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== of Balance Although Gord Emmerson is a man with a past, he is very much a presence in the Port Perry senior’s world and also aman who sees a future full of a lot more living. Just turned 80 and fresh from having his name added to the Scugog Mayor’s Honour Roll for contribu- tions to his community, Gord continues to keep adding more talents to his varied resume, all the while giving selflessly of his time to the Senior’s Club. Gord’s early years as “The King of Balance” are probably the reason he continues to be so vibrant and full of life. It is because of the constant training and prac- tice that went into his early craft that Gord has remained healthy, fit, positive and downright lively. Gord lights up when recalling those early days. It was the 1950s in West Hill, Scarborough. At 18 Gord joined the YMCA and took up wres- tling, a sport it turns out he was too small to succeed in. He kept at it for a couple of years but the end result was that he just kept get- ting beat up. Dropping in and out of the YMCA dur- ing this time was quite a cast of characters. Among them were acrobats who would come in and train while travelling through Toronto and performing at x the vaudeville houses and the ca- sino. Yes, there was a casino in Toronto near Bay and Queen St. at the time, which was the largest vaudeville house in ario. The acrobats thought Gord was a natural for their line of work, he was agile, versatile and fit. With hours and hours of practice and patience, Gord began hand balancing. It didn’t take him long to put together an act, although he admits it was rudimentary. For his first performance, which was a Gym Circus put on at the ‘Y’, he literally grabbed chairs right out of the audi- Please turn to page 6 Gord Emmerson shows the finger he used for his ‘one finger’ balancing act 50 years ago. FOCUS - MAY 2012 3 05. MAY 64 FINAL FINAL.indd 3 12-04-22 10:13 AM