Category: 1994 Inductees

The 1994 inductees to the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame

  • Eleanor Reid – Builder

    Eleanor Reid – Builder

    Born in Regina, Eleanor Reid has spent the majority of her adult life involved in the sport of golf and for more than 30 years has been working to make the game more appealing to women.

    Reid first became a member of the Prince Albert Ladies Golf Club in the early 1960s and since that time she has held a number of executive positions locally, provincially and nationally.

    Elected to the position of Second Vice‑President in 1962, Reid followed that with a two‑year term as First Vice‑President (1963 ‑ 64) and then two years as Club President (1965 ‑ 66).

    After two years as Past‑President at the local level, Reid moved to the provincial scene where she was Second Vice‑President of the Saskatchewan Branch of the Canadian Ladies Golf Association in 1971 ‑ 72. Reid then became First Vice‑President of that branch in 1973 ‑ 74 and the following two years (1975 ‑ 76) Reid was the Provincial President and largely responsible for Prince Albert hosting the 1976 National Ladies Amateur at Cooke Municipal Golf Course. Reid’s term as Provincial President also saw Regina play host to the 1976 National Junior Championship.

    Part of Reid’s duties as Provincial First Vice‑President and President were to attend national board meetings and for four years she travelled across the country attending these events in hopes of making women’s golf more visible and acceptable.

    Additional duties taken on by Reid during the 1960s and ’70s were chairing such events as the Saskatchewan Ladies Amateur, Saskatchewan Junior Girls Championship, Saskatchewan Senior Ladies Championship, Saskatchewan Ladies and Juniors Combined and the Provincial 19 ‑ and over Handicap Tournament ‑ among others. Reid didn’t limit her involvement in the sport to an executive capacity as she also became a successful golfer in her own right.

    Reid won the club championship in 1968 and that same year she accomplished the golfer’s dream when she recorded a hole‑in‑one on the par‑3 14th hole at Cooke Municipal Golf Course.

    A major force behind her involvement in the sport is her husband, Dr. Bob Reid, and it is with great pleasure that the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame adds Eleanor Reid’s name to its honour roll alongside that of her husband who was one of the inaugural inductees into the local shrine in the builder’s category.

  • Gordon “Tut” Coombs – Builder

    Gordon “Tut” Coombs – Builder

    Prince Albert’s success in the provincial boxing scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s can be largely attributed to one man ‑ “Tut” Coombs.

    Born in Prince Albert in 1914, Coombs did some amateur boxing as a youth, but he quit competing at the age of 16 at the request of his mother.

    His love for the sport was too strong to remain on the outside, and two years later he began training professional boxers. Coombs was never satisfied with his involvement in the sport until he began training amateur boxers with the Royal Canadian Legion Boxing Club in 1967.

    Coombs, along with Dick Stevens and Tom Settee, set up a ring, provided other equipment and in very little time had 30 ‑ 40 members. The club remained just a local unit until 1970 when it became a member of the Saskatchewan Amateur Boxing Association. At its first provincial tournament in Saskatoon that year, Coombs entered two boxers with Gary Fulton claiming the gold medal in the 105‑pound junior weight class.

    From 1970 ‑ 76, Coombs trained 30 provincial champions and also had a number of boxers compete at the Canadian junior Olympics, Western Canadian Championships, Golden Glove competitions and the Saskatchewan and Canada Winter Games. He emerged from nearly every competition with at least one medal winner.

    Coombs was recognized by his peers as one of the best “corner men” in the province and a number of times he would help other fighters when they competed at major events.

    It is for his dedication, concern and knowledge of the sport that the Saskatchewan Amateur Boxing Association recently made him a life member and it is for these reasons and much more that the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame places his name on its honour roll in the builder’s category.

    Inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.

  • David “Lefty” Logue – Athlete

    David “Lefty” Logue – Athlete

    It is a rare for an athlete to excel at two sports, but in the case David “Lefty” Logue, that is exactly what happened in the 1940s and 50s.

    Logue was born in Prince Albert in 1920 and while attending Connaught School as a teenager he developed exceptional skills in both baseball and hockey.

    Logue’s hockey career took flight in 1935 when as a 15‑year‑old he played left wing with the Prince Albert Junior Mintos. Logue then played two years of Intermediate “A” hockey in Prince Albert before World War II interrupted his playing career.

    It was during the war however that Logue gained recognition as a skilled hockey player. While stationed in Vernon, B.C., Logue ‑ along with his brother Jim and NHL Hall of Fame goaltender, Johnny Bower ‑ suited up for a club called the Prince Albert Volunteers. In 1943, the trio of Prince Albertans were included in the Vernon Military all‑star lineup which went on to capture the Western Canada Intermediate Championship.

    A year after the war ended Logue was approached by the National Hockey League’s New York Rangers and an invitation to attend spring training camp was forwarded to his home in Prince Albert. Logue declined the offer and again in the fall of 1947 he remained in Prince Albert despite the Ranger’s pleas for his attendance at camp. Since Logue had made up his mind to remain in Prince Albert, he turned to his other love ‑ baseball.

    From 1948 ‑ 55 Logue played senior men’s ball with both the Prince Albert Bohemians and Army and Navy Vets. While his pitching was very solid, it was his prowess at the plate which garnered him accolades from his peers. During the 1949 and ’50 seasons Logue batted .340 each year to lead his team and finish in the top 10 in the League.

    Logue was an all‑star for several years and often during the season he would team up with other players in exhibition games against touring clubs from across the country. Logue would also join various teams for major tournaments and would generally be one of the top players each time out.

    Hockey was not entirely out of the picture despite the refusal to attend pro camp. Logue played with both the Prince Albert Monarchs and Regents from 1948 ‑ 55 in the North Saskatchewan Senior B League and his strong skating and accurate shooting generally translated into offence.

    Once Logue’s active careers in both baseball and hockey came to an end, he sought enjoyment from other activities like golf, fishing and curling. Logue is a true sportsman and it is for this reason that the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame welcomes the addition of his name to its honour roll in the athletes

    Inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.

  • John Boden – Athlete

    John Boden – Athlete

    What began innocently enough over 60 years ago has progressed into an amazing association with the sport of baseball for John Boden.

    Born in Alingly, Saskatchewan in 1917, Boden was introduced to baseball at the relatively late age of 15 when he was inserted into the lineup as a pinch hitter for a squad at the Henribourg country picnic. His home run proved to be the game winner and it initiated a long and very successful amateur baseball career in Saskatchewan.

    Boden played with the Northside‑Spruce Home senior men’s team from 1932 ‑ 60 and in that span was a member of 12 Northern League Champions. In 1935. Boden also played with the Prince Albert Volunteers who captured the Saskatchewan Junior Men’s Championship and the following year he was a member of the Prince Albert Canucks who lost out to Yorkton in the Northern Junior Men’s Final. Beginning in 1937, Boden toiled with both the Northside‑Spruce Home Club and the Prince Albert Bohemians.

    Boden became a player‑coach in 1940 with the Northside‑Spruce Home Club and continued in that capacity until 1960. His coaching expertise was also used in Little League Baseball as he assisted a Knights of Columbus team from 1956 ‑ 60 and helped guide that squad to a Saskatchewan Little League Championship in 1959.

    From 1960 ‑ 76 Boden played with a number of reams who required his services as a slick‑fielding shortstop and offensive threat at the plate. In 1976, Boden was instrumental in organizing the Prince Albert Oldtimers Club which competed in the Provincial Twilight Baseball League. Boden was both a player and coach for the club up until 1987 when he was 70 years of age. Boden then joined the Hudson Bay Jaks Twilite Masters team and continues to perform with that squad.

    Boden has for a number of years escaped Saskatchewan’s bitter winters by heading south to Arizona. While in the sunbelt region of the United States he has been able to continue with his passion for ball and in 1992, Boden was a member of the silver‑medallist Arizona 75s at the World Series of Slowpitch in Detroit, Michigan.

    Boden’s greatest moment in baseball occurred in August of 1993 when he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame. It is therefore an equally great honour for the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame to include John Boden on its honour roll in the athlete’s category.

    Inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.

  • Marjorie Olson – Athlete

    Marjorie Olson – Athlete

    Dynasties are hard to come by in sports, especially curling, but for Prince Albert’s Marjorie Olson, that term certainly applies.

    Born in Glenalen, Ontario, Olson moved to the Kinistino district at the age of 14 and a decade later she settled in Prince Albert.

    Olson began her competitive curling career in the early 1940s and by the end of that decade she was one of the premier skips in the province.

    In fact, beginning in 1948, Olson was a member of seven straight northern champion rinks with the last six seeing her throwing skip stones. In 1951 everything came together for Olson as she became the first Prince Albert woman to win the T. Eaton Trophy as provincial women’s curling champion. Joining Olson on the championship team were Peggy McQuarrie at third. Scotty Johnston at second and Florence Jackson at lead.

    The same foursome repeated as northern champions in 1952, but lost out in the provincial final. Olson had to alter her team’s composition for each of the next three years, but the results were still the same as she continued her domination in the northern play downs.

    Then in 1955, with just Jackson remaining from the championship team of four years earlier, Olson made a return trip to the top of the provincial women’s curling scene. Joining Olson and Jackson were Mary Reid at second and Isabelle Hill at third. The Olson foursome went one level higher this time taking the Western Canadian Championship held in Winnipeg.

    Olson continued to curl at a club level for the next nine years, and in 1964 the inaugural Saskatchewan Legion Auxiliary Championship was held in Melfort and once again Olson rose to the top of the provincial field. Joining Olson on this rink were Jackson at third, Audrey Dent at second and Betty Bassett at lead.

    Olson curled competitively for the remainder of the decade and into the early 1970’s and during this time she skipped another rink to a northern title despite being 65 years of age. Olson added a couple of more district titles in the senior women’s playdowns early in the 1970s before her career finally slowed down.

    A dominant figure in the prize presentations at local bonspiels throughout her career, she was honoured by the Prince Albert Ladies Curling Club with a life membership in 1973.

    The legacy of Marj Olson is truly a rich one and the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame is proud to include her on its honour roll in the athlete’s category.

    Inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.