By John Moore, Columnist
On Saturday Oct 19th Maskwa Aquatic Club celebrated its 50th anniversary at the Dimon Centre. By all accounts it was a huge success as members, former members and dignitaries gathered to celebrate this momentous occasion. Chair of the event board member, Patricia Macarthur, did an amazing job organizing this celebration.
Commodore and former Olympian Peter Giles welcomed and thanked everyone for coming. MC past Commodore Brian Smith read a letter from Premier Tim Houston which recognized Maskwa for its accomplishment in winning successive National titles and for being the biggest and best paddling club in Canada. Brian also presented a framed certificate congratulating Maskwa from Mayor Savage on behalf of Councillor Kathryn Morse who couldn’t attend because of the municipal election. This was followed by MP Lena Metlege Diab who spoke of her love for Maskwa. She then presented member Margot Schelew with the longest active member award having been a member since 1995. She also presented Commodore Peter Giles with a beautifully framed certificate commemorating the 50th anniversary signed by Prime Minister Trudeau and herself. This was followed by a few remarks by MLA Braedon Clark who, in his congratulatory remarks, mentioned his love for paddling and said he believed it was the hardest of all sports to do. MLA Rafah DiCostanzo recalled her fond memories of Maskwa when her children attended and how much she loved the club. Mary Ann McGrath former MLA, Chair of Friends of Blue Mountain and Chair of Kearney Lake Residents Association recalled the moving of the Maskwa club house from Donaldson Avenue to the Maskwa site and how it was an amazing engineering feat to do so. The club house was bought for $1 and moved for next to nothing. Beloved Alderman Alphie Hamshaw, a key founder of Maskwa could do anything for next to nothing. He was also the first Commodore of Maskwa. Past Commodore John Moore then picked up where Mary Ann left off and spoke at length about the history of Maskwa. During his speech he introduced several former commodores, members and coaches. He mentioned along with founder Alphie Hamshaw there were about 12. Other founders were Roger Hamshaw, Jules Dufour, George Cann, Harold and Irene Swindells, and Ed Mulrooney. Alphie Hamshaw’s daughter Hazel and husband Ken Macleod were also in attendance. The first coach of Maskwa was Peter Sworin. The second coach was Scott Logan, and the 3rd coach was Peter Fardy. Both were in attendance. Coaching legend Tony Hall, who attended, coached briefly in 1978 and is the father of current Head Coach Christian Hall. Some of the former members who were in attendance were Wendell Kerr and daughter Andrea who was one of the first Maskwa top paddlers.
Phil Henderson, along with long time former members and important volunteers Linda Jessop and Brian and Angela Jessop were in attendance. Other notable attendees were Laura Cann, her daughter Tracy, Greg Swindells, Anne Kelly and her husband famed musician Terri Kelly. Anne is the daughter of beloved former commodore Bill Nugent. Former MLA and Deputy Premier Diana Whalen who has been a great supporter of Maskwa over the years.
Head Coach Christian Hall welcomed the former commodores to the stage to perform a Commodore Salute. In his remarks Christian mentioned former head coach Jon Pike who was the first coach to win a National title in 2016. He also mentioned former head coach Chad Brooks for all his hard work during the Maskwa expansion. Presented to the audience were former Commodores Ken MacDonald, George Dickey, Brian Smith, Lee Anne White, Margot Schelew, John Moore, Eleanor Power, Cam Morrison and Barb Mulrooney. The final presentation of the evening was done by Commodore Peter Giles. He presented those athletes that had won 50 medals or more at Nationals with awards. They were Olympian Mark De Jong, Anna Negulic, Brett Himmelman, Marlee Mac Intosh and Debra Veith Morse. An amazing feat for sure!
In closing I believe the words of Geoff Regan former speaker of the House of Commons who was in attendance along with his wife MLA Kelly Regan say it all,” While Maskwa’s Olympic and national championship success have been fantastic, it’s really been the self-discipline, self-esteem and interpersonal skills Maskwa has developed in thousands of young people that I find most impressive.” Happy anniversary Maskwa! I believe this is just the beginning. God bless and happy November.
