ELEGANT ‘ THEN AND NOW’ CEREMONY MARKS SPRUCE MEADOWS MILESTONE
She learned from her father “how to soldier on in tough situations,” while her mother taught her to do that soldiering “with grace and elegance.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Linda Southern- Heathcott, president and CEO of Spruce Meadows, shared with more than 500 invited guests the gifts her parents gave her and sister Nancy Southern, the two women carrying on their legacies in sports and business.
In a touching event titled Then and Now, the daughters marked Spruce Meadows’ 40th anniversary by honouring their visionary parents, along with the many people who have helped to make it an international success story.
It was a party in typical Southern style, one that balanced sophistication and class with a down- home family feel. Invited guests arrived at the lunch hour to the Spruce Meadows Equiplex, where they were treated to several buffet tables overflowing with sushi, gourmet perogies and other assorted treats. Guests were free to sit at any table save for just a handful reserved for family and key sponsors.
The atmosphere was akin to an upscale country wedding, with guests greeting one another with hugs as they wandered around the plank- floor facility, a place that only weeks earlier served as the field for a show jumping competition.
While Southern- Heathcott and other speakers made sure to frequently acknowledge the hard work and loyalty of volunteers, staff, sponsors, media and other supporters, this was mostly a day to recognize the commitment and dedication of Ron and Marg Southern, the self- made billionaire and his wife who transformed a rural feedlot into the world’s premier show jumping facility.
As video screens projected images of everything from the world’s top riders to Marg and Ron as a young couple with big ambitions, the speakers heaped deserved praise on the pair for bringing an unlikely sport to not only Calgary, but also all of Canada.
Scott Russell, a famed CBC Sports broadcaster who first became acquainted with the Southerns in the early 1980s, described Spruce Meadows as a national treasure that has become “the most spectacular field of play for sport in the world.”
Like many others on this day, he noted one of his favourite things about coming back each year to Spruce Meadows was to soak in an atmosphere welcoming to local families of all income levels — he noted Ron’s pride in the fact it was still only $ 5 to get in and “free if you jump the fence” — while at the same time being a place of international renown.
“It is the best place of its kind in the world,” said Russell as he choked back tears.
Speaking for Spruce Meadows’ sponsors, Victor Royce described being a corporate partner of the facility a great privilege.
“Whatever they have committed to do, whatever the agreement says, they always do more,” said Royce, the president and CEO of Rolex Canada, a company that has supported Spruce Meadows for 20 years and one of more than 100 corporate sponsors. “That is a remarkable accomplishment.”
Praising the Southerns for running Spruce Meadows with both “military precision” and a focus on friendliness, Cameron Ross, major- general ( retired) of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse regiment gifted the family with a decommissioned tank, for use as a monument to commemorate the special relationship Spruce Meadows has had with his regiment.
He also surprised them with the announcement that an active- duty Leopard 2 tank will be named Southern; as well, the new Mr. Ron Southern Award, he said, will annually honour the top rider of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse Mounted Troop.
Speaking for the family, Linda Southern- Heathcott recalled her and sister Nancy Southern — who today runs ATCO, the company her dad and grandfather started in the 1940s — “picking rocks” at the newly purchased land back in the 1970s.
Back then, she never could have envisioned that in 2015, she’d be standing before a crowd marking the now- world renowned equestrian facility’s 40th anniversary.
Such an achievement, she said, could only have been possible with the help of those hundreds gathered on this day.
“You have joined with Marg and Ron in heart and mind,” she said to the supporters, prompting more than a few tears throughout the room.
Still, everyone here on this special day is well aware that without the vision and guidance of Marg and Ron Southern, Spruce Meadows could never have happened.
“They have supported each other,” she said of her remarkable parents, just before she and her family led guests on a walk on the grounds that was a re- creation of the walk they took on opening day, April 13, 1975.
“And at one time or another, they have touched each of our lives in a profound way.”