright family
moved to a farm north of
Kippen in Stanley Town-
ship in 1927 which
allowed him to go home
at night. He graduated
from Seaforth Collegiate
in 1929 as a distin-
guished track and field
athlete under the tute-
lage of his science
teacher Neil Bissonette.
He attended the
Ontario Agricultural Col-
lege, now the University
of Guelph, where he
majored in agricultural
sciences. It was as an
athlete, however, that
Wright made his mark.
He set a Canadian high
jump record that lasted
17 years and was a mem-
ber of three champion-
ship teams.
Education became his
chosen career path.
Wright taught high
school science in Schu-
macher in northern
Ontario. He taught Eng-
lish to immigrant mining
families at night and
coached several sports
teams after school.
Wright was selected to
compete for Canada in
wrestling at the 1936
Olympic Games in Ber-
lin. However, when it
was discovered that he
taught high school phys-
ed he was disqualified
because he was not con-
sidered an amateur ath-
lete. He attended the
games anyway where he
got a rare glimpse of pre-
war Nazi Germany.
Many argue that the Ber-
lin Olympic spectacle
was the high water mark
of Nazi propaganda.
During the Second
World War, he was com-
missioned in the Royal
Canadian Navy. He
served on convoy duty in
the North Atlantic and
later stationed in Scot-
land where he taught
seamen hand-to-hand
combat skills.
After the war, he did a
brief stint with the
Department of Veterans
Affairs but it was educa-
tion that drew him back
from the battlefields of
Europe to the playing
fields of Ontario. In 1947,
he became the Province
of Ontario's Director of
Physical and Health
Education.
As director of the prov-
ince's athletic programs
which included schools,
cadets and summer
camps, Wright re -organ-
ized the province's entire
physical education train-
ing system.
Traditionally, phys-ed,
in Ontario schools,
involved calisthenics
drills more appropriate
for a military parade
ground than a school.
Wright wanted athlet-
ics to be fun as well as
competitive. Sports
were to be more than
an extra -curricular
activity in schools. In
1957, he was able to
convince the Minister
of Education, Dr. W.D.
Dunlop, a Clinton high
school grad, of the
importance of organiz-
ing a provincial sports
body that would be
known as the Ontario
Federation of Schools
Athletic Association
(OFSAA). The province
would be divided into
sport s districts. They
would send their best
teams and athletes on
to OFSAA for provincial
recognition. In 2007,
OFSAA's golden anni-
versary, saw 270,000
students and 16,000
teachers involved in
OFSAA competition.
Prime Minister Diefen-
baker appointed Wright
to the newly created
position of Director of
Fitness and Amateur
Sport in 1962, a post
Wright held until the
defeat of Diefenbaker's
government the follow-
ing year.
He became a principal
of Sir Frederick Banting
Memorial High School in
Alliston from 1969 to his
retirement in
1974. Wright was also
involved in the preserva-
tion of Sir Frederick
Banting's home in
Alliston.
It was a cause that
Wright would have a
personal interest in as
his wife, Ruth Baker, was
the daughter of Dr. Wes-
ley 'Jack' Baker who
worked with Banting in
the discovery of insulin.
Wright was instrumen-
tal in founding the Sir
Frederick Banting Edu-
cational Committee to
promote diabetes
awareness.
Gordon Wright's last
victory came hours
before his death when
his son Alec read to
him the news that the
town council of New
Tecumseth had passed
a bylaw preserving the
Banting family home-
stead as an historic
site. He died on Nov.
15, 2007. Sir Arthur
Chetwynd, in Kathryn
Mooij's biography of
Wright, uses Grantland
Rice's famous quote
that 'when the One
Great Scorer comes to
mark your name, He
marks—not if you won
or lost—but how you
played the game.' Chet-
wynd ended his tribute
by observing that
Wright 'has played the
game very well.'
BUY • SELL • TRADE
IN THE CLASSIFIEDS