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George town Dia l a Bo t t l e 905 -873 -4565 NOW ACCEPTING INTERAC AT YOUR DOO R $7.00 perDelivery (2 stops) www. ip ikup4u . com Welcome to Halton Hills Radio Online - www.haltonhillsradio.com Pl ea s e don t d r ink and d r i v e . Special pullout section Friday, March 28, 2008 8 Pages Circulation 21,220 www.independentfreepress.com Recipe of the week: Crock pot borscht Page 11 Local gymnast Gillies off to provincials Page 3 SPORTS AND LEISURE Halton Hills Community Newspaper Sports Hall of Fame to add five new members Five more inductees will enter the Halton Hills Sports Museums Hall of Fame at a gala ceremony in June as the newly-established organization welcomes its second group of award recipients. Three athletes and two builders were recently selected from several nominations submitted by members of the public in recognition of the inductees achievements as residents of Halton Hills. Last year, four builders and two athletes were enshrined in the Hall of Fames inaugural ceremony. For 2008, two longtime volunteers in Acton youth sports will be welcomed into the builders category John Toebes for his work with the minor hockey house leagues and Aqua Ducks swim club founder Gerry Ockenden. A couple of former Canadian champi- ons are among the trio of athletes to get the nod, in squash player Melanie Jans and gymnast Katie Rowland. Hockey play- er Adam Bennett developed through the Georgetown Minor Hockey Association and became a first-round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks. Pictures and profiles of the inductees will be displayed in the HHSMs Resource Centre, located in the upstairs hall of the Mold-Masters SportsPlex, later this year. Tickets for the gala induction ceremo- ny at the John Elliott Theatre are $30 each and can be reserved through HHSM secre- tary Glenda Nixdorf at 905-873-1360. Adam Bennett Forced to retire from the pro ranks at the age of 25 due to a knee injury, local native Adam Bennett still has many fond memories of his career and continues his involvement today coaching youths. Bennett, who turns 37 on Sunday, rose up through the Georgetown minor hockey system and played on the last Jr. B Gemini team before being the second player taken in the Ontario Hockey League draft by the Sudbury Wolves. After a fine three-year stint with the Wolves, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound defender was selected sixth overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, five picks after the Quebec Nordiques chose Mats Sundin. Bennett played just five games in his rookie campaign with the Hawks but trav- eled and practised with the team on its run to the Stanley Cup finals against Pittsburgh, learning from the likes of Chris Chelios. Unable to catch on with Chicago, he moved on to the Edmonton Oilers and was playing a regular shift before a colli- sion with the Rangers Nick Kypreos effec- tively ended his playing days. It was a short career, unfortunately, and I expected to play a lot longer, but thats just part of being in a contact sport, said Bennett, who coaches his two daugh- ters, Kaitlyn, 10, and Jillian, 8, in the North Halton Twisters organization and operates his own popular 3 on 3 Hockey leagues around the GTA. There were some high moments and some tough times and through all that I was fortunate to be with a lot of good peo- ple and learned how to present myself in a professional manner. Melanie Jans The main squash court at the Georgetown Racquet Club is named after its most successful player, Melanie Jans, who began playing there at age 11 and went on to become Canadas top-ranked female for many years. Set to celebrate her 35th birthday in July, Jans retired from national team com- petition in 2006 and is now the squash pro at the Vancouver Lawn & Tennis Club. Her triumphs included several Canadian senior and junior womens titles, and a double gold-medal perfor- mance at the 1999 Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, which she called the high- light of her career. Having also claimed Pan-Am gold in 1995 in Argentina, Jans needed to beat American veteran Demer Holleran twice in 1999 first for the indi- vidual title and then three days later for the team championship and did so con- vincingly. I just worked so hard that day to beat my opponent and all of my training leading up to that was geared to this one match, she said. It felt great to play really well on the day when you needed it the most. The University of Toronto graduate, ranked 25th in the world at one time, said shes fortunate to be able to continue her involvement in squash through instruct- ing adults and juniors in her current job and is studying for her Life Coaching Certificate. Gerry Ockenden For someone whose swimming back- ground consisted of spending summer afternoons in his youth splashing around Fairy Lake in Acton, Gerry Ockenden turned out to be the ideal head coach for the Aqua Ducks competitive swimming program. When the former Acton youth swim- ming club folded in 1987, Ockenden vol- unteered to temporarily take over deck duties so that his two children, Jason and Julie, and other youngsters could keep active. EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer MELANIE JANS Squash See SPORTS, pg. 4ADAM BENNETT Hockey