.

6- Trail Times- Friday, April 23, 1982

I

l~PP-1ALK

For those of us who like to
predict happenings in the
world of sport, we should
now take into consideration
the fact there are things
taking place in the present
day sports arena that no one
can predict with any degree
of certainty.
The frustration voiced by a
couple of eminent sports
figures in recent weeks,
have, by my standards, been
somewhat in the form of
"sour grapes." These people
knew what was in store in
the NHL playoffs since they
opened training camp last
fall, why didn't they voice
their misgivings at that
time? It would certainly
have made their remarks
more credible and might
even have been instrumental
in having possible changes
made.
When I polled some of my
acquaintances on their
choice for the Stanley Cup
about a month ago there
waere a number of votes
along the MontrealEdmonton line, since these
two have been disposed of,
there were a number of these
people who have turned in
desperation to teams like the
L.A. Kings and Quebec.
Some even favor the
Canucks.
Among my Montreal fans

were Tody Edworthy, John
McFarland Jr., his brother
Danny, Carl Osing and Hank
Doerksen. Among those
pulling for Edmonton were
Jack MacDonald, Denise
I·.

.

Castle, Charles Cholak and
Dave Crawford, Chuck
Harkness went with the
Canucks. I hate to think of
the kind of summer we'll
have around the Rossland
Legion if the Canucks should
realize their "impossible
dream."
So, we sit back and think
about it. Would things have
been different with a sevengame series for openers?
What about the format that
prevailed last year, where
was it so wrong? The present
formula appears to be an
econpmic one, if so, it's
understandable. What the
promoters are thinking is,
they have to find a way to
counteract the inflated
payrolls.
The question now appears
to be, will the NHL see fit to
heed the complaints of those
"sour grapes" exponents or
will the packed arenas from
here on in tell them to sit on
what they have come up with
this season. We can certainly
say one thing, this has
definitely been a banner
year for the underdog.
This past weekend I
travelled to Castlegar for
our Legion Zone convention
along with several other
members of our Branch No.
14 committee and a number
of L.A. members. We had a
real good meeting and our
hosts were really tops in
hospitality. Every time one
turned round it seemed we
were getting some service or
nth

with a good formula.
The proposed formula
doesn't rule out the twocategory system, rather, it
enhances the Legion curling
spirit. The formula proposes
to have the top regular rink
to come out of the zone spiel
'83 and go to the provincial
playoffs. The top seniors
rink will also be eligible to
continue. In both cases the
letter of intent to Provincial
Command and the entry fee
will be taken care of by the
zone. Expenses will be borne
by the rinks advancing to the
playoffs, while most branches agreed to the possibility
of conducting raffles to help
defray these expenses.
One of the highlights of the
convention was the
welcoming address by
Castlegar's Mayor Audrey
Moore. This gracious lady
gave us a commentary of the
growth of her city from way
back when and she did a
darn good job of researching
her topic.
I would be dreaming if I
tried to follow her trip
through time, suffice to say I
would like to follow the

will
lla'ry

I

Pwer

general outline of her theme
and see how it turns out.
From its days when the
first settlement named
Waterloo arose from the
valley floor following a gold
rush in 1895, a five-year
boom which saw some 40
house, schools, saloons and
an opera house built as
mining promoters carried on
their trade as they still do
today, Castlegar was born.
1902 saw rail links and a
bridge across the Arrow
Lakes connected Trail,
Nelson and the hub city of
Castlegar while boats plied
the Arrow servicing Trail
and points on the Upper
Lake. Between 1908 and 1925
there was amazing growth in
the area with the high point
being the sawmill built in
what is now Kinnaird. The
mill was operated by
Milestone Lumber Company
who added a planer later.
What followed are some
developments known quite
well to most area old-timers;
the forming of the Castlegar
Co-op in 1937 to allow
Cominco workers to live in
Castlegar. In 1942 the Legion

branch was formed and was
chartered in 1945 in their
own building.
Then came 1959 and the
Canadian Cellulose Co.
followed in rapid succession
by
Hydro's
Hugh
Keenleyside dam. Many
improvements
have
followed, like the water
system and the completion
of the Salmo highway connection.
Castlegar's industrial
park was opened and we
have our own constitution
and Mayor Moore is confident that Castlegar will go
forward from here. She feel
her town will experience
considerable growth in the
future because of major
transportation links centred
in that area. Rail, road and
air are all there and are
bound to promote the growth
of their immediate
surroundings.
She finished her remarks
by thanking the Legion for
its
community-oriented
service
effort
and
congratulated
the
organization for its growth
record and wished us all well
in the future.

can
of certainty.
The frustration voiced by a
couple of eminent sports
figures in recent weeks,
have, by my standards, been
somewhat in the form of
''sour grapes.'' These people
knew what was in store in
the NHL playoffs since they
opened training camp last
fall, why didn't they voice
their misgivings at that
time? It would certainly
have made their remarks
more credible and migllt
even have been instrumental
in having possible changes
made.
When I polled some of my
acquaintances on their
choice for the Stanley Cup
about a month ago there
waere a number of votes
along the MontrealEdmonton line, since these
two have been disposed of,
there were a number of these
people who have turned in
desperation to teams like the
L.A. Kings and Quebec.
Some even favor the
Canucks.
Among my Montreal fans
were Tody Edworthy, John
McFarland Jr., his brother
Danny, Carl Osing and Hank
Doerksen. Among those
pulling for Edmonton were
Jack MacDonald, Denise
Rallison, our Legion
stewardess, and Ray Scott.
Then people picked their
favorites and stood by them,
while, as I said before, there
were some who picked and
then had to pick again when
their teams were upset.
Those who still have a
fighting chance are George
Dyson, Quebec; Carl
Seefeldt, Boston; Chris
Christianson (who went so
far as to predict the teams
who will play in the final).
He has an excellent chance
of saying "I told you so," if
and when the Islanders and
Chicago meet
Other Islander pickers
were Phil Bate,pian, He

dream."
So, we sit back and think
about it. Would things have
been different with a sevengame series for openers?
What about the format that
prevailed last year, where
was it so wrong? The present
formula appears to be an
economic one, if so, it's
understandable. What the
promoters are thinking is,
they have to find a way to
counteract the inflated
payrolls.
The question now appears
to be, will the NHL see fit to
heed the complaints of those
"sour grapes" exponents or
will the packed arenas from
here on in tell them to sit on
what they have come up with
this season. We can certainly
say one thing, this has
definitely been a banner
year for the underdog.

This past weekend I
travelled to Castlegar for
our Legion Zone convention
along with several other
members of our Branch No.
14 committee and a number
of L.A. members. We had a
real good meeting and our
hosts were really tops in
hospitality. Every time one
turned round it seemed we
were getting some service or
other for free.
One section of the
deliberations had to do with
zone sports where curling
always comes in for a lot of
discussion. After the debacle
we had at the fall meeting in
Kaslo in '81, something had
to be ironed out, after a
winter of hastily-called
meetings a format for the
future was hammered out
and presented on the floor of
the convention at Castlegar
and passed. While there will
possibly be dissenters
among Legion curling buffs
when the zone 'spiel comes
along next year, the zone
sports committee is to be
..;.;;.,
~ e n ~ for co~g up

_____________ __

'83 and go to the provincial
playoffs. The top seniors
rink will also be eligible to
continue. In both cases the
letter of intent to Provincial
Command and the entry fee
will be taken care of by the
zone. Expenses will be borne
by the rinks advancing to the
playoffs, while most branches agreed to the possibility
of conducting raffles to help
defray these expenses.
One of the highlights of the
convention was the
welcoming address by
Castlegar's Mayor Audrey
Moore. This gracious lady
gave us a commentary of the
growth of her city from way
back when and she did a
darn good job of researching
her topic.
I would be dreaming if I
tried to follow her trip
through time, suffice to say I
would like to follow the

house, schools, saloons and
an opera house built as
mining promoters carried on
their trade as they still do
today, Castlegar was born.
1902 saw rail links and a
bridge across the Arrow
Lakes connected Trail,
Nelson and the hub city of
Castlegar while boats plied
the Arrow servicing Trail
and points on the Upper
Lake. Between 1908 and 1925
there was amazing growth in
the area with the high point
being the sawmill built in
what is now Kinnaird. The
mill was operated by
Milestone Lumber Company
who added a planer later.
What followed are some
developments known quite
well to most area old-timers;
the forming of the Castlegar
Co-op in 1937 to allow
Cominco workers to live in
Castlegar. In 1942 the Legion

improvements
have
followed, like the water
system and the completion
of the Salmo highway connection.
Castlegar's industrial
park was opened and we
have our own constitution
and Mayor Moore is confident that Castlegar will go
forward from here. She feel
her town will experience
considerable growth in the
future because of major
transportation links centred
in that area. Rail, road and
air are all there and are
bound to promote the growth
of their immediate
surroundings.
She finished her remarks
by thanking the Legion for
its
community-oriented
service
effort
and
congratulated
the
organization for its growth
record and wished us all well
in the future.