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Medals, trophies, and ribbons are traditionally awarded as prizes to the victorious in life, war and sport. For athletes, these awards are more than just souvenirs of past victories: rather, they commemorate their skill, hard work, and determination in competitions across Canada and around the globe.
When awards are given out, it seems an athlete’s personal achievement will never be forgotten. But sadly, as the decades pass, the details of medal or trophy winning events slip away. All too often an athlete’s success is lost to the sands of time.
That is why medals, ribbons and trophies are so important: like a gravestone which records the facts of a person’s life, these awards often become the only remaining physical evidence of an athlete’s record. Created for the heroes and heroines of the day, they document the important details of an award winning event while recognizing the substantial community and business investment in sport. Medals, trophies and ribbons are also a reflection of the views, fashions and technology of the periods in which they were awarded and they are a potent symbol of the role which sports play in our culture and society.
In “Medals, Trophies, and Ribbons! Oh My!!!” you will find a sampling of the awards earned by eighteen Honoured Members of the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame while competing at home and abroad. These include tennis player Ethel Babbitt; wrestler Armand Bernard; rower Jillian “Rose” Blois; hockey player / golfer Maurice “Mousie” Dowling; speedskaters Charles Gorman, Frederick and Willie Logan, Hugh McCormick, Johnny Quigg, and Harry Smythe; all round athletes Arthur Finnamore, Ralph Lister, Andrew “Beef” Malcolm, Wallace Watling and Lorne Whalen; track and field champion Andrew “Zan” Miller; The 1932-1934 Moncton Hawks hockey team; and boxer Léo-Charles Pelletier.
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