HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-06-28, Page 474
Pt1GE 13
- The Auburn Ladies Softball team is from left, upper row, Hillie
Blok, Joanne Van Amersfoort, Carolynae Vincent, Joanne Graf,
Rosemary Foren, Mary Ellen Foren; bottom row from left,
Linda Hokkers, Stephanie Van Amersfoort, Gwen Fisher, Alice
Blok, coach Bill Sproul. Missin rWas Carol Young, Margaret
Foren, and Mary Ellen Foren.
The Auburn Midget Girls Softball team.. for this year is. from left,
upper row, Gary Hakkers, coach, Vickie Powell, Vickie Rodgers,
Kim Mabon, Joyce Blok, Sharon Markson, Doug Glousher.
coach; bottom- row from, left, Wendy Powell, Jody Whetstone,
Kathy Chapman, Stephanie Marriott, Debbie Chapman, Lynn
Wraith, Anita, Blok.
J
This year's Auburn Midget Boys softball team is from left, upper
row, Jeff Wangster, Rob Plunkett, Frank Van Dongen, coach
Glen Webster, Larry Johnston, Petr Hamming, Dave Plunkett;
bottom row from left, Steve Plunkett, Doug Dougherty, Mike
Montgomery, Brian Robertson, Neil Hanna, Doug Giousher,
Bobby Robertson.
Bill ...
from page 12
far $300, but the county
never used it.
Although he never
played it, Bill coached
successful softball teams.
In 1952 he coached a
midget team to an all -
Ontario OBA Midget C
Championship. In 1953
and -;4654, he coached. -the
same group of boys as
juveniles and they won
again.
Bill remembers two
fine pitchers in Bill
McDonald and Ken
Patterson. In one
championship game, Bill
McDonald had the other
team 9-3 going into the
bottom of the ninth in-
ning. The other team had
a man on third and there
were two out. A batter hit
a pitch that looked to be a
sure home run. But Tom
McPhee chased it and
caught it, exclaiming,
"Look what I found'!"
Bill still follows
Auburn's softball teams
and says there is "a
pretty good girls' team."
He also follows major
league baseball, wat-
ching all the televised
games and listens to the
others on the radio.
' He claims to know how '
to cure the ills of the
Toronto Blue Jays,
saying his secret is
knowing your pitcher
well.;_,,.I3is.., .favo.urite
players are Fergie
Jenkins and Rusty Staub.
Bill's involvement in
baseball all. ..his .._.life .._has
_.
gone as far as making
bats. He worked at
HERCO in G..derich
under the late "Floppy"
Hopkinson. They made
small wood products such
as baseball bats and toys,
in addition to the HERCO
furnace.
During World War II,
Bill constructed buildings
at the Port Albert R.A.F.
School, Sky Harbour
R.C.A.F. School and
Clinton Radar School.
After HERCO sold out to
Dearborn, Bill joined
the maintenance staff at
Clinton Radar School and
retired from there in 1961
when he was 67.
His carpentry hand and
cement contracting have
played a.major role in the
village of Auburn. Bill did
all the woodwork in the
Community Memorial
Hall and was caretaker
there for five or six years.
He also built the five
water tanks under
Auburn for the fire trucks
to pump from. He and his
sons built the home where
he resides on the corner
of John Street and Mill
Road. Prior to that he
built a home when his.
children were young.
That house had a fire
before it was even
completed. His son, Bill,
tripped and smashed a
coal oil lamp and started
a blaze. A meeting in the
nearby church was halted
and. a bucket brigade
extinguished the blaze.
The Craigs had six
children - Dorothy, Bob,
Ila, Betty, Bill and Hal,
who is no longer living.
Bill boasts 16 grand-
children and nine great •
-
grandchildren. His
grandson Jeff played ball
.with a double 'A' team in
Edmonton.
Bill still keeps a big
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