1976

By Dave Ritchie

"They’re not called rowers, they’re called oarsmen."

With that inconsequential but delicate point out of the way, Dr. Hum Bonnycastle of Rothesay, with the bubbling enthusiasm of a ten-year-old finding a dollar bill on the street, began describing why a man of 70 becomes addicted to a sport-a sport for the young and a sport in which he, himself had never participated in.

Bonnycastle is the president of the four-year-old Kennebecasis Rowing Club and the sport that has become his hobby-or obsession... in later life is none other than the traditional British activity of rowing.

Rowing. What would possess a man, independently wealthy, to become so involved, to the tune of seven days a week, in a sport that holds as much potential for drudgery for a non-participant as rowing does?

Ethics play a major role in determining the actions of society’s members. When a man makes a promise, he’s expected to abide by it. Bonnycastle made a promise, to himself and to the steering committee of the 1971 Renforth Centennial Regatta, an event intended to be a one regatta affair commemorating the birth of the community.

The promise - "I said at the time that if the Renforth Centennial Regatta was a success, then we would endeavor to bring rowing back to the greater Saint John area. Needless to say, the Regatta was a success," Bonnycastle indicated.

So from simply being the chairman of a steering committee for a one day nostalgia event-"I had no background in rowing. All they wanted was a general chairman and since I had just retired and had experience in running affairs of this nature, I accepted the position. That’s when I made the promise." -Bonnycastle has become an addicted man, addicted to a sport that is more demanding than what a hobby should be.

Bonnycastle explains how he feels about the sport since getting involved four years ago, with the simple line- "once an oarsman, always an oarsman."

That line is certainly applicable to Bonnycastle, as he admits, but it can also be used to characterize the affection the province has had for the sport, and of Saint John’s affection in particular.

When one talks about nostalgia in regard to sport in New Brunswick, sentiment usually centers around some of the more memorable hockey or baseball teams of earlier eras, the reason being these activities remain dominate in the sports scene today.

It’s not common knowledge to the contemporary sports fan in New Brunswick, but it’s a fact the sport of rowing does indeed have a cherished history in the province, the kind of history which can produce an event such as the 1971 Renforth Centennial Regatta.

One needed not go further than to investigate the origin of the name "Renforth" to understand the affection the community of 1,500 had and still has for the sport- and to appreciate the significance of the 1971 Centennial Regatta.

It was a beautiful day, the day of Aug. 23, 1871. The Kennebecasis River just off the port of Saint John was calm, resembling a mirror like surface. Anticipation among the city folk was high. It was to the day of the great rematch between the home town Paris crew made up of Robert Fulton, Elijah Ross, Sam Hutton and George Price of the Western Boat Club of Saint John and an English crew from the Tyne composed of J. Percy, R. Chambers, H. Kelly and James Renforth.

The English crew had humiliated the Paris Crew in a race at Lachine, France in early 1870. It was at the hands of these experienced Englishmen, in the Duytson-In-Tyne rigged with wash boards that had dealt the Saint John boys, in their James A. Harding boat, with their finest defeat ever.

So, the excitement was there on that pleasant day in 1871. And even though Renforth was the only member of the Tyne crew left over from that 1870 race, an exciting race it was expected to be on the Kennebecasis.

The Paris crew started well on the six mile course, taking the early lead rowing at 42 strokes a minute. The Tyne crew, rowing at 39 strokes a minuet, quickly increased that pace, however the Saint John crew kept the lead. In an effort to gain on the Saint John boat, the English crew gave it the supreme effort only to have one of the oarsmen, the 29 year-old Renforth, collapsing with a heart attack. Rowing to shore, the Tyne crew realized they had lost a dedicated man. The community remembers.

The Paris crew continued their mastery of all who dared compete against them. In 1875 at an International Regatta on the Kennebecasis River, the James A. Harding crew again won, defeating the Longshore crew of Portland, Maine and the McLarens brothers of Sand Cove.

The Paris crew rowed its last race at the Philadelpia Centennial Regatta in 1876, getting soundly thrashed by a Halifax crew. Thus ended the reign of the famous Saint John Paris Crew.

A member of the Paris Crew, Elijah Ross, formed his own group after the retirement of the Paris crew along with Saint Johners Dick Nagle, George Damery and Harry Vail. Included in their wins was a match with a Logan crew of Strait Shore, Saint John for $500 and a match against the Hugh McCormick crew of Halifax. Again, they won $500.

Competitive rowing in Saint John got to the point of being called "scrub" races in the early 1900’s and finally ceased altogether in 1927 with the Confederation Jubilee in Saint John.

But despite the lack of interest, memories of personalities such as made up the Paris Crew and the Tyne Crew would still linger on, until an individual or individuals did more than just remember. Enter Bonnycastle and the steering committee of the 1971 Renforth Centennial Regatta.

A lot has transpired for the sport in the four year period since the Regatta. Two clubs, the Kennebecasis and a new club in Fredericton, now exist in New Brunswick and the prospect for more is there.

Also a provincial association has been formed with the purpose of acting as a guiding body for rowing in New Brunswick and as the representative of the sport of N.B. in the Canadian Association of Amateur Oarsmen." So said Erie Bergh of Saint John, president of the new organization.

Bergh indicated the primary aim of the new association, which includes Professor G. Barry Thompson of Fredericton as the vice-president and Ronald Marshall of Fredericton as the secretary-treasurer, was to further the sport in the province and get the schools, colleges and Universities interested in the sport. "We want to develop it both for racing (competitive) and recreation factor in the sport," Bergh said.

Bergh said the provincial Association has to be recognized by the Canadian Rowing Association before it can apply to be a member of the New Brunswick Sports Federation. When it does become a member of the Federation, Bergh says the sport will be eligible to receive some of the financial benefits other sports in the Federation currently receive, such as federal grants.

For a man who has extensive rowing experience in Europe (1920-1974), the 74 year-old Bergh knows what rowing is all about. And he loves it.

"It’s the ideal sport for the average man. It’s invigorating, interesting and stimulating. Discipline is important, you have to be well coached and well trained, both mentally and physically. It provides a great challenge to you as a man," Bergh pointed out.

What lies in the future for the sport of Rowing in New Brunswick? Bergh isn’t the least bit hesitant is saying "the potential is there, we have the rivers. The main thing now is to get the people interested and get them out rowing."