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Townsman, 1991-02, Page 29Pt©©pOs What a year! Walkerton horseman William "Bud" Fritz can only hope that 1991 brings the same kind of success he enjoyed in 1990. The year was capped off by his being named Horseman of the Year by the Ontario Jockey Club. Two of the horses trained by Fritz were also honoured by the Jockey Club, million dollar winner Apaches Fame, named Horse of the Year and the unanimous choice as three-year- old colt Pacer of the Year, and A Worthy Lad, named three-year-old Trotter of the Year. Fritz described 1990 as "the biggest roll of my life". During the year he drove Apaches Fame to a $200,000 purse and a track record in the Burlington Stakes at Greenwood and a win in the million dollar North American Cup at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. He drove A Worthy Lad to victory in the Canadian Trotting Classic at Greenwood and saw the horse sold to a group of European investors in September. A Worthy Lad never finished out of first place in his 30 races in North America before being sold. Kincardine writer Corinne Robertson -Brown has seen some of her work published in a new anthology of work by southwestern Ontario writers including Hope Merrit, Norma West Linder and James Reaney. Sands of Huron is published by River City Press in Sarnia, Robertson -Brown's former hometown. Included in the book are a short story, several poems and many haiku by Robertson -Brown and a poem "The Oriole" and a short story "The Box Social" by James Reaney. Robertson -Brown has written for the Sarnia Gazette, Sarnia Obser- ver, Business Trends magazine, Mamashee literary magazine and the Lambton College anthology as well as writing prize-winning speeches, a children's book and puppet plays. She also does water- colour painting. It's been a season of ups and downs for Mike Craig the St. Marys -area hockey star now playing with the Minnesota North Stars. The 19 -year-old right winger was one of the stars of Canada's World Championship winning Junior Hoc- key Team at Christmas. After that it was back to the heady competition of the NHL but during a game Feb. 4 he broke a bone in his right wrist and was put out of the lineup for four to five weeks. "Me and another guy collided and it was jammed backward," he said of the wrist. It gave him a chance to visit with his family at their RR 4, Thorndale home. Still he could hardly wait to get back into action and hoped to be out at most a month. There had been rumours earlier in the season that he would be returned to his junior team the Oshawa Generals but the North Stars recently told him he'd finish the season with the big team. "They told me I'll be staying up with them the rest of the year, which is really good news". he said. There may be another reason he wants to get back to Minnesota: rumour has it he is dating the 17 -year-old daughter of North Stars General Manager Bobby Clarke. Twenty-five years of dedication to dispelling the myths and bringing the true stories of the Ojibwa people by Peter Schmaltz of Walkerton has culminated in a new book The Ojibwa of Southern Ontario publish- ed by University of Toronto Press. Schmaltz, head of the history de- partment at Walkerton District Se- condary School says his 265 -page book "fills in the gaps and ads a chapter in early Ontario history". The book deals with the 100 -year span from when the Iroquois de- feated the Hurons in 1650 until the coming of the Loyalists in 1780. "Nobody has ever questioned the previous writings of what happened during that time because people have accepted all the myths about that time period," he says. The Ojibwa who had spilled their blood in battles to help win southern Ontario, found land being given to United Empire Loyalists including Iroquois from the U.S. following the American Revolution. "The com- monly accepted belief that the local Indians were handled judiciously and that there was tranquility between the two races," he says. Kevin Wheeler Remarkable performance. For Brussels skater Kevin Whee- ler there was disappointment at the Canadian National Figure Skating Championships in Saskatoon, but also a triumph. Wheeler and his partner Michelle Menzies of Cam- bridge dropped to fourth in the final standings and missed a berth on the World Team after placing third in the short program. But just per- forming was a victory for Wheeler. Dec. 22 he went into the hospital for what he thought would be a simple operation to remove a cyst, an operation that would require only a two inch incision. Doctors found the tumour had wound its way around the muscle of his leg and they had to cut from his thigh to his ankle to remove it all. Doctors advised him not to skate for a year but with a berth open on the national team he was determined not to miss his chance. His mother Shirley watched the performance at the Nationals nervously. "I was on the edge of the seat praying that nothing would happen to his leg while he had Michelle in the air, possibly injuring her." Still the couple managed to give the only clean performance of all the competitors. "We were really proud of what they did," she said. TOWNSMAN/FEBRUARY-MARCH 1991 27