Mervyn Robison was provincial men’s step dancing champion in 1958, 1959 and 1960, in province-wide competition sponsored by the Alpha Y’s Men. On one occasion Mervyn’s performance was televised, and his small daughter, seeing her father on the screen for the first time, cried out, horrified, “Let Daddy out of the box! ! ”

The North Shore Recreation Commission

In 1975 there was sufficient community interest to form a recreation commission; the communities initially involved were Stanhope, West Covehead and Covehead Road.

The organisational meeting was held in June at the home of Gordon Ellis in Stanhope. The elected officers were: Gordon Ellis, President; Cathy Collard, Vice-President; Community Directors, Stanhope, Myrna Kielly; West Covehead, Wade MacMillan; Covehead Road, Pat Morrison. Grants of $200 and $300 were received from the government for the first few years, and during these years the com- mission concentrated on developing softball activities at the local diamond.

The Commission expanded in 1977 to include Pleasant Grove and York. In 1978 the Commission became involved in the purchasing of land at the old Covehead Go-Kart Park. At that time the land was being used as the local softball field, and when it was put up for sale by Dawson Hughes, the Commission decided to purchase the area. With the assistance of the Department of Public Works and the Cotton Memorial Trust Fund the land (7 acres) was purchased as a Provincial Park and leased to the North Shore Recreation Cemmission to be used for recreational purposes. The lease was signed in June, 1978. The new park was designed to contain two softball diamonds, a soccer and a touch football pitch and a children’s playground, all of which were to be available for the summer of 1979.

The formal constitution was drawn up at the annual meeting in October, 1978 and the elected executive was as follows: President, Gordon Ellis, Stanhope; Vice-President, Lowell Vessey, York; Secretary, Patricia Morrison, Covehead Road; Treasurer, Don Ellis, Stanhope; Public Relations, Frank Morrison, Pleasant Grove; Community Directors, Jim Honsberger, Stanhope; Francis Fryters, West Covehead; Fred MacCann, Covehead Road; Emmett Doyle, Pleasant Grove; and Nelson Vessey, York.

The objectives as stated in the constitution are: — 1. To promote healthful recreation among the residents of the North Shore area (Stanhope, West Covehead, Covehead Road,

Pleasant Grove and York). 2. To assure the citizens of the North Shore a fair opportunity to

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