2009 Inductees

The Board of Directors is pleased to annouce the inductees for 2009:

Kay Helleur - Athelete/Builder - Golf

Katherine (Kay) Helleur who moved to Whitby in 1980 and is well known in the golfing community in Ontario with a long list of accomplishments both on the golf courses, in designing and managing a course, and in her work in support of wheelchair athletes. Kay has been recognized by the Provincial Government for Distinguished Performance in the Field of Amateur Sport a total of six times and was inducted into the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2007 the Ontario Wheelchair Sports Association made Kay the recipient of the Dr. Robert Jackson Award as founder of the Ada MacKenzie Memorial Foundation charity and Foundation's support of wheelchair athletes.

Dunc Wilson - Athlete - Hockey

Dunc Wilson grew up in Whitby where he excelled as both a lacrosse and hockey player. Dunc played Junior hockey for the Oshawa Generals in 1964-65, the Niagara Falls flyers from 1965 to 1966, the Peterborough Petes in the 1966-67 season and the Oshawa Generals again in 1967-68. Originally part of the Boston Bruins system, he was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1968. In the 1970 expansion draft he was claimed by the Vancouver Canucks where he played from the 1970-71 to 72-73 seasons. He spent the next two years with the Toronto Maple Leafs before being traded to the New York Rangers for another two years. Traded again, he played 2 more seasons for the Pittsburgh Penguins where he was the starting goaltender and named team MVP for the 1967-68 season. Dunc retired from hockey at the end of the 1978-79 season after appearing in 287 games.

Henry Street High School - Team - Baseball

The 1995 Henry Street Hawks were the first team from Whitby to win the Prentice Cup awarded to the winner of the Provincial High School Baseball Championship. The team won the championship final game in extra innings at the Sky Dome (now the Rogers Centre). Coaches for the team were Tom Buchanan, Marshall Thompson, Gord Brady and the players on the roster were: Tim Imeson, Blair Hardy, Josh Miller, Jeremy Schott, Jeff Bremner, Jerzy Aronowicz, Ken Calway, Brad Newport, Adam Thompson, Sean Culleton, Chris Goring, Craig Lanegger, Jason Peddle, Scott Thompson, Ryan Tocher, Chris Allison, Sean Tremaine, Darryl Woodley.

2008 Inductees

The board of directors is pleased to announce this years inductees:

Lloyd Gibson, Builder - Lacrosse

Lloyd Gibson was the second youngest of nine children, born in Lions Head, Ontario in 1908. He grew up in Thessalon, where he starred as a baseball and lacrosse player. Mr. Gibson was recruited to work at General Motors and played indoor lacrosse for the company team. He married Georgene Ramsay in 1935 and took his bride to Oshawa, where they lived until 1939. He and his growing family moved several times as a result of his work with London Life until settling in Whitby in 1949. Mr. and Mrs. Gibson had four sons, Bryan, David, Ross and Neil and a daughter, Margaret, who died in infancy. After Georgene’s death, Lloyd married Mabel Holmes, who had a daughter, Marilyn.

Lloyd did not waste any time getting involved with the local athletic scene and was instrumental in forming the Whitby Lacrosse Club in 1955 (Whitby Merchants – Intermediates) and the Whitby Minor Lacrosse Association in 1958. The Whitby Merchants evolved into a Junior A team, the Whitby Red Wings, the 1960 Minto Cup Finalists.

He was actively involved in lacrosse at the provincial level and became president of the Ontario Minor Lacrosse Association in 1963. Mr. Gibson won the McKenzie Award, the OLA’s highest honour, in 1965 and is also honoured as a Lifetime Member of the OLA. He was determined throughout his lengthy sports career to encourage local involvement and was instrumental in the formation of a Junior B Club in 1969. He was a lifetime member of the Whitby Junior Lacrosse Club, a tireless supporter of the Rotary Club (president), a school board chairman and a director of the Children’s Aid Society. Mr. Gibson won the Peter Perry Award in 1960. He also coached baseball for several years in the Whitby Minor Baseball Association.

Lloyd Gibson passed away in 1982.

Joe Nieuwendyk, Athlete - Hockey

Joe Nieuwendyk is the youngest of four children. His parents immigrated from Holland in 1959 and moved to Whitby in 1966, and in the fall of that year, Joe was born at the Oshawa General Hospital. He attended St. John’s the Evangelist school and Henry Street High School. Growing up in Whitby, he played for both the Whitby Minor Hockey Association and the Whitby Minor Lacrosse Association. In the 80’s he played for the Whitby Warriors Junior A lacrosse tem and won 2 Minto Cups and was named the MVP both times. He was drafted to play for the Pickering Panthers Hockey team and played there one year before receiving a hockey scholarship from Cornell University in Ithaca New York.
While attending Cornell University, he was twice named All-American for his play with the university hockey team and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 1987 as the most outstanding US collegiate hockey player. Named as an All American in 1986 and 1987. Joe is in the Sports Hall of Fame at Cornell.

Drafted in the second round by the Calgary Flames in the 1985 entry draft (27th overall) his first full season with the team was in 1987-88 when he scored 51 goals and 92 points becoming the second player to score 50 goals in their rookie season. He was awarded the Calder Trophy as that year’s NHL’s top rookie.

In his second season he again scored 51 goals and the Calgary Flames won the Stanley Cup. In 1991 he was named captain of the Flames.
Joe was traded to the Dallas Stars in December of 1995. While with the Stars he scored 6 game-winning goals in the playoffs to lead the Stars to victory over Buffalo in the Stanley Cup finals. Joe won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership qualities on and off the ice in 1995 and the Conn Smyth Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs in 1999.

Joe was traded to the New Jersey Devils during the 2001-02 season where he reached several milestones: 500 goals, 500 assists and 1000 points and his third Stanley Cup.

He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2003-04 season then moved on to the Florida Panthers where he tallied 56 points in 65 games.
Internationally Joe represented Canada at the 1986 World Junior Championships, the 1990 World Championships, and is a two-time member of Canada’s Winter Olympic team (1998-2002).

Chronic back problems forced Joe to retire from playing hockey but not before he recorded 564 goals, 562 assists and a total of 1126 points with two 50 goal seasons, two 40 goal seasons, and four 30 goal seasons in his 20 year NHL career. The four-time NHL All-Star is currently the Special Assistant to the General Manager of the Florida Panthers of the NHL. Joe lives in Parkland Florida with his wife Tina and their three children: Kaycee, Tyra, and Jackson.

Tony Jones, Athlete - Track and Field

Tony Jones, born Pius Jones in New Waterford, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Nov. 11, 1919, has been a resident of Whitby since 1956. He is being inducted into the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame for his involvement in Masters Track and Field as a Pentathlete.

Rejoining his love for Track and Field, Tony received 2 Bronze, 3 Silver, and 1 Gold at the North American Masters meet held at Birchmount Stadium in 1979. In September of the same year he won a medal in the Canadian Masters Pentathlon competition held in Stouffville. This was followed with a Silver Medal at the Canadian Masters in 1981 in Richmond B.C.
For his efforts Tony was recognized as part of the Town Recognition of Achievement Night in 1982.

In 1989 Tony received the Porcelain (Bronze) medal in the 400 meter competition at the World Master’s in Copenhagen.
In 1994 Tony received a Bronze Medal in the Pentathlon competition during the World Masters Track and Field championships in Brisbane Australia. One of Tony’s most challenging events was a biathlon in the Netherlands in 1997 from which he returned to Canada in a wheelchair. He again competed at the World Masters Track and Field championships in Eugene Oregon in 1998.

The Governor-General awarded Tony the Commemorative medal for contributions to Canada, community or fellow Canadians in 1992.

This World War II vet was a member of the Royal Canadian Engineers and was wounded in Belgium in 1944. He and his first wife Rose, who passed away in 1988, have three children; Barbara, Debbie, and John. Tony continues to live in Whitby with wife Madge.

Gord Carroll, Builder - Curling

Born on Red Island, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Gord Carroll was a member of the Canadian Air Force until his retirement while stationed at CFB Trenton at the rank of Sergeant in 1979. Shortly after his retirement from the air force, Gord moved to Whitby with his wife Cathy and their five children (Geoffrey, Angela, John, Andrew, Janet). Gord was hired as the Icemaker at the Whitby Curling Club starting in 1979. When he arrived both the ice conditions and membership of the club needed improvement. Gord promoted the junior program as he felt getting young players involved would help bring new life and longevity to the game. The junior program was a great success, in fact; it was so successful that many of his students went on to represent the Club at the provincial, national and international levels. He brought schools in from all over Durham and taught them all how to curl. He would teach hundreds of kids each year. Gord was promoted to Icemaker/Manager of the Whitby Curling Club in 1982.

Gord started making ice while in Moosonee Ontario and making the curling ice was his real passion. Over the years he made Whitby famous for its good ice. Gord would experiment and work on ideas until the ice was like no where else. Gord’s work ethic paid off. The Ontario Curling Association formed an Ice Program and Gord was one of the first four members of that team allowing him to spread his knowledge of ice making to other clubs in Durham Region, across Ontario, and eventually, over the years, he would be teaching people how to make ice all over the world.

Gord brought many tournaments to the area. The Police held their National Championship here, the Whitby Curling Club has hosted two Men’s Provincial Championships, and a long time bonspiel called the Sun Life brought the likes of Russ Howard and Ed Werenich to our club.
All of this had a great effect on the membership of the club such that by the mid 80’s there was a waiting list to get into the club; over a thousand of people were curling there each week.

A curler himself, Gord was part of a rink that won the 1970 Ontario Legion Championship and finished second at the Nationals where he was picked for the all-star team that year. In 1971 he repeated as part of the Ontario Legion Championship rink and in 1972 and 1973 he was in the Newfoundland Men’s Provincial Finals, and in 1978 he was in the Ontario Men’s Provincial Finals.
Gord retired from his role with the Whitby Curling Club in 2001.

The Whitby Curling Club made him an Honourary Life Member in 2002.

In honour of the hundreds of clubs he helped over the years, the Ontario Curling Association made Gord a Honourary Life Member in 2005. Curling in Whitby is popular today because of the efforts of Gord Carroll with young players, on making great ice, and raising the level of the sport.