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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1972-10-12, Page 15-06 • A 125 YEAR ...41 THURSDAY, OCTO5ER 12, 1972 It!'sover. Hockey hero Paul Henderson has become so famous that his children are neighborhood celebrities, his wife, Nora is pointed out in crowds and his "Mississauga house is over- ' •shadowed by congratulatory billboards put .there by delighted fans. "Our life has changed over - nigh, Mrs. Henderson said yesterd'ay ' "We '`have. _huge billboards all over' the front lawn welcoming Paul home, the phone hasn't stopped ringing since I got back from Moscow on Saturday and we even have a Lu FROM ..THE LUCKNOW, SENTINEL card with over 1,000 signatures of home -owners in our area. "I'm numb: I don't know. what dayit is and' I haven't slept since °the last goal on Thursday. I ..don't believe this has all, happened, It h'sn't sunk in yet." The Hendersons were married 10 years ago when Paul was playing f6r the Junior A -Hamilton--Read Wings. They have three daughters, 'Heather, 9, Jennifer, 7, and Jill, 2. Though he's a star with'the Toronto Maple Leafs,. the Hen- derson's lives had been quiet • y0 until he wasnamed to Team Canada ' to play in the eight= game series „against the Soviet national team and; scored the winning goals in- the last thfee games. "If Henderson was to run for Prime Minister on Oct. 30, he'd win," said a hockey fan wat- ching Mrs. Henderson and her two oldest children leaving for the airport to meet the team yesterday. Last night at 10:30 Jennifer, Heather and their mother stood warmly bundled in the rain at Nathan Phillips Square. Hud- and SECOND. SECTION dled in .the background where few could see theta,- they 'WO- . ched with pride as Henderson was carried by his teammates to • the front of the stage and listened to 'the screams of thousands of fans. . And then, although the fans. kept cheering for more, the players and their families left the stage for the underground -parking :r.lot where ,cars- were waiting to whisk them home. "Our life has changed," said Mrs. Henderson -tired and cold but happy, "It will probably never be the same." roud moment forfamily___. r r r i r r r r r r r r r r r r i r r r r, r r r r r r r r i i i- r r ,r r r r r r r r r r r. r r r r i r r r r r r 0 • r / / r' / r / / ,! / r / r / r' r r r / / / r r r r / / / / / r / / / . - / .1 I r It has all been sald'but..'.. FROM THE LUCKNOW and had put the name lender- son..up_there with . the real .big k What do you say after it' has all been said. For Canadians, September 28 was one of the most satisfying and unifying days since con- federation 'over 100 years ago. When Team Canada won the eighth game or the Canada - Russia series and took the overall series championship, • every Canadian heart beat more rapidlyand every ,head was raised a little higher. It probably was ,.the single most unifying event in the history of our country. In 'every corner of 'Canada; from Atlantic to Pacific, - ' Canadians were glued to their radio and television sets. But nowhere in this country was the interest more keenly felt than in the Lucknow community. Paul Henderson, a member of o Team Canada, had' scored the winning goals in the 6th and 7th • game of the Canada Russia series. Paul had played excep- tionally well in the entire series for Canadians what Paul. did last week is enough to make the buttons pop nthe vests oral. area residents. . "Our boy"` h'ad -done it! Lucknowites and surrounding rural area residents' couldn't have been happier if they had fired the winning goal them- selves. Down on Havelock Street South in Lucknow Paul's mother, sisters Sandra and Coralyn, were a proud fainily. Son and brother Paul had clin- ched the series. Paul's sister Marilvn in Galt and brother Bruce in Winds9r would, also, no doubt, find it difficult to keep their mind on their work last Thursday. Mrs. Paul Henderson,.the for- mer Eleanor Alton, daughter 'of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Alton of West Wawanosh Township, was one of the team members wives who made the trip to Moscow. It will be a trip long remembered by Eleanor and a proud time for her. The Henderson children Jill, Heather ' and Jennifer stayed' in Toronto under the care^.of Mrs. Darryl Sittler. Telegrams of ,congratulations went forth from this community to Paul both before and after the final game. The Village of Lucknow sent two and both Lucknow Public School, where Paul attended and Ripley - Huron Central School, sent telegrams of congratulations. Paul's father, the late Garnet Henderson, would have been a proud man during the Canada : Russia series, Garnet, a CNIR agent here for a number of years, was keenly interested in names in .hockey. Who could ask for more from the young man from Lucknow who played all his minor hockey here, attended school in The' ' Sepoy Town, graduating up the hockey ladder from Junior B to Junior- A to Detroit Red Wings and finally Toronto Maple Leafs? Paul, had given for. Team Canada all and 'more than was expected of him by Canadian hockey fans. He had been one of the more steadying forces for Canada through the entire series. ' But Paul had not finished the job! With 34, seconds left in the tinaTgame, the score deadlocked at 5-5, Henderson scored the winner and made himself the pride and hero of all Canadians. Nowhere was this pride felt more deeply than in the Lucknow community. To ,know that a graduate of, the Lucknow minor hockey ranks had done Mics. Henderson leaving Russia • d9" local sports and was par- ticularly interested iii the hockey career of his young son. He lived to see him reach' the National Hockey League. Paul has many times paid tribute to his dad's encouragement during his early hockey days in Lucknow. To climax the eventful week, Mrs, Garnet Henderson of Lucknow, the. former Evelyn Taylor, and her three daughters, went to Toronto City Hall on Sutlday to meet the team retur- ning "home. -..- Mrs. Mrs. Henderson and the girls were invited to' wait in' the lounge for the team to arrive and after about 41/2 hours, the thrill of meeting the team mem- bers, and particularly Pam;" arrived. Mrs: Henderson has been very appreciative of the many calls, letters and cards which have arrived at her Lucknow home during the series indicating the many well wishes of people from this community and from former residents. ` Lucknow and area is proud of Paul, proud to say that he 'comes from our town, proud to say that his wife comes from neighbouring West Wawanosh, proud to say that he attended school. here and played all his- minor hockey here, proud to say that most of his family members live in this area, proud that a Lucknow native played such an important part in Team Canoda. Lucknow salutes you Paul, you are a credit to this village and a credit to Canada• en drso r r r r r r i r r r r I i i r i r r r r r r- r r r r r r r i r r r r r r r r r r r r i Lucknow recalls 17 goal outburst FROM THE TORONTO DAILY STAR Paul ,i-ig. ,dgra ,three.game-^.. winning goals for Team Canada impressed millions of Canadians, but back home in Lucknow they still recall the night he got 17. Seventeen goals in one game is how many pee wee Paul Hen- derson scored when he was growing up,, in that village of 1,100 some , 70 miles north of Landon. "There's no doubt about it; $aid his mother, Evelyn Hender- son, at the family home last night, 'the Lord saw us through and answered our prayers. He -heard-all those prawn we sent up." One of them that wasn't sent up is painted in bold white let= ;ters on the side of a barn as you enter Lucknow: Paul Hender- son, number 19, best on ice, the pride of Lucknow and Kull Canada." When the big goal. tame, all Mrs. Henderson remembers is jumping up. "There's a low ceiling in our home. My head hit." Success for Paul Henderson, as his mother sees it, has been a long time coming. The family wasn't wealthy and when Paul started playing at six under his father's „guidance,...,,,he.- .;used catalogues held up 'by rubber bands from preserve jars for. shin pads. The Henderson home in Mississauga was under siege yesterday afternoon after jubilant pupils of ttunningbrook Public School chased tire two elder Henderson daughters the two blocks home. Babysitter and Leaf wife Mrs. Darryl Sittler got tough' and cleared the, front lawn. "There were about 30 of them." Up went a hand -lettered sign on the front door warning that -there' was _ no point knock tag - because they were fresh out of Paul Henderson autographs. Squatting on the floor of the school library, Heather, 9, and Jennifer, 7, watched the game surrounded by scores of schoolmate admirers. Two-year- old Jill saw out the game at home with her sitter. Interviewed after the left -.6-., winger scored the winning goal Tuesday, Heather had predicted her father would get one more yesterday. "I was' right,," she said last night, "I knew." RAP Lucknow' "Best on Ice Evelyn Henderson looks back FROM THE K(TCHENER RECORD LUCKNOW — Evelyn Hen- derson looked back 20 years last night and remembered with a smile how her rubber ring jam jar covers frequently vanished from her kitchen. Her son, Paul, Canada's new hockey hero, would borrow them to hold his Eaton's catologue shinguards in place because the Henderson family couldn't afford . fancy hockey equipment. It was memories like that one which "set her bawling" — in the words of daughter Sandra, 11 — when Paul scored the last- minute goal in the eighth Canada -Soviet game to give Canada a 6-5 win and the series. Paul's goal, with just 34 seconds remaining in the game, represented the third straight game in which he scored the winner. , "It was simply marvelous, un- believable ... we all tried to yell when he scored and it just came out like a squeak. Then we hollered and hooted like a bunch of schoolkids ... it was so good," said Mrs. Henderson. Because her television recep- tion was bad she watched the game on a neighbor's set with daughter Sandra who was off sick from school. "And she really was sick ... we went to the doctor only today," insisted Mrs. Henderson in bet ween a stream of telephone calls from neighhorrs offering congratulations. • Ever since the end of the game Mrs. Henderson was an- swering the phone or front door at herhome in this village of 1,100 near Wingharn, 70 miles Henderson with homily northwest of Kitchener. "And I could't watch the game at,school ... I had to watch a volleyball tournament," com- plained Coralyn Henderson, 17. Mrs. Henderson, whose husband Garnet died four years ago, has two other children, Marilyn, 26, and Bruce, 24. During the hockey game Lucknow's main street was com- pletely empty of cars with no passers-by to read the huge downtown sigh which states: Vote for Paul Henderson No. 19 best on ice, the pride of Lucknow and ' all Canada. Go Team Canada. village councillors saun tney wanted a life-size pin-up of Paul to stand outside the corrugated metal arena, "the home of Paul Henderson." In past ye s, when. minor hockey team. 'have tight home championship honors to Lucknow, the village fire truck has gone out to meet players and ° carried them victoriously ihto town. As partof the hero - comes -home party, Lucknow hopes to meet Paul Henderson with the same fire truck. Although Lucknow residents would ,hotly -:dispute the _issue, Paul was probably born ., in nearby Kincardine. "As always, he was terribly fast," joked Mrs.' Henderson. "We were snowed in and couldn't get him to hospital in time and he was born aboard a sleigh on the way t� Lucknow 30 years ago. "But he's a Lucknow boy, he's--nuts/2—a-r gu eel----:tee-ye . George Joynt who left apple picking to come into the village to congratulate Mrs. Henderson. "We hope to give him quite a homecoming," said Reeve Joynt producing a ,telegram of congratulations sent to -Paul in Moscow by 'the village. It read: "What a winner' The Sepoy Town is astounded by. your accomplishments. You have ,not only 'brought a great deal of distinction to yourself but to your family and this great country of Canada." Pahl often returns to a,3 Lucknow to open a public building or address minor hockey players. Mr's. Henderson said when Paul was three years old he was "always on the move and run- ning away." She said she once put him in a harness and tied him to a clothes line to keep him in the backyard. "When we came out he was nowhere to be found, the har- ness and his pants were dangling from the line and he was gone way up the street." She said her husband coached Paul at hockey, from the age of six and Paul was active in athletics and football. Hb • played for Lucknow and Goderich Junior B teams'before going on to Hamilton Junior A, to the NHL and Detroit' Red Wings and finally, to Toronto Maple Leafs and Team Canada. "He often had to use secon- dhand equipment and once I can remember him playing in skates that were• three sizes too big ... heput in insolesryto pad" the boots. After school he'would work at a general store to earn extra cash before going on to 'hockey practices," said Mrs. Hendlerson.--.. - "And now that they've worked so hard for this they have to break up as a team. I think it's a pity they couldn't stay together as a Canadiaft' team and we couldn't create a league in Canada with just Canadian players." Around the village everyone knew Paul: ufle- was fast, always so fast on skatAs. I used to transport Paul and some ,of our peewees around years ago. I remember one game when he scored 17 goals .., there was no catching him," said Bill Hunter, a hockey fan who tuns a down- town service station. Harold Ritchie, a hockey coach and past pre' i tent of the village legion, stopped a Thur- sday night. bingo game to look back on Paul's career. "1 can remember that .kid (contir`ufld on woo IOA)