Margaret(s)ville

Time to leave the heat of the Valley, go over the mountain, and enjoy the cool breezes of Margaretsville. This picture, submitted by my nephew, was taken in 2008. I wonder if the cottages are getting closer to the edge.

Tribute to the Briar (2)

In 1951 the team from Kentville won the Briar. The team of Don Oyler, George Hansen, Fred Dyke and Wally Knock went undefeated, 10-0, the first team to do so. They outscored the opposition 116-60. The picture and stats were taken from the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame website. (http://www.novascotiasporthalloffame.com/)

Tribute to the Brier

Tried to find a cartoon or picture celebrating the rink from Kentvlle which first won the Brier for Nova Scotia. Instead I found this Chamber's cartoon of a Provincial Bonspiel in the Forties. JD MacKenzie skipped the rink from Middleton.

Quite a thing to do that many caricatures! (By clicking on the picture you can enlarge it; the arrow top left will return to the norm. - N)

CAHA 1937

Hanson Dowell made a major contribution to amateur hockey in Nova Scotia. His contribution has been recognized with his induction into the Middleton Sports Wall of Fame, the Truro Sports Hall of Fame and the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame. Here is a meeting of the C.A.H.A. at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto in 1937. I understand that Hanson Dowell and Carl Fisher were respectively President and Secretary of the MAHA at that time.

Baseball Nostalgia

Bucky Tanner - Home, Tampa, Florida, age 21, weight 215, height 6'4", pitches for Middleton Cards. In 1944 was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers from high school and farmed to Newport News (Piedmont League) '45 Mobile Ala. (Southern Assoc.) and Montreal royals. '46 Brooklyn Dodgers from where he jumped to the Mexican League with the Mexico city Reds where he teamed on the pitching staff with Max Lanier. Last winter he played in Cuba with the Alemendares Club. (from Maritime Baseball: Pictorial Yearbook 1947, p. 25.

For jumping to the Mexican League, both Lanier and Tanner were banned from Major League baseball, but Lanier was later reinstated. He played ball for St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants and St. Louis Browns.

Imagine, from Brooklyn Dodgers to Middleton Cardinals in a year!

Baseball

The is one of several copies I have of Maritime Baseball, a periodical that celebrated baseball in the region in the 1940s. I don't believe that pictures from this magazine will scan well, the quality seems quite poor. I was going to select a few of the famous Middleton Cardinals that appeared here.

Anyway, the Major Leaguers are assembling in Florida, and baseball will be on its way across North America before long. This magazine cover is used to both recall the heady days of baseball in Nova Scotia and announce that Spring and baseball will be here before we know it.

Hurricane Hazel

Anyone remember Hurricane Hazel. I believe it was the hurricane that toppled the trees at my grandparents' home. A search mentions 1954 and that it hit Toronto and southern Ontario hard. Do any of you have hurricane stories or pictures ?