1984

Canada Games

With the drum roll from the Delancey Brigade and the droll wit of Dr. C. H. Bonnycastle, the first venue for the 1985 Canada Games, the boathouse, was opened in Renforth Saturday.

The structure, located near the Renforth wharf, is the first of 18 Canada Games venues to be opened, said Richard Oland president of the Saint John Canada Games organizing society, and as Northumberland-Miramichi Senator Margaret Anderson said, only the "start of excitement that will carry through to next summer."

But, as much as the pageantry of, the Delancey Brigade guns represented the opening salvo for Canada Games fever and accomplishment, the day represented a fitting tribute to Dr. Bonnycastle - "the driving force" behind the Kennebecais Rowing and Canoeing Club.

Presentations, plaques and accolades were showered on the retired Rothesay Collegiate School headmaster, for whom the building is dedicated, from Premier Richard Hatfield, Finance Minister John Baxter, Saint John Mayor Elsie Wayne, Renforth Mayor Tony McGuire, Senator Anderson, Dr. Bonnycastle's colleague at the rowing club, Fred Demers, and many others. But, the man who was credited throughout the ceremony for putting New Brunswick rowing back into national and international waters, took the praise all in smooth stroke. "I've been given most of the credit-and I deserve all the credit," said Dr. Bonnycastle wryly.

Saying, with his buttoned-down humor, that he was "flabbergasted, astounded and embarrassed" as well as prepared for his praisers "to do a number on me," Dr. Bonnycastle said the boat house is a real jewel in the crown of Renforth.

After the glories of area rowers in, the 1870s and, the 1920s, the Kennebecasis River has spawned a third generation of rowers in the 1980s, he said, and the boat house and the current rowing prowess represents "something we can hold on to, improve and reach new heights."

Dr. Bonnycastle said he was "equally astounded" that the structure was ready for the opening, with the sodding, paving, and planting of the flower gardens all done in the last few days. "I never thought the job could be done."

Mr. Demers, who is also the rowing venue manager for the Canada Games, said the opening of the boathouse was a dream come true for all of us" and credited Dr. Bonnycastle with instilling the "discipline and the fitness of mind and body" that has led to the success of the rowing club.

Premier Hatfield said Dr. Bonnycastle, who organized the club in the early 1970s, has "brought honor and recognition to the province."

Saying it’s not often one can take part in an opening symbolic of the achievements of the past as well as the promise of the future, Mr. Baxter said, while the financial commitments of government (including the province’s $4.5 Canada Games contribution) may be necessary, it’s volunteers, like Dr. Bonnycastle "that make it happen."

The Canada Games will leave a New Brunswick with a legacy of excellent facilities, he said. "The games will come and go but the house will stay." the headlines don’t read that way."