14 - Southpoint Sun
Two LDSS athletic teachers were honoured in the 1980s By C. Scott Holland There was plenty of excitement 35 years ago with Los Angeles holding the Summer Olympics. For LDSS teacher Al Hudec, that emotion was rather subdued. He was going to the Olympics that summer, but not in the role he had envisioned. Hudec was a part of the Canadian Olympic Modern Pentathlon team but unfortunately they would not be competing. He was the team’s technical director and at the time stated, “The decision that Canada not compete was not justified. The Canadian team did not have a chance to compete to hone their skills.� The former coach of Czechoslavakia’s Olympic Pentathlon team realized that Canada’s problem was due to not having been in enough qualifying events , which mainly take place in Europe. Those events need a minimum of four or more countries. Canada held one in Montreal that featured only France, the US and Canada. As for the pentathlon itself, it is a sport containing five elements: swimming, fencing, pistol shooting, running and horseback riding. Despite the disappointment, Hudec attended
AL HUDEC
the 1984 Olympics as a delegate for the Modern Pentathlon World Congress. Anyone who attended LDSS from 1957 to 1981 will remember the head of the physical education department, Ken Myers. But when he first arrived at LDSS, principal James Hume appointed him to the newly created position of department head. When he retired in 1981, he had spent nearly 30 years as a teacher and 24 of those were at LDSS. He was born in Leamington and attended LDSS himself, at the previous school across the street from the one he taught at. After graduating, he served for three years in the RCAF during WW II. When the war ended, he became a carpenter’s apprentice but that lasted only six months. He decided to further his education and enrolled at Assumption
Pet of the Week
RANDY
Randy came into the shelter as a stray prior to COVID-19 and is our only remaining adoptable cat from before the pandemic closed the shelter. Randy is a shy boy, who is going to take some time to warm up in a new home. He would benefit from a quiet home with only adults. He LOVES to be pet and while you are scratching his head he often starts kneading his paws and licks your hand. At 1.5 years old, Randy has lots of love to give to a new home!
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Memories of Leamington Dock
KEN MYERS
College (Windsor) where he met his future wife, Helena. He began teaching a few classes at Assumption and decided to make a career of it. He earned a Bachelor of Physical Education at McMaster University. After teaching for a year at Chatham Vocational School, he applied for an opening at LDSS. On his first day, it was Hume who told him he was the head of the physical education department, which surprised him, because he had not applied for that position. Nevertheless, Ken Myers would witness dramatic changes at LDSS during his tenure there. “When I started, there were about 500 students and physical education was basic football, basketball and track and field,� he said. “By the 1970s, enrollment was over 1,700 and phys-ed included a wide range of off campus sports like bowling, golf, curling and even roller skating.� Myers’ long career came to an end upon his retirement at age 57 in June 1981.
By C. Scott Holland LEAMINGTON — Despite numerous tragedies throughout the years, and a vast number of changes since its beginnings circa 1869, the Leamington Dock as a landmark, is still a highly popular place to visit. Leamington’s Lake Erie waterfront has undergone a multitude of changes and developments since the first settlers arrived over 200 years ago. Several docking facilities graced the shores initially. Scott’s Dock and Robson’s Dock were among the first to offer mooring for ships that brought and hauled away goods. While those two survived, a third pier was built by Lewis Wigle. Wigle’s dock sat a bit west of the present Leamington Dock until 1901 when a newer dock was erected at the present location. Wigle sold the original dock to the federal governent in 1891. With the H. J. Heinz Company’s arrival in Leamington, railroads and ships became used more extensively. Heinz’ shipping business expanded immensely when the Leamington factory became Heinz Canada’s export centre. The Canadian government aided Leamington’s request for waterfront development in 1932 when it dredged the harbour, built a warehouse and extended the dock from 707 feet to 1,065. Ocean freighters soon started appearing regularly at the dock. The warehouse, itself, was extended in 1939 as more improvements to the dock were made.
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Yet during all this time, there was not any kind of breakwall to provide protection and stability for the dock and the ships using it. That would change in 1957, when the Federal government’s Department of Works announced it would embark on a program of harbour improvements here. The new rock breakwall, located about 2,500 feet from the end of the dock, was slated to run 1,000 feet across. The Canadian Dredge and Dock Company of Toronto was awarded the tender with a bid of $649,521. The armour stone used for it was to come mainly from quarries on Pelee Island. The work on it lasted almost a year. The dock’s major shipping useage ended around 1971 when truck and rail transportation became more feasible. But it has always served as a focal point for the ferries which connected the mainland to Pelee Island. Millions of dollars were spent in repairs and construction when Leamington created its marina in 1984.
The opening of the Leamington Dock in 1933. Scott Holland photo
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