CHAMPIONS SPEAK - 2013 Hall of Fame Inductee Bill Milnthorpe -- Builder
by Bill Milnthorpe
Thank you. Firstly, I
wish to thank those people who nominated me: Anne Greenwall,
who was the secretary of the Recreation board when I was
president, Frank Lockhart whom I have worked with over the
years both as an educator and community volunteer and His
Worship, Mayor Bill Elliot, whom I have worked with for over
thirty years, again sharing in many community endeavors that
mostly involved children.
I also wish to thank my family
for being here, son Rob and his wife Lisa from Calgary and
my daughter Darcy and our granddaughter, Emily, from
Houston, Texas and last but not least and most importantly
my wife, Pat. I never was a great typist, it was kind of
hunt and peck, thus my wife has been my secretary for over
fifty-three years! The advent of word processing (computer)
enhanced our marriage greatly. We finally delete with ease
and save a lot of time. I also wish to thank my friends who
have been most supportive of this evening’s event from its
inception. It is very much appreciated.
It is a real honor to be
inducted to the Sports Hall of Fame along with Bill Bell
Bathgate - I am certain he is the one person who got me
involved with community recreation - and also to be
nominated along with my friend Ross MacEachern. We started
out together in Minor Hockey - it was an exciting time
particularly when we divided the ice surface in half with 4
by 6 timbers.
My congratulations to the
other nominees here this evening.
My involvement with recreation
was founded on a philosophy- that as a community we have two
choices.
The first is: spend our money
on building recreation facilities providing lots of
activities for our young people or spend our money on
building jails. There is little doubt I am sure in your mind
as in mine which facility leads to the building of better
and more productive citizens. Over the years when I have
been out canvassing for funding of minor sports teams I have
always been impressed by the support from the business
community in Wetaskiwin as well as the citizens of this city
and surrounding area. I am sure they saw the value of sports
as well.
The second: the challenge that
we all face today and in the future - how do we make these
recreational facilities available to all children? When a
hockey stick costs $200 we know that this eliminates a large
number of young people. Granted hockey is not the only
sport, there are other less expensive sporting activities
but we mustn’t forget we have seven to eight months of
winter in this part of the world. Regardless of the sporting
activity we must find ways to enable ALL children to be
able to participate and be involved.
The best philosophy that I
have read that epitomizes my thinking is the following quote
from Paul Gasol - a super star basketball player for the LA
Lakers: “Sports are a powerful
tool for educating children. Kids can express
themselves through sports and find and develop their own
character.”
Children who belong to
something with other children and who are involved in an
activity with other children grow up to be involved
citizens. I saw proof of this yesterday, two former football
players talking about the camaraderie they had as players -
you could see that camaraderie in their eyes - this is some
fifty years later!
So that is my challenge to all
of us, let us find a way to involve all children regardless
of their financial situation. We also have to impress upon
parents to make the commitment to see that their children
become involved in activities of some sort.
Thank you Sports Hall of Fame
for the nomination, it is truly an honour.
