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PAGE 8, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 1976, WHITBY FREE PRESS Girl's Athletic Association President Paul Gaudet: "idea man"behind many community projects by BRIAN WINTER Staff Writer Anyone vho has lived in Whitby duiing the past five years will surely remember the original $70 million Iroquois Park proposal, the Denis O'Connor hockey lotteries and the public subscription campaign to raise funds for the Iroquois Park swimming pool. The man behind these projects and others vhich aCe not as well known is Paul Gaudet, who aptly describes hiimself as an "idea man". Siice coming to Whitby from Montreal in 1967, Mr. Gaudet has enjoyed organiz- ing community projects, "seeing sonething start on piece of paper with a thought and developing that thought into an organization or a finished product". Some of Mr. Gaudet's ideas have had far-reaching implications, as can be seen by a record of lhis activities. It was Mr. Gaudet who planned and organized the proposal for a $70 million province-wide lottery that would have financed the original Iroquois Park. It al started out in a snall way when Mr. Gaudet wanted to organize a com- mittee of his neighbours on Elizabeth Crescent to build a community swimming pool. He approached Mayor Des Newman for support and the mayor suggested that a coin- mittee be formed to build a pool and other facilities for the whole town. This was in January 1971. After six months of work, in July 197 1, Mayor Newman announced a proposal for a S70 million sports complex conceived by a citizens' committee of which Mr. Gaudet was a member. Mr. Gaudet personally researched the lottery pro- posal, in co-operation with Lotto-Quebec and drafted financial progran that was presented to the provincial government. The province, however, did not approve the lottery. Mr. Gaudet blames this on the fact that the governiment was just getting into licencing major lotteries and was "a little afraid" of the project. "It was not a pie in the sky dream; we had'researched it and narketed it out", he says. "We were told if we were six months carlier we would have got the lottery passed". Also in 1971, Mr. Gaudet initiated a lottery program for Denis O'Connor High Offer Good April 22 &23 Don't miss this great sale on DAIRY QUEEN's* famous banana split. You've never had it so good ... Two fresh-cut banana slices and one of your favorite treats, topped with chocolate, strawberry and pineapple, plus whipped topping. Pure delight. Treat the whole gang during this special offer -they'll go bananas over our split! w'ue F 1003 Dundas St. East, Whitby 235 Simcoe St. South, Oshawa 1335 Simcoe St. North, Oshawa Registered Trademark Canadian Trademarks Office-AMERICAN DAIRY QUEEN CORPORATION School, based on National Hockey League games, which in five years grossed $125,000. The high school was experiencing financial diffi- culties since it reccived no government assistance for grades 1l to 13, and Mr. Gaudet's lottery provided the needed money. It also developed a tre- mendous school spirit and brought everyone together in the project, he said. The success of the Denis O'Connor lottery led Mr. Gaudet to propose a far- reaching province-wide lottery. to assist ail of Ontario's 60 Catholic IHigh Schools in 1974. fHe approached the pres- ident of the English Catholic High School Federa- tion of Ontario with a pro- posal for a Catholic Charities Lottery which would offer a total of $100,000 in prizes every two weeks, but as in the case of Iroquois Park the province refused to grant a licence. The irony of the situation says Mr. Gaudet is that today's highly successful Wintario lottery is based on I a structure very similar to his Iroquois Park and Catholic Charities proposals. "The one thing I learned from this is we should have registered il and copyrighted it so we would have been proteected. It would have cost only S10", he says. Although Mr. Gaudet's original proposal for financ- ing Iroquois Park vas not adopted by the province, lie had a major part to play in financing the swimming pool j which opene'd in 1975. When the town condemn- p ed the old Whitby and Brooklin arenas in the sum- mer of 1972, Joe Ottenbrite, a local merchant formed a committee cof service club representatives to raise funds for new recreational facilities for the town. Mr. Gaudet was asked te sit on te committ e, and was elected president of the Whitby Recreatienal Activi- ties Incorporation wh icli carried out a public sub- scription campaign in 1973 to build the swimming pool. Mr. Gaudet's committee raised about $125,000 for the pool, but lie is disap- pointed that the public did not contribute in a bigger way so Whitby could have an Olympic-size pole. "I thirqk the days of pledge campaigns are dead", he says, considering that infla- tion was one of the problems affecting theWhitby campaign. Promoting fund-raising ventures for public causes is only one of Mr. Gaudet's interests. All lis life le lias been involved in sports and it is girls' sports that are receiving bis attention at the present time. In 1975 the recreation department wanted to start a softball progran for girls but could net gel enougbi volunteers. Mr. Gaudet vol- unteered to coach a tean, and bas since turned tlie softball programi into the Wibby Girls' Athletic Asso-. ciation, witl 400 members aged seven and over. Mr. Gaudet says lie be- came interested in girls' sports because le had two girls of lis own who wanted play sports but found no organized activities available to theni except figure Paul Gaudet, President of the Whitby Girls' Athletic Association, has been involved in sports all his life. In addition to coaching and managing sports organizations he has undertaken numerous fund-raising projects in Whitby and operates a sports promotion company in Oshawa. skating.1 le has plans to expand1 the Whitby Girls' Athletici Association this spring to include track and field, and add broomball,minorhockey, field hockey and basketball in the fall. "In five years we will probably have the model for North America of a girls' organization for sports, crafts and other activities", he says. Organization of sporting groups is nothing new to Paul Gaudet. In Montreal in the mid 1960s he was president and founder of the Lasalle Minor Football Association witb a memnber- slip of 800 boys and 107 coaches. The executives of this organization signed off all debts, purchased ail its equipment and made the organization financially sol- vent within one and a half years, Mr. Gaudet refereed all the games, was league statistician and reported all the ganes for the newspapers. When he came to Whitby Mr. Gaudet served as president of the Whitby Minor Hockey association and implemented new con- cepts and coaching methdds. He was also responsible for raising the $40,000 operating budget. His varied sports back- ground includes director of the Loyola Colege Football Coaching School, president and founder of the Cornwall Minor Football Association, and coaching football, bockey and baseball in Cern wall. Mr. Gaudet lias also been sports director of a New York Radio Station, a prospect considered by the Ottawa Rough Riders, and the man responsible for securing staff for the Loyola College Football School from among professional college football coaches. During the Iroquois Park Planning le undertook the preliminary negotiations te bring major league hockey and baseball franchises to Whitby. He was told if Whitby provided the facilities, the town would be consider- ed by the big leagues. Mr. Gaudet works a 15 to 18 hour day five or six days a week managing a sport promotion company and his various community projects. "I enjoy what I'm doing", he says. "If I'm living in a community I like to make that community. a better place to live. I*feel I have sorne talents I can give to that community". Sometimes, however, lie finds'people get turned off by his enthusiasm. But whatever he is doing whether in sports or fund raising, hie enjoys lis work despite the longhours.w"I don't classify it as work; I classify it as fun", lie says. Ontario Government Tender TENDER AIR CONDITIONING CONTRACTORS Supply and installation of a gas fired air conditioning unit to air condition administra- tion area at the Provincial Jail, Whitby, Ontario. TENDER No. LIN-76-009 SEALED TENDERS will be received until 2:00 P.M. LOCAL TIME, MAY 5, 1976. Tender Documents may be obtained from the Ontario Ministry of Government Services, Lindsay 'Regional Office, 322 Kent Street West, P.O. Box 7000, Lindsay, Ontario. NOTE: For further infor- iation regarding thîs tender, please caîl Mrs. E.M. Neale at the above address. Telephone: (705) 324-9188. The lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted. Ontario Ministry of -Govemment Services N ----...~-----~ Offer available at: À