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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