It was a long time coming, but, finally, our hand-crafted, Wall of Recognition is complete!
Originally designed and built by Tim Prue, 130 Days Road Project Coordinator and club member, this display was dedicated to honour those individuals and companies who contributed monetarily to the construction of our new facility. With the remodelling, it will now include some of RKCC's most important historical information ... the names of our Past Presidents and Life Members.
The original Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze donor plaques, have been moved to the top of the display, making room for the eight, textured panels you see installed in the photo above.
The names of our Past Presidents, along with their years of service, and our Life Members, designated by decade inducted, have been engraved for all to see.
While many members have commented that this location might be perfect for displaying a collection of RKCC history, it was the Lounge Committee, led by Betty Bush, that spearheaded the initiative of using the Wall of Recognition as a showcase for the record of Past Presidents and Life Members, leading to the finished product pictured above.
Compiling the list, as complete as it is, took several years and involved the work of numerous, dedicated members (apologies in advance to any whose name I miss mentioning).
One person who played a integral role in the project, was Lefty McDonald, who, in addition to being a Life Member, is also one of a very select few curlers who have been awarded a spot on the RKCC Wall of Fame (located in the main lobby, above the west, trophy case, the Wall of Fame is a MUST VIEW for all guests and members). Lefty sat down at his computer one summer and, aided by a set of RKCC club rosters dating back to the early 1900's, proceeded to create an extensive database indicating "date joined" and "years curled" for every name appearing in the rosters ... all of them! This database was, and continues to be, a very valuable source of club history, and was used to help create and validate the lists appearing on the display.
Wade Tousignant, Dave Bracken and , especially, Betty Bush, have each spent long periods of time researching and confirming names for the list of Life Members and Past Presidents. Phone calls and interviews to/with past members and their families, researching old rosters and archived Sweep articles ... these were just two methods that Wade, Dave and Betty have used to help confirm names for inclusion on the Wall of Recognition. Determining order of terms, years of service, accurate timing for induction, proper spelling of names ... you can't imagine the hours this took! Most recently, in order to determine the full names of some past members, Betty had to get creative with her sleuthing - cemetary records and more.
Finally ready to put the lists to hard copy, Betty Bush took on the task of finding a company to complete the work. Specialty Trophies, owned and operated by Tim Wells, won the job. And, after many font sizes and material samples were tried and tested, Betty and Tim were able to deliver the impressive, final product in time for the start of the 2011/12 season.
With plenty of room for future additions, the history of the Royal Kingston Curling Club already preserved on these panels is an impressive pedigree for the second oldest, curling club in North America; a curling club founded, developed and nurtured by the dedicated volunteer work of countless members.
On your next visit to the club, be sure to give yourself a moment to browse the names listed ... a good number of them are still active in the club today! If given an opportunity, I am sure any one of them would be happy to recollect a story, or two, of games and parties gone by ... pull up a chair!
