No. 60 / May 2017
Leaside Life leasidelifenews.com
Guest columnist: Mr. Goody Two-Shoes Terry Fallis pg 10
Celebrating the big, bold and boisterous George Turrell of Leaside Arena
Robert Moore leading the pack at an Ontario Masters Athletics race.
A free meal led to a life of running By ALLAN WILLIAMS Have you spotted a runner in Leaside wearing a bright yellow singlet, often with a briefcase or a bag of groceries in his hand? It’s been a familiar sighting on our local streets and trails for more than four decades. This is Robert Moore of Sutherland Dr., once one of Canada’s top distance runners and still racing competitively at age 77. Moore was born in England in 1940 and grew up near the village of Huddersfield in Yorkshire. “Our hill farm was a 3K walk from my school and there was always work to be done on the farm – so as a boy I had no time for games.” Only when he went away to university – to Leeds, where he earned a doctorate in biochemistry – did Moore begin running seriously. “I saw an ad on campus offering a free meal in exchange for writing down bib numbers and times at the finish line of cross-country races. Eventually I started training too and within a year I was on the first team.”
He also joined the local track club, the Longwood Harriers. “Cross-country running then was a working class sport – on Sunday you had the day off, guys would meet at the local pub and run to the next town.” Running is also a social sport, Moore believes. “What turns an average runner into a great runner is the peer group – we worked harder for the team; we wanted to be the best. It mattered to us!” After finishing his doctorate Moore came to Canada in 1967 to continue his research at Sunnybrook Hospital, where he worked until 2000. He met Jane McVicar, a speech pathologist, in 1970. “To be honest, I was set up,” says Moore. “Friends made sure we were seated together at a dinner. Our first date was in February 1971 and we married in September.” Bob and Jane bought the North Leaside home where they still live for $55,000 in 1972. Daughters Fiona and Bronwen followed in 1975 and ’77. On his first full day in Canada Moore joined the Toronto Olympic MOORE, Page 26
George Turrell has never been one to keep things quiet. For more than 50 years, he has stalked the halls of Leaside Memorial Gardens Arena, his voice a commanding presence to thousands of hockey players and skaters – and their parents – who learn from the first time they walk through the doors who runs the place. His cantankerous façade initially masking an enormous heart and an affection for kids whom he welcomes with a patented “here comes trouble!” So, it’s only fitting that when it was decided George – as everyone refers to him – should be given his due, it wouldn’t be done quietly. Instead, the event was big, bold and boisterous, just like him.
DANIEL GIRARD
DOUG “SHAGGY” SMITH
By DANIEL GIRARD
George and the Premier “George has been an important part of this community for many, many years and it’s nice to be able to take an opportunity to say that,” Premier Kathleen Wynne, whose Don Valley West riding includes the arena, told about 200 people who gathered in the William Lea Room to tell stories and pay respects. Wynne, who presented George with TURRELL, Page 22