ecreation

Sports Activities

Horse racing at Newt Dawson’s race track was one of the earliest sports in North West Tryon. Horses in sulkies were raced during the summer months from about 1890 to 1920. The bell that was used at the judges stand was in the possession of the Russell Thomson family for a long time until it mysteriously disappeared. Newt’s wife, Christine Dawson, with the help of her sister, Mae Dawson, provided meals for sale to the people attending the races. These ladies had to begin meal preparation several days before race day to be ready to serve the crowd that gathered.

Skating was a very popular winter sport especially on the ponds which froze in the winter. Young and old put on their spring skates for a whirl over these smooth surfaces. Bon fires provided warmth and light and if the moon was not bright enough to provide light, bull rushes were cut, dipped in kerosene, lit from the hon fire, and carried as torches, adding to the excitement of the evening. When electricity arrived in 1913, Charles Ives erected a pole and placed a light on it to illuminate the cleared patch of ice on Ives’ pond.

A group of young men built a rink in 1925 with wood cut on Max Lefurgey’s woodlot and sawed at Ives’ mill. The outdoor rink, built on the location where Sterling Lord’s house now stands, had dressing rooms and a canteen. Water was piped from Wilfred Inman’s pump to make the ice surface. Some of the boys who worked on the project were George and Mick Dawson, Erle and Archie Thomson, William Pooley and Max Lefurgey.1

Many of North Tryon’s young men spent all their leasure hours at this outdoor rink. Some of the names residents recall are: Major Waddell, Art Thomson, Bert Thomson, Albert Callbeck, George Dawson in nets wearing Eaton’s catalogues for shin pads, Earle Mayhew, Major Inman, Tommy Dawson, Alex Dawson, Denzil Delaney, Ken Cameron, Hillus Dawson, Blaine Dawson, Sydney Dawson, Archie Thomson, Reg Thomas, George MacWilliams, Roy MacKenzie, Lloyd Inman, Myron Dawson, Bob Norton and Ed Norton from Crapaud, in fact every boy in the community that doned a pair of skates! A hockey team, the North Tryon Eagles, coached by Max Lefurgey made history in 1934 and put the community on the hockey map!

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