1985

New Souvenir Album Unveiled

by: Dave Ritchie

Gleaner Sports Editor

Dr. Charles Humphrey Bonnycastle

Lt. Col Frederick James Elliot

The New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame added five Newcomers to its honor roll Saturday night here, swelling the membership in the shrine to 70.

Honored in the 14th annual induction ceremony were Lt. Col Fred6rkk James Elliot of Saint John (badminton), Georges Joseph Gallant of Shediac (distance runner), Ralph William (Bul) Lister of Moncton (all around athlete) and the late Sybil Irene (Beatteay) Mitchell of Saint John (speed skating), all for their athletic excellence. Dr. Charles Humphrey Bonnycastle Renforth was inducted in the builder category for developing the Kennebecasis Rowing Club.

In addition to honoring its new inductees, Jack Fenety, chairman of the hall's Board of Governors, presented a copy of the hall's new 40-page souvenir album to the Hon. Les Hull, Minister Of Youth and Recreation. In return Hull presented a cheque valued at $17,000 to Fenety for the hall's yearly operating expenses.

The album, which contains the portraits and citations of all 70 inductees plus a story on the development of sport in N.B., is on sale for $10 (soft cover) at the Hall of Fame gallery and at selected outlets throughout the province.

Probably the most decorated of the new inductees is 75-year-old Lister, who was honored for achievement in seven different sports - baseball, rugby, basketball, hockey, curling, tennis and golf.

He's best known for his exploits at Mount Allison-University in Sackville, where he received letters of merit in three sports, rugby, basketball and hockey, upon his graduation in 1930. He also played football there.

In 1931, he became director of athletics at Mount A, a post he held for five years. Under his administration, Mount A teams won 26 provincial and Maritime intercollegiate and senior championships.

After moving to Moncton, he took up curling and played on the 1960 Beaver rink which won the Connolly Cup (emblematic of senior curling supremacy in N.B.). In golf he won the Moncton Golf and Country club championship in 1944 and has scored three holes-in-one on the course.

Lister labeled his induction the "Culmination of all the victories and defeats I’ve had over the years.

"This is a very important night for any athlete because it means you’ve been recognized by your fellow man and by the Province of N.B. There’s no greater honor possible," Lister said.

Nobody in N.B. played badminton any better than Ted Elliot did from 1932-61, a span which saw him win a record 16 Maritime titles. He 1961, he teamed with Don Bauld to win the Maritime veteran's doubles championship at the age of 43.

He was named an honorary life vice-president of the Canadian Badminton Association for his administrative assistance in the sport.

He was at a loss for words in trying to express his Feeling going into the Hall of Fame "no words can describe how I feel," he said.

Gallant is best noted for having run in the famed Boston Marathon five times, finishing as high as 20^th in 1950. In 1959; he was acclaimed as the finest male distance runner in the Maritimes.

As testimony to his greatness, the town of Shediac annually stages a 12.8 km road race named in his honor.

Gallant called induction into the Hall of Fame "the Greatest honor for an athlete in N.B. I never dreamed I’d be chosen," he said. He paid tribute to his family "for all the support they’ve given me over the years."

Bonnycastle founded the Kennebecasis Rowing Club in 1971 and has seen it grown from four oarsmen to where there are now over 70 in the club.

The club has sent crews to provincial, national and international competitions-winning the Henley in 1977 and the pairs event in the 1981 Henley. Additionally, the club had two first place finishes at the Canadian championships in 1977 and another first in pairs in 1982.

Bonnycastle was elected to the Board of Governors of the Canadian Amateur Rowing Association in 1972 and did much of the sport forming the provincial association the following year.

"This is the result of a lot of hard work and luck," Bonnycastle said of his induction "I'm really more surprised than pleased to be here but it's a great feeling."

A Saint John native, Sybil (Beatteay) Mitchell excelled in speedskating from 1920-33 while representing the Arognaut Athletic Club of Saint John.

In the early stages of her career, she won provincial and maritime titles in the 10, 12, and 14 year-old age classes for girls. She also won nine straight provincial and maritime titles in the senior category.

She won the Canadian Senior 1adies championship in Montreal in 1929 and finished second in the three-quarter mile event in the North American Championships in 1930.

Accepting on behalf of Sybil was her sister, Miss E.A. Beatteay of Saint John.

In closing, Fenety stressed that people recognize the great honor it is to be inducted in the N.B. Sports Hall of Fame, that "not just anybody can gain admittance to the Hall.

"Our goal is quality, not quantity," he said.