The best of 2019
Truro Sport Heritage Society to honour athletic accomplishments during annual awards dinner
TRURO, N.S. – The Truro Sport Heritage Society will host its 36th annual awards dinner Sunday, March 1 at the Best Western Glengarry in Truro.
The dinner acknowledges the accomplishments of local athletes and volunteers from the Town of Truro and Colchester County for 2019. There will be 22 awards handed out for a wide variety of categories and ranging in ages, from under 15 to over 50 years.
Doors open at 6 p.m. and dinner beins at 6:30 p.m.
Bruce Rainnie, president and CEO of the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame, will emcee the event.
To purchase tickets, or for additional information on the awards dinner, contact Farida Gabbani by email at fgab47@ gmail.com. Tickets cost $40 for adults and $25 for students.
During the coming weeks, nominees will be featured in the Truro News. Team Mceachren, curling Team Mceachren won the N.S. U18 championship at their home rink last March to advance to the U18 national championship in April. The team made it to the championship round where they lost the bronze medal in a tight game against Manitoba. Overall, this was a very strong result for a team who had only played together for the U18 events.
Truro Lions, U20 javelin Comprised of four female and four male throwers, the Lions have accomplished fantastic results at both the provincial and national level. Provincially, these athletes comprised the top-four rankings in their respective categories. At the NSSAF championships, the team brought home two gold, two silver, a bronze and a fourthplace finish. Nationally, all eight athletes are ranked within the top 25.
Truro Bearcats, U18 boys baseball
The Bearcats captured the provincial title with a 5-0 record. During the tournament, they demonstrated great pitching and timely hitting. After winning silver at the 2018 championship, the team was looking to improve on their result, aiming to leave no doubt on the field this time around. ••• Greg Cream Greg is married with two sons, Brayden and Keenan. Brayden was diagnosed with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy, and as a result, Greg and Brayden were introduced to sledge hockey and wheelchair basketball. Greg became the sledge program’s coach at Colchester Legion Stadium.
Along with this, Greg coached Keenan’s hockey team. The team won the Mike Schmitt tournament and represented the North Conference at the Hockey Nova Scotia’s Day of Champions.
Greg is dedicated and loves the game and shares his passion with his players. The values he instills into his players will benefit them beyond the arena. Miranda Bates Miranda believes everyone involved in sport is an athlete who deserves attention and coaching, whatever their goals and abilities may be. Miranda worked with the Cobequid Special Olympics to establish a Bridge Program where Special Olympics athletes who are interested can train with the Truro Centurion club.
As coach of the Truro Centurions, Miranda has had outstanding success at all levels. Under her guidance, the club recorded 478 personal best times in 2019. Harvey Maceachern Harvey is a year-round volleyball coach who is passionate about the sport and the development of athletes. Harvey is head coach of the CEC’S boys’ team who won their fifth straight provincial championship in 2019.
Harvey is also a coache of the Truro Tide volleyball program and plays a significant role in the development of the entire program. In 2019, the U14 team won silver, the U16 teams finished fourth and fifth and the U18 team won gold. This a club that has quality coaching and Harvey is at the core of the coaching staff. ••• Dara Pelkey-field Dara and her husband, Mike, did the half Iron-man Triathlon at Mont-tremblant, Que. in 2018 and felt that with the right training, they could do a full longdistance triathlon. With nine months of training, Dara travelled to Lake Placid to participate in a full Ironman. The triathlon began with a 3.86Km lake swim, then a 180km bike ride and finished with a 42.6K run.
What’s more impressive is Dara didn’t know how to swim just two years ago. But with a positive attitude and after countless hours in lakes and pools, with Mike’s help and some great friends, Dara’s fear of the water slowly evaporated. ••• Murray Mackay North Shore residents of all ages are able to enjoy yearround recreational activities, in part, to a dedicated and humble volunteer, Murray Mackay.
Murray can be found in all seasons and in all weather at the North Shore Recreation Centre, the John K. Macdonald Sports Field and the North Shore Curling Club in Tatamagouche, where he is the chief ice-maker. He also volunteers in Truro at the RECC and Pictou County Wellness Center during the Pinty’s international curling events. Murray also spends endless amounts of time on the upkeep of sports fields, hands-on mowing, seeding, clearing rocks and dragging. There is an abundance of recreational opportunities available to the public due to Murray’s hard work and dedication. ••• Darlene Crowe Marshall Darlene is a big inspiration to many women. She is an avid member of the RECC, working out daily and taking classes. She is active in all of the things that she organizes and encourages and supports others to join her.
She registered the “Women on Wheels” Truro Group with Bike Nova Scotia and has almost 400 women registered. Darlene can be seen leading bike rides with her followers. She is the senior athlete who leads all of these events and creates events for others to participate and join her in her love of being active, such as biking the Tatamagouche trail and other trails around the province.
Darlene exemplifies the spirit and philosophy of “Active for Life.” ••• Sherry Alexander Athletics Nova Scotia recognizes Sherry as an extraordinary volunteer. She is the current club administrator for Truro Lions Track and Field Club and the club has grown in all event groups under her many years of administration.
She has recruited new coaches, new athletes and has been working hard for that club. Many youth provincial (Legion) team members, Canada Games members and numerous college athletes attest to Sherry’s support and dedication. Daisy and Bruce Roberts Daisy and Bruce Roberts have worked tirelessly for many years building the sport of cycling in the Truro area. They hold the Victoria Secret mountain bike race every year, hold numerous group rides and short track races and with the Town of Truro, volunteered to work with the large team of volunteers to build one of the best trail systems in the province, “The Railyard” and have helped create a network of trails in Truro’s forested watershed.
Their goal is to inspire others to be active and for this they volunteer a huge amount of time. Listed are a few of the numerous events and activities they have helped to organize – Truro Kids Run, Truro half marathon, Jack Rabbit Run.
Snowshoeing has also been led by them both, Daisy a gentler trek and Bruce at night with a more vigorous one. This happens 3-4 times a week as are the group bike rides. Shelley Flemming Shelley has been involved in tennis for a long time and has, and still is, playing pivotal roles in advancing and promoting tennis within our community.
She is currently vicepresident of the Truro Tennis Club, has been the organizer of ladder matches for members of all playing levels for more than six years straight, and instructs tennis lessons all year long. In the past year Shelley has had many important roles, such as teaching, planning the 2019 Atlantic junior tournament and organizing and running “Try Tennis” evenings. With her help membership in the Truro Tennis Club has been growing and a larger number of lessons, particularly with women have taken place.