The Basilica Recreation Centre — Before and After

The first president was Ed Laughlin in 1949. He was a professor at Prince of Wales College. The second was Vince King in 1950. Vince was my first scout leader. He and his wife Irene were strong supporters of the scout movement, as well as the BYC. Members of Vince’s executive were John Richard, Ethel Kelly, Wendell Murphy, Gladys Walsh and Ivan Dowling. Committee chairs were Junior Dowling, John Haughey, May Doyle, John Eldon Green, Betty MacDonald, Helen Larter and John Walsh

Other early presidents were Gus Flynn, 1951; Lorne Arsenault, 1952; Abe Zakem, 1953; Alf Coady, 1954; and Leo Dowling, 1955.

From the tone of the bulletins, one can sense that the club went through some growing pains in the early years. This was confirmed when I talked to John Eldon Green. It was a surprise to me, because when I was an active member in the mid 19505, I recall having 150—200 members at some of our events. These events included all sports, of which bowling was most popular, weekly socials, drama presentations, the BYC choir, annual picnics, sleigh rides, the Christmas variety show and sacred concerts, a debating society, special speakers, communion breakfasts, and combined functions with the Liguorian and other CYO organizations.

One of the highlights was the BYC hockey team, which played in the Island league. It was made up mostly of members of our club, but it did include a few players who were not members. The most famous player was Buck Whitlock, who was inducted in the PEI Sports Hall of Fame. They played to capacity crowds at the Charlottetown Forum.

On January 4th, 1956 the Guardian carried the following article: “BYC TO DONATE PART OF GAME GATE TO INJURED PLAYER”

Leo Dowling, president of the Basilica Youth Club, announced that, “The club will donate part of the proceeds of tomorrow night’s Island League hockey game against the Summerside Aces to player Gerard ‘Joe’ Bernard. Bernard suffered a broken leg in a game in Summerside against the BYC on Monday night behind the BYC net.”

29