EQUESTRIAN MILESTONE
Spruce Meadows marks 40 years
It’s the kind of early June rain that while not quite a deluge, still sends most of us reaching for our umbrellas and overcoats.
Ron Southern, though, doesn’t even seem to notice the large droplets falling on his jacket, or that his hair is well on its way to being soaked through and through.
He’s too busy soaking in, pardon the pun, the specialness of the moment, doing his usual trick of deflecting all the praise directed his way back at the people around him.
In a short speech before a small crowd gathered on the grounds of Spruce Meadows on Tuesday for the media’s sneak peek of The National tournament, Southern, who created the world- class equestrian facility on the city’s southern outskirts back in 1975, makes sure to credit his and wife Marg’s success to all those collaborators of yesteryear and today.
“You take what you desire and you will it,” says the 84- year- old self- made Canadian business titan, his wheelchair facing the gathering of friends, volunteers and media from around the world. “It takes a certain will, a commitment and a belief … and people with a common goal, working together.”
Throughout 2015, at its six major outdoor tournaments that include this week’s National ( Wednesday to Sunday), the Spruce Meadows team has something on hand for each event to mark its 40th anniversary — and to honour, as much as possible, the facility’s founders, husbandandwife team Marg and Ron Southern.
On this day, it is the unveiling of a bronze sculpture of the couple, which will eventually find its home in the Founders Plaza, slated for completion this fall and located in the heart of the facility between the International Ring and All Canada Ring.
Created by award- winning Ontario sculptor Marlene Hilton Moore, the sculpture replicates a well- known 1973 image of Marg and Ron Southern, titled The Spruce Meadows Founders. Hilton Moore, who also created the Valiants Memorial in Ottawa’s Confederation Square, shows the pair looking over blueprints of the nascent Spruce Meadows, the first plans for what would later become the world’s best equestrian facility.
The inscription on a plaque next to the statue reads: “The Spruce Meadows Founders…….. Such a long time ago…….. such dreams…….. such dedication…….. such spirit…….. such commitment……. such success…….. such memories…….. such legacy…….. such excellence…….. Marg and Ron Southern ( 1973).”
For Linda Southern- Heathcott, who took over a decade ago as Spruce Meadows’ president and CEO, the emotion of the moment nearly overwhelms her as she finally gets to show the world the sculpture that was years in the making, not to mention quite a challenge to keep under wraps.
“This was a team that worked together side- by- side,” says Southern- Heathcott, her voice cracking as she looks on at her parents. “There are no two better people better known in Calgary for their community initiatives.”
When it’s her chance to speak, Marg Southern is as magnanimous as her husband of 61 years, making sure to mention the help they have received from so many, from old neighbours who helped clean up the property back in the early 1970s to the volunteers and staff. “Linda, congratulations to you for those washrooms,” she says with a mischievous smile, of one of the more popular features of the new Founders Plaza.
Listening to the informal, lighthearted banter and watching the Southerns as they greet everyone from foreign TV reporters to international riders, a newcomer might be taken pleasantly aback by the down- home atmosphere. This is, after all, the best facility in the world for a sport many, wrongly, associate with the upper crust; not to mention, a facility owned and run by one of Canada’s wealthiest families.
Then again, the Southerns and Spruce Meadows don’t follow anyone’s mould. In my nearly two decades of visiting the beautiful, sprawling spread, I’ve been treated not much differently from the real royalty they’ve hosted over the years — and I’ve seen everyone, from working- class families, members of the military, volunteers and anyone else, enjoy the same delightful welcome.
They stick to that refreshing script on Tuesday, ensuring the Spruce Meadows experience is the same for all who enter its gates: an international place with a family feel.
On this special day, family is definitely on Linda Southern-Heathcott’s mind as she shows them the bronze sculpture that will remind visitors of her parents for generations to come.
“They always make sure to pay tribute to everyone else,” she tells me as her eyes once again tear up. “It’s their turn now. They’re pretty special people.”