The Huron Expositor, 1997-03-05, Page 2Z -Titin HURON UPOM:OU, W. & S, 1M7
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LETHBRIDGE KIWANETTES - Pat Bennett, sixth player from lett, was a member of the
Lethbridge Kiwanettes, sponsored by the Kiwana Club, who played at the 1933 Banff
Winter Carnival. The team's goaltender; far right, was mistaken as a man and was the sub-
ject of a protest by a team from Edmonton prior to the western Canadian final game.
PHOTO BY DAVID SCOTT
SILVER MEDAL - Pat
Bennett and other members
of her 1933 team were pre-
sented with silver medals.
Playing Edmonton for western Canadian final
Bennett breaks nose at Banff g ame
Continued from last week. up front for the Lethbridge
team. Their coach had other
BY DAVID SCOTT plans.
Expositor Editor "I was a forward. One of
the first practices he said,
'Pat, I think I'II put you back
on defence. That butt of
yours can do more harm back
there then being up there as a
forward."
Man or Woman?
The goaltender for the
Kiwanettes raised a few eye-
brows for her "masculine"
attire and behaviour.
"She dressed as 'a man all
her life and lived on the farm.
She'd be talking to somebody
and reach into her hip pocket
and out would come a bag of
Bull Durham tobacco and
she'd grab a paper and start
rolling."
The Lethbridge team played
well and advanced in the
hockey tournament.
"We had to play off for the
final game. with the
Edmonton girls. They had
two teams. Those girls were
just like horses. You'd get a
bang from them and you
landed way over there.
Protest Launched
"One of the Edmonton girls
said 'we're not playing
against a man.' " '
The Edmonton team
refused to play the final game
against Lethbridge unless the
Kiwanettes' coach, Dr.
Leach, and a member of the
Edmonton team went to a
private room with Mabel, the
goaltender, and had an exam-
ination to prove she wasn't a
man.
"She said, 'well, imagine
somebody thinking me a
man. I had to go up and strip
in front of the doctor. He
knew I was a girl.' But you
couldn't tell those people
Not even a broken nose
could stop Pat Bennett from
playing in the western
Canadian final for women's
hockey at the Banff Winter
Carnival in 1933.
"No, they'd have to cut my
head off," says a feisty
Bennett.
She was living in
Lethbridge, Alberta at the
time and was picked up by a
hockey team sponsored by
the Lethbridge Kiwana Club.
Their team was the
"Kiwanettes."
"We were surprised when
- we got there. Going to Banff
was something. We started
.looking for the arena. Oh no,
you're out on the river,"
organizers told Bennett.
Banff was a little chillier
than Lethbridge, .especially
when playing hockey outside.
"They're about 1,200 feet
higher than Lethbridge.
That's what happened to my
nose. First night 1 was out
practising, I froze my nose. I
didn't care about that. I guess
I thought it would grow
again," says Pat.
Nose Broken in Game
If that wasn't had enough,
she had her nose broken in a
game right after that.
"A girl came up with a stick
and hit me across the face. It
was just about the day after I
froze my nose. I was like
Rudolph. I,had a red nose
and a lump and two or three
days later my eye turned
black. 1 was a mess."
She had played both
defence and forward in the
past but started out playing
Concerned about children, says Johns
CONTINUED from page 1
ment.
"We arc looking into differ-
ent areas that can he out-
sourced ... but anything has
to come to the minister," she
explained. "We're not saying
anything will he outsourced."
When asked why Snobclen
insisted it he included in Bill
104 if it was not a priority,
Johns pushed on.
"I think that all of you know
that each of us here today is
concerned about our children
and their education," she
said. "We must maintain edu-
cation at a high level."
That statement, however, is
at the core of the fight as edu-
cators across the province
disagree as to the best way to
maintain quality education.
While the Harris govern-
ment under Snobclen's direc-
tion insists it must realign
financing and governance of
public education, educators
worry they arc overlooking
the needs of the students.
Signs reading "cuts hurt
kids" and "some cuts won't
heal" made that point very
public on Friday.
"As our representative in
this government, we call on
you to intensify our efforts
and advocacy on behalf of
Huron public education for
education finance reform that
must favor a low spending
rural board like Huron,"
OPSTF president Paul Dyck
told the absent Johns.
"Per pupil spending and
teacher compensation are
well below provincial aver-
ages and are near the bottom
of the province.
"Change that is politically
motivated is hurting our stu-
dents."
Surprised by Opposition
Johns supplied the protest-
ers with a written response to
some of their concerns and
on the issue of finance reform
claimed she was surprised by
their opposition as she was
lobbied by local boards to
move ahead quickly with the
plan.
"This reform was requested
because of the diversity of
funding on a per pupil basis
across the Province of
Ontario," she wrote.
However, it was the issue of
funding that came up time
and again during the rally on
Friday.
"Putting money in is still a
case of too little, too late,"
Laurie said, going on to criti-
cize the government for poor
planning in its education
reform initiatives.
"Had the government paid
more attention to doing its
homework, perhaps it would
not have created such a disas-
ter in the education system
by pulling out needed funds.
"And perhaps it would not
have needed to back up and
reanalyse the damage once
children's lives had already
been affected."
"
from Edmonton. They didn't
know anything.
"She'd swear like a man.
This Bull Durham really got
the girls when she started
rolling her cigarettes because
in those days there wasn't too
many who smoked. Mabel,
had to have her cigarette."
- With the sex of their goal -
tender confirmed and okayed,
the Kiwanettes headed into a
tense game for the western
Canadian final. The winner
would play the east for the
national title.
"There was only one goal
scored. And they did it," says
Pat.
Even though it was hard to
lose by just one goal, the-
Kiwanettes received a hero's
welcome when they returned
to Lethbridge. The team went
to the Marquis Hotel where a
big dinner was put-on in their
honour and medals were pre-
sented.
"We got a little brooch that
said 'Second - Banff Winter
Carnival' - there was only a
first and second prize.
The following summer, Pat
returned to live in Seaforth.
Four years later, in 1937,
she married long time friend,
Kenny Bennett.
He was a veteran of two
World Wars. Just like Pat
continuing to play after her
nose was broken, her hus-
band exhibited the same
moxy 16 years earlier in the
Great War.
Over the Top at Vimy
He was with the 48th
Highlanders when they went
"over the top" at Vimy Ridge
in April 1917.
"He ended up with two bro-
ken legs. He lay there for
three days. They thought he
was dead. A German soldier
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covered him up in mud. But
they didn't cover his two big
toes. And they got frozen.
The mud kept the heat in the
body. Every time he saw the
stretcher bearer coming he'd
say `I hope he gets me today.'
He'd go to move to let him
know he was -still living and
he'd pass out from the pain in -
his legs. So on the third day
he says 'if they don't get me
today, I guess I'm a goner.'
So the stretcher bearer got
right in front of him and
Kenny gave a grunt. Kenny
said, 'I felt sorry for the guy
because he jumped about 'a
foot in the air.' He remem-
bered something hitting him
in the chest and then he woke
up.in a hospital."
Great -great-grandchildren
Pat Bennett, a past Winter
Carnival Queen in Seaforth,
has three children - Ron, Ray,
Shirley; six grandchildren; 10
great-grandchildren and two
great -great-grandchildren,
with another expected soon.
Pat lives in an apartment on
Market Street in Seaforth.
Still Follows Hockey
Pat still follows women's
hockey. At the time of this
interview, Kathy Devereaux
of Scaforth was about to play
for Ontario at the Midget
Nationals for women's hock-
ey.
"I'll bet you she's a good
player," said Pat.
Ontario lost to Quebec 2-1
in the final but Devereaux
contributed a goal and four
assists in the competition and
came home with a silver
medal.
"Seaforth really got put on
the map with our ice skaters."
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