It was pride day of a different kind for Akwesasne last Friday.
For the first time, a hockey player from the sprawling community spread across two countries and two provinces was selected in the National Hockey League draft.
Carey Terrance – now the pride of Akwesasne – was taken by Anaheim Ducks in the second round, 59th overall. Central Scouting had him pegged 60th overall. He was ranked 30th best North American skater.
Last season was his second with Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League. Despite playing on an offence-challenged team, he scored 30 goals and added 17 assists.
When the season finished early for the Otters, Terrance – who grew up on the American part of Akwesasne – was added to Team U.S.A.’s world under-18 team, where he played on a line with Oliver Moore drafted 19th overall by Chicago. U.S. won the gold medal at the under-18 championship.
Anaheim assistant general manager Martin Madden said the Ducks like Terrance’s speed and ability to score.
“And he’s a really mature kid,” noted Madden.
Although he played centre last season, the Ducks want to try him on one the wings.
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Ontario Provincial Police officers responding to a two-car collision on a rain-soaked two-lane section of Highway 401 one mile east of Morrisburg on the afternoon of July 13, 1964 could not have imagined the carnage they were rushing to.
Seven died instantly in the crash. Three were taken to hospital in critical condition. One, a 17-year-old boy, died five days later to run the gruesome toll to eight. His parents, from Ingleside, died at the scene, along with a relative visiting the family. His 72-year-old grand-mother suffered serious injuries.
In the second vehicle, from New York State, a husband, wife, a young son and relative visiting from Israel were killed. A second son survived with serious injuries.
Police said the New York State vehicle was passing several cars on the uncompleted section between Morrisburg and Cornwall. The theory was that the driver wasn’t aware that he had entered an uncompleted section of 401 down to two lanes.
Despite the carnage, it wasn’t the worst highway accident in the United Counties. On July 31, 1953 a Colonial Coach bus rolled into the Williamsburg Canal after striking a pick-up parked on the side of narrow Highway 2. It claimed 20 passengers.
A coroner’s inquest into the 401 crash placed blame on the driver of the car from New York State who was passing several vehicles. The province was criticized for building Highway 401 in sections that saw four lanes merging into two lanes in parts of Eastern Ontario.
ALSO IN JULY 1964 – One of Cornwall’s oldest homes, the Williams home at Augustus and Third streets, was torn down. The home, built in 1822, was vacant. … Mother Nature cranked up the heat on Cornwall and area in the first two weeks of July with temperatures climbing into the high 90s. Crops in the Counties were described as parched and wilting. On one of the hottest days, the local ice plant churned out five tons of ice. … The Raisin Region Conservative Authority $7,000 budget was approved by the province. It provided $5,000 for capital projects and $2,000 for administration. … Highland Nursing Home in Massena was converted to a nursing home. Owned by Cornwall native Edward Kaneb, it opened in 1956. … After receiving complaints of speeding on city streets, city council asked the Cornwall police to beef up traffic enforcement. One council called city streets “drag strips.” … An outdoor wrestling card at the Athletic Grounds attracted 2,400 fans. Edouard Carpentier and Killer Joe Christie were featured in the main event. … Doug Casselman notched his sixth no-hitter of the season as Williamsburg blanked Morrisburg 7-0 in Dundas Fastball League play. He had 11 strikeouts. It was his second no-hitter in as many games. … The Jehovah’s Witnesses assembly at the Water Street Arena was attended by 2,400 from Ontario, Quebec and New York State. … The average city water bill was going up $2. The average bill – two instalments a year – was $8. … The 1,400 hourly-paid employees of Howard Smith Paper Mill received a nine-cent-an-hour increase. The new base rate was $2.07.
BITS Note to Yevgeny Prigozhin, former leader of the Wagner Group now hiding out in Belarus: Find a hotel with just two floors or one without windows. … Olivia Chow, Toronto’s new mayor, is living proof there is life after political death. She finished third in the 2014 Toronto mayoral race won by Ford. She lost a bid in the 2015 federal election. … Ironically, while Premier Ford railed against Chow during the campaign, she inherits extra-ordinary mayoral powers given to big city mayors by Ford. … Former Royals defenceman Dave Ezard, who died in 1995 at age 36, was inducted into the Quebec Junior Hockey League Hall of Fame last month. Also inducted were Stephane Richer, Rick Vaive, Roberto Luongo and Alain Vigneault. Other Royals in the Hall are Tim Bernhardt, Dale Hawerchuk and Richard Brodeur. Ezard’s 112 regular season goals remains a record for ‘Q” defencemen. His back-to-back 35 regular season goals also un-matched to this day.
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Cornwall native Wayne MacDonald, athletic director at University of Victoria for 14 years, passed away June 4. He was 74. During his tenure, U of V claimed 31 national championships in various sports.
MacDonald, inducted into the Cornwall Sports Hall of Fame in 2014, suffered a serious stroke in 2002 that confined him to a wheelchair.
Victoria Times-Colonist columnist Cleve Dheensaw said MacDonald was known to be masterfully adroit at navigating around the skimpy funding given to Canadian university sports in comparison with the U.S. were money flows from a lucrative tap.
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TRIVIA In the TV series Bonanza, Ben Cartwright had three sons. Name the actor who played son Hoss?
TRIVIA ANSWER Lt.-Col. George Stanley, a dean at Royal Military College (RMC) in Kingston, designed the maple leaf Canadian flag.
QUOTED – “The longer you are off the streets the easier it is to forget the uncertainty of speed and imperfections of police-making decisions. To lead police requires you to be police.” – Lewis Kliem, former New York police officer, author, educator and attorney.
