Gets $25,000 boost Museum nears completion EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer The long-awaited opening of the Halton Hills Sports Museum & Resource Centre appears to be just a few months away and the organizing committee just received a significant financial boost to help advance the project. Georgetown Hockey Heritage Council has purchased the naming rights for the upstairs meeting room in the Mold-Masters SportsPlexwhere the museum will be located-- for $25,000-- allowing the committee to update display cabinets, add some overhead lighting and implement on-line computer access. The room has been named the Gordon Alcott Heritage Hall. Finn Poulstrup, chair of the HHSM committee, said the challenge now is to fill the remaining eight currently empty display cabinets with memorabilia and materials from some of the many sports and recreation groups in the municipality. The six founding groups of the museum-- the Georgetown Skating Club, Halton Hills Minor Lacrosse, Georgetown Minor Hockey, North Halton Twisters' Girls Hockey, Georgetown Hockey Heritage and the Town of Halton Hills (whose cabinet has been assumed by Georgetown Slo-Pitch)-- have already established their displays in the museum. "We expect (the cabinets) should be full by early in the New Year," said John Archibald, recreation facilities supervisor for the Town of Halton Hills. "I think that once word gets out that the museum is open, especially in this town, we'll have people lined up to see it." Archibald added that the committee is in the process of determining the groups that will occupy the remaining cabinet spaces. The financially self-supporting project began about five years ago with a $200,000 renovation to the meeting room adjacent to the Alcott Arena upstairs entrance. "We've now got the facility and the cabinets to accommodate the great history of athletics here and the hard part will be to get it on display so we can get this off the ground," said Poulstrup, who noted the cost of the 14 cabinets was approximately $45,000. The HHSM's objective is to recognize and honour the town's sporting past. It has a dual purpose of educating and inspiring future generations and attracting potential tourism. The first big event for the museum is its inductees of the year ceremony, to take place Wednesday, June 20 in the Gordon Alcott Heritage Hall. On that occasion, one member (athlete or builder) from each of the sporting groups in the museum will be honoured with induction. The organizing committee will also soon be looking to hire a curator for the museum to help co-ordinate the presentation of the displays. They also welcome contributions of memorabilia or related materials from the general public. For more information, call Finn Poulstrup at 905-873-2855, John Archibald at 905-8732601 (ext. 2403) or visit the website www.hhsm.ca. (Eamonn Maher can be reached at emaher@independentfreepress.com) Comin' through Christ the King's Katelyn Laidlaw (23) takes on Lauren McCracken (3) of the Georgetown Rebels during their Halton Secondary School Athletic Association senior girls' basketball matchup on Tuesday. The host Rebels received eight points apiece from Chelsea Jensen, Jenna Brubacher and Samantha Ralph in a 37-17 victory. Kelly Laidlaw led the Jaguars with six points. Photo by Eamonn Maher Lapointe well back in South Africa Mary Ann Lapointe of Georgetown is on the three-golfer Canadian contingent at the Women's World Amateur Team Championship being held this week in South Africa and the Canucks will have to make a strong charge if they're to match their second-place finish at the 2004 event. Lapointe, a North Halton Golf & Country Club member, shot rounds of 72 and 74 to sit in 29th place, two over par on the individual leaderboard. As a team, the Canadians were tied for 12th spot with the U.S., 13 strokes behind the leading South Africans with 36 holes to play this weekend. Also playing for Canada are Laura Matthews of Essex, Ont. and Kira Meixner of Delta, B.C. Matthews, who is at even par after two rounds, was on the RCGA national team with Matthews two years ago when they let a finalround lead slip at the WWATC in Puerto Rico and had to settle for runner-up honours. The tournament is conducted over 72 holes of stroke play, and the low two individual scores of each day are the team's aggregate score. The executive of the Halton Hills Sports Museum received a cheque for $25,000 from the Georgetown Hockey Heritage Council to help put the finishing touches on the Gordon Alcott Heritage Hall, which is slated to open early next year. Pictured above (from left) are: Aaron Matthews from the Town of Halton Hills, Georgetown Hockey Heritage chair Dave Kentner, HHSM treasurer Bob Hooper, director John Archibald, Grace Rylett of the North Halton Twisters, HHSM secretary Glenda Nixdorf, HHSM sports awards director Steve Foreman, director Shell Lawr, Town of Halton Hills councilor Bob Inglis and HHSM chair Finn Poulstrup. Photo by Eamonn Maher