Darlene Chartrand, Ross McIntosh & Robert Pilon – Meritorious Service

In 1983 a Save the Rec Committee was formed with Ross McIntosh and Robert Pilon as two of the founding members. The committee was formed in response to a proposal by Prince Albert City Council to convert the Margo Fournier Centre from a multi-purpose recreation facility to an arts centre for the performing arts.

The Save the Rec Committee persuaded City Council to reconsider the proposal. With the Save the Rec committee’s goal achieved, Ross and Robert realized sports groups in Prince Albert needed to unite and speak with a common voice.

Darlene Chartrand joined the pair and the Prince Albert Sports Council was born after several months of work. Their vision and mandate was to have all of Prince Albert’s sports groups unite into one organization to benefit all of them as well as the community.

The trio also negotiated a deal with a new bingo hall to have sports organizations volunteer and earn money for their many projects. The Prince Albert Council also signed up to work bingos in order to have funds to donate to a variety of projects and sporting organizations.

Together they recruited and formed an inaugural Board of which Robert was the president, Ross the vice-president and Darlene the treasurer.

Thanks to the groundwork of its founders, the Sports Council has donated to and sponsored literally thousands of individuals, teams, and events. In addition, they have contributed significantly to many projects in Prince Albert and area. These projects include the scoreboard & bleachers for Diamond 2 at Prime Ministers Park, the Canoe & Kayak Boat House, P.A. Gymnastics & Soccer Centre ,Cross Country Ski Trails, the Summer Games Sports Centre, the Margo Fournier Centre, the Rotary Trails, the Skateboard Park, and several Community Club rink upgrades. In addition, they have contributed to the 1992 Summer Games, 1999 Western Canada Summer Games, and the 2002 Special Olympics.

Since its beginnings, the Sports Council’s donations have exceeded $1,234,00.00. Today the Sports Council continues to support, donate and contribute to a variety of projects ensuring the continuation of the “dream and vision” of its founders.

Darlene now lives in Alberta, Ross in Illinois and Robert in Ontario.

The Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame is thankful for the work Darlene Chartrand, Ross McIntosh, and Robert Pilon have done and proudly welcomes them into the Hall.