EVER-HUMBLE ARTISS WAS REGINA SPORTS ROYALTY
I was introduced to Laurie Artiss 35 years before we met.
Back in 1971, while watching CKCK Television, I noticed a well-dressed, well-spoken gentleman in black and white. (We must have been the last family on Acadia Drive to purchase a colour TV, but I’m over it now.)
“Who is that?” Alan Vanstone’s seven-year-old non-prodigy of a son inquired.
“Laurie Artiss,” dad replied. “He’s a very smart man.”
And a very nice man, as I would eventually discover while working on a dream project.
Toward the end of the 1970s, I became obsessed with the
1966 Saskatchewan Roughriders — at that point, the only Grey Cup-winning team in franchise history.
To learn more about the subject, I visited the Regina Public Library and asked to see microfilmed editions of the Regina Leader-Post, covering June to November 1966.
After miraculously winding the microfilm on to those infuriating spools, I read about great games and saw so many legendary names — those of Ron Lancaster, George Reed, Hugh Campbell, Ed McQuarters, Ted Urness, Alan Ford, Ron Atchison, Eagle Keys and Artiss.
Artiss, you see, covered the Roughriders for my favourite newspaper from 1965 to 1969.
All these years later, I can proudly say that I read every word he wrote for the LeaderPost. Such was my fascination with the 1966 Roughriders, microfilm, spools, etc.
I went back to spool in 2006, when work commenced on a 40th-anniversary tribute to the 1966 Roughriders. (The project eventually evolved into a book entitled West Riders Best, which was also the headline that adorned Artiss’s front-page coverage of the Green and White’s landmark win.)
Immersion in microfilms was a key component of the research process, so once again I found myself reading and enjoying the many stories and columns written by Artiss.
And then I met the man!
Our paths crossed at the 2006 Brier. I sat down beside him on the media bench — a fitting location, in light of his journalism background — and interviewed him about 1966.
Once the Q&A concluded, we had a wonderful, informal chat. I somehow resisted the temptation to request an autograph. Alas, selfies were not yet in vogue.
I was reminded last week of my audience with Artiss, while requesting media credentials for the next Regina-based
Brier (March 3-11). After all, the uncontested highlight of the 2006 Canadian men’s curling championship was time spent with our former sports editor/ columnist.
Then came Wednesday, when Laurie Artiss Ltd. — a giant in the curling industry — announced that its founder had passed away at age 85.
The sad news prompted a torrent of tributes, all of which were richly deserved.
“Laurie was extremely innovative as sports editor,” former Leader-Post sports department colleague John Swan said. “He liked to present things, not just put them on the pages, and encouraged us to write snappy headlines and try different things in terms of design.
“Although Laurie enjoyed covering the Riders, his real love was curling. After he left the paper, he prepared a stunning presentation book for the committee set up to try and bring the world curling championship to Regina.
“Each section began with what at first seemed to be indistinguishable images. But everything became clearer as it was reduced with each section and ended up with pictures of Ernie Richardson, the best-known curler not just in Canada but the world.
“Laurie’s presentation was widely recognized as being the key element in bringing the championship to Regina.”
That was one of his myriad contributions to the curling world.
“Laurie Artiss wasn’t one of those guys you saw throwing draws to the button to win the Brier, but his influence on the sport of curling was profound and will continue to be profound,” said Resby Coutts, chair of Curling Canada’s board of governors.
“We’re sad to learn of his passing and we’re proud of having been associated with Laurie and we look forward to his amazing legacy continuing at curling events for years to come.”
Laurie Artiss Ltd., which began as a curling supply business, was incorporated on Sept. 15, 1971.
As part of his association with the roaring game, Artiss chaired the 1973 and 1983 world men’s championships, plus the 1976 Brier, when those events were held in Regina.
Ultimately, Laurie Artiss
Ltd. — The Pin People became a global leader in the lapel-pin-manufacturing industry. The company was the official pin supplier for the 1988 and 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
“Laurie was a dynamic, energetic sportsman and businessman — a leader in the curling and pin business and a tireless volunteer,” said Regina’s Bernadette McIntyre, who received Curling Canada’s Award of Achievement in 2017 in recognition of her myriad contributions to the sport.
“He was a mentor to many of us in curling circles. We could contact him at any time even when he moved away (to B.C.) He made an impact provincially, nationally and internationally. Laurie lived life to the fullest and will be greatly missed.”
Artiss has been enshrined in the Curling Canada Hall of Fame, Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame, Regina Sports Hall of Fame and Manitoba Baseball
Hall of Fame.
Born in Priddis, Alta., he moved to Regina from Manitoba in 1965 to become the Leader-Post’s sports editor and sports columnist.
After leaving the L-P, he remained in the media as the host of a weekly program on CKCK — which is how we
“met” — while establishing what became a phenomenally prosperous business.
Despite enjoying enormous success, Artiss carried himself humbly and with consummate class. He did not act like a big shot, even though it felt like I was in the presence of royalty while we chatted about 1966.
“There’s no question,” he told me on March 11, 2006, “that the first Grey Cup was the greatest thing that had happened to the city.”
Artiss, too, is an important part of our city’s history — from a sporting and business perspective.
From a personal standpoint, it was an honour to meet him.
We talked only once, but that conversation — like the man himself — will long be remembered.