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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1987-12-02, Page 22RECREATI AT I M WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1987 SECOND SECTION INSIIIINGSSOMIMMENIONIEw Celebration '88 hon. By David Emslie In celebration of the 1988 Winter Olym- pics being held in Calgary, those involved in athletics across Canada will be honored for their efforts. Lidia Kemeny, community consultant, was present at a meeting on November 25 at the Clinton Town Hall to explain how medals can be awarded under the Celebra- tion program. Representatives from each municipality in Huron County were m attendance. —According to Clinton's representative, Councillor Gord Yohn, six medals will be awarded in each community across Canada to those who have made outstan- ding contributions to minor sports. In this area, the six winners will be chosen from across the county. Up to 50 special recognition certificates will also be made available to those who have contributed to the quality of life in their community. Before the awards are presented, the communities will be setting up Celebration '88 committees to choose deserving reci- pients.. Nomination forms will be made available in the local papers to help the committees in making their choices. With each nomination sent in, a biography of the nominee will have to be included to describe why a person deserves to be honored. This biography will also act as an aid to the committee. Two medals will be awarded to a male and female athlete for their outstanding contribution to their sport and community. One volunteer will be honored for his or her unselfish contribution to sports and community. A fourth medal will go to a coach or coaching staff for devoting their time to the encouragement of fair play and sport- smanship, and for bringing out the best in the athletes under their guidance. One of- ficial will be a medal recipient for devoting his or her time to promoting fair play and sportsmanship, and a sponsor's medal will also be awarded to a business which con- tributed monetarily, or with services in kind, towards the development of amateur sports in Canada. The medals and the certificates of merit, provided by the federal government, will be presented by MP Murray Cardiff at a special ceremony on February 15. Aside from the presentation of these awards, the Olympic games will be pro- rs athletes Celebration 88 moted through the Celebration '88 pro- gram in a number of different ways. A speaker's bureau has been establish- ed, consisting of former Olympians. These Olympians will be made available to come out and talk to different groups. Some souvenirs of the Olympics will also be on sale locally. One of these items, an Olympic flame candle, will be sold by the Lions•Club. The miniature flames will be sold for $3, with $2.05 of that cost going to minor sports. Pins to commemorate the 1988 Olympics will also be on sale. County Club scheduled to open in January,_ By David Emslie CLINTON - The County, Club, this town's newest squash and physical fitness facili- ty, is scheduled to open on January 1. It has been over a year since the owners of the club, Ray and Mary Garon, brought their proposal for the facility to Clinton Council. After receiving an affirmative answer from council, the Garon's had to wait for a decision from the Ontario Municipal Board. In around March or April they got their planning through, and started to work on their building permits, and contacting contractors. With work now running along quickly at the Beech Street location, the Garons are seeing their plans become reality. Mrs. Garon noted that a series of events led them to their decision to open a club. First there was the closing of the club in Hensall, where they used to play. Next, they put out a questionnaire on whether people would be interested in a local club, and received many positive replies. "We thought we might as well put our necks in the noose and go for it. It is such a good concept," Mrs. Garon said. Because Clinton is in the hub of Huron County, they feel the club should be popular with not only local people, but with those who travel through the area daily. Mrs. Garon noted, "It's a fairly strategic place in the county." Probably the biggest attraction of the facility will be the international squash courts. They were installed by PLAYCON Recreational Equipment Ltd., a company that works only on installing recreational courts. The company has been responsible for installation across North America, as well as in such places as the Bahamas, the Carribean, Jamaica and Barbados. The walls of the courts are made of fiberesin, put over pressed plywood. Mrs. Garon explained, "They are very hard, but there is a lot of resilience. You can make them out of concrete or cement, but you won't get the same bounce effect." The floor of the courts are equally im- portant. Cement is used for the bottom of four layers, and when dried it is covered with a sheet of plastic. On top of this plastic is one and a quarter inches of pine, on rubber pads, which is covered by five- eighths of an inch of plywood. For the final layer hard maple is used. The wood used for this final layer is perfectly natural, and therefore any shoes worn on the courts must have unmarking soles, and be court shoes. The rubber pads used on the pine are to make what is known as a floatational floor, meaning the floor moves with the people playing on it. This type of floor is good for stopping sports injuries. "We're really pleased with the caliber of courts they put in," Mrs. Garon said. Also on the main floor of the club will be a fitness -workout room. A variety of equip- ment will be available for members' use, one piece of which is an eight station Spar- tan weight training machine. The stations are the chest press, shoulder press, abdominal board, leg ex- tension, leg curl, low pulley, high pulley and vertical chest bench. Five people can work on the machine at one time, and 85 different exercises are available. "It's kind of sophisticated. It suits all our needs. It lends itself very well to the club," Mrs. Garon said of their choice for this machine. Other machinery in the fitness room will be a Monark exercise cycle, a top of the line Strokeman rowing machine, and a Precor 515e precision ski machine. This latter machine is one the Garons are particularly pleased with. A relatively new addition to the world of physical fitness, the ski machine is said to be the highest calory burner of any aerobic exer- cise, if it is used properly. Although it takes some getting used to, Mrs. Garon noted that it works every muscle group in the body. Filling out the rest of the first floor will be the locker rooms. Aside from the regular showers, vanities and lockers found in a locker room, the County Club will have very pleasant additions, saunas. Both the men's and the ladies' rooms will have saunas that seat about four people. Moving up to the second floor, members will find an office -pro shop, where anything pertaining to the playing of squash will be on sale. Evgything from goggles to balls to shoes and raquets will be available. Also upstairs will be a kitchenette. "We'll have a soda fountain bar. It will have fruit drinks, milkshakes, snacks, that sort of thing," Mrs. Garon said. The club will even have a place for members to wind down after a tough game of squash, or a good workout. The lounge, with a viewing area of the squash courts, will also feature a fire place. "It should have a good, rustic, homey club feeling," stated Mrs. Garon. The viewing area can be used for both coaching and for watching tournament play. For those not familiar with either squash, or the workout equipment, profes- sional coaches will be on hand at the club. A squash clinic will also he held in February. With many people already asking for memberships, which went on sale December 1, the Garons feel they will have to limit membership. Although it will be a key club, where members let themselves in, they will be stipulating the hours of the dub will be from 5 or 6 a.m. to midnight, as they don't want to promote people coming in over night. The Garons are expecting the courts to be a busy part of the club, as squash gives both a good physical and mental workout. Nicole Garon (right) winds up to serve to her sister Denise in a friendly game of squash at Clinton's County Club. The club is expected to be open January 1. Memberships went on sale December 1. (Paul Rudan photo) "When you're playing squash you can't be thinking about the office, or what you have to do tomorrost. It's a stress breaker. You get away from it all," said Mrs. Garon. Mr. Garon added that the universities are really catching on to the sport, and its popularity is being added to as it is going to be an Olympic sport. While they explained that one man described squash as a garne of chess at 200 miles per hour, they also pointed out that even a beginner at the game will find it totally satisfying. With the key club method of running the facility, the Garons are hoping their members will help out in making it work. "If everyone looks after it the way they should, there should be no trouble," Mr. Garon said. His wife added that that is why it is going to be a real members' club. "We'll get the members to make it work." a Anyone wishing to join the County Club, or ho might have any questions about the facilities, can reach the Garons at the Clin- ton Dry Cleaners, or by calling 482-7064. 1 DAVID EMSLIE Well, our team didn't win, but they did give us probably one of the best Grey Cup games ever played. The 75th Grey Cup classic provided everything a football game should. From blocked punts, to 50 yard field goals to a 115 yard kick return, and a dramatic last minute victory; you couldn't ask for more (except a Toronto Argonaut win). We can't be accused of spouting sour grapes, so we should congratulate the Edmonton Eskimos in a diplomatic fashion. Despite not being at the top of their game, the Eskimos emerged as 38-36 victors. First of all, Edmonton quarter- back Matt Dunnigan was not the pivot we saw all season. The Argo defence did a great job of shaking him up and keeping him off balance. While trying to scramble a few times during the game he was caught and dragged down by the Argo defenders. Fortunately for the Eskimos, though, they have the benefit of having an ex- cellent second string quarterback in Damon Allen, the brother of the Los Angeles Raiders' star running back Marcus Allen. Allen was named the offensive star of the game, and the Eskimo victory can be credited to his coming off of the bench (sounds familiar to the Argos' 1983 victory where Joe Barnes came off the bench to replace Conredge Holloway, and lead the Argos to a championship) . It was one of those games where it was a shame for one team to lose and the other to win. The beginning of the game looked like it was going to be a cinch victory for the Eskimos after Henry "Gizmo" Williams returned a Lance Chomyc missed field goal 115 yards for a record touchdown. Argo fans from B.C. Place to Toronto could be heard mumbling, "There goes the game". The Argos didn't take this attitude, though, and came back with a strong defence, nifty running by Gill Fenerty and timely passing by Gilbert Renfroe. By half time the Argos had turned the game around, and led 24-17. All that was left to do in the second half was to control the stumbling Eskimo offence. Enter Damon Allen, exit Gilbert Ren- froe, and we had a whole new ball game. From there, as they say, the rest is history. Perhaps the mark of a cham- pionship team is to bounce back when you're not playing your best. Unfor- tunately, the Argos lost their bounce when they lost Gilbert Renfroe. Maybe it was fate for the Eskimos to win. After all, they suffered a humiliating defeat in last year's Grey Cup at the hands of the lowly Hamilton Tiger Cats. For the 59,478 fans in attendace (they sounded predominantly pro -Argo) this will definitely be a game to remember. The lead changed hands four times in the final quarter before Edmonton clin- ched the win with a 49 yard field goal from rookie kicker Jerry Kauric. It didn't really matter who the winner was in this great Grey Cup game. The game showed fickle Canadians just how good the game of Canadian football can be. When was the last time you witness- ed a good Super Bowl game? Anyways, let's hope the enthusiasm generated at this game will carry through into next season. The Canadian Football League cannot be allowed to die. After all, the rest of the country must be in bliss now that Toronto's boys in blue dropped another one. By the way, the Argos are going to go all the way next year. You can quote me on that. (Paul won't go quite that far, but he does believe they'll be a better team) . Clinton gets provincial broomball CLINTON - Some top notch broomball will be played at the arena here when teams from across the province gather for a tournament in mid-January. Janet Buchanan of Clinton, the regional convenor for the Federation of Hroomball of Ontario, explained that teams from five of Ontario's seven regions will he converg- ing on Clinton for the January 15, 16 and 17 tournament. Although the tournament will not of- ficially be called a provincial tournament as only one such competition can be held over the year, the winners of this tourna- ment will be competing in the national event in Yellowknife in the first week of April. The winner of the official provincial tournament, to be held in Simcoe in March, will travel to the national competi- tion in 1989. Mrs. Buchanan explained the reason this tournament is being held is to give the win - Turn to page 2A