Yarmouth County Sports Heritage Museum
435 Main St B5A 1G6 Yarmouth, NS, Canada

Without the media to report on the sports stories, much of the detail of Yarmouth’s historic sporting accomplishments would be lost. This week we feature two of Yarmouth’s finest, Hall of Fame inductees in the media category, Alain Meuse in Part I and Fred Hatfield in Part II later this week. Part I Alain Meuse was vey active in sports as a young man, playing football at Ryerson and baseball at Acadia Universities. Locally he played baseball with Yarmouth and Weymouth and... played hockey in the Yarmouth Intermediate Hockey League. Alain began writing for the Yarmouth Vanguard in the 1960’s, and as a columnist, wrote ‘Sportingly Speaking’, a column that highlighted the accomplishments and exploits of local sports personalities and star players, many of whom have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. When he became editor of the Vanguard and the Sou’wester newspapers, he continued to contribute periodically with sports articles. As an active golfer, he penned a column called ‘Musings from the Yarmouth Links’. His unique style of writing, which frequently included humour, and his extensive coverage of local sports and athletes, has filled countless scrapbooks and has provided an accurate history of sports in Yarmouth County. See more

Part II The 1992 Yarmouth MacDonald’s Junior A Baseball Team is another in Yarmouth’s proud tradition of great baseball teams. Led by baseball legend and coach, Paul Gould (who was also Yarmouth Coach of the Year) and Assistant coach Don Nelson, the team had a phenomenal year. Playing against men in the Southwestern Nova Scotia Baseball League most of the year, the team qualified for Provincial Playdowns at the Junior A level. With a high-powered offence and stellar defenc...e, the team rolled to victory at both the NS Provincial Championships and the Atlantic Canadian Championships. The team had numerous All-Star and MVP selections at the championship tournaments. Loaded with players who excelled at baseball, this team was a powerhouse, led by Jim Gould, Darren Olsen, Kelsey Crowell, Frank & Russell Grant (2009 Canadian 35+ Baseball Champs), Jason Nelson, and Byron Spinney. Others who also contributed significantly at the plate and in the field were speedsters Pat Muise and Scott Surette, Duane Fitzgerald, Darrell Frotten, Brent Patten, Ken Frotten, Paul Gould Jr., and Martin Muise. Some great Yarmouth baseball names on that team!! The 1992 Yarmouth MacDonald’s JrA Provincial and Atlantic Champions will be remembered for being one of Yarmouth’s great baseball teams and are honoured through their induction in 2012 to the Yarmouth Town & County Sports Heritage Hall of Fame. See more

Shifting focus back to baseball, this week we feature the 1977 Beaver B Baseball team and in Part II we will showcase the 1992 MacDonald’s Junior A Baseball team. Part I The 1977 Yarmouth Beaver Baseball team qualified for provincials, going undefeated through Zone and Regional playdowns. In the Provincial tournament, Yarmouth went through the round-robin with a perfect record. In the final they faced the host team Petit de Grat (Cape Breton). With Yarmouth up by one run ...in the final inning, they faced a one out, bases loaded situation. The Petit de Grat batter hit a low line drive down the 3rd base line. Stewart Smith snagged the liner and tagged the runner who was caught off 3rd base. And just like that, the Yarmouth Beaver Baseball Team were Provincial Champs. The team was led by coach Tom White, who helped deliver many championship baseball teams to Yarmouth and who is a 3-time Hall of Fame inductee. Looking at the names of the players on the team, it is no coincidence they did so well. Players who have been standouts in the baseball community, played on this team such as Raymond Jacquard (who also played on the NS Canada Games team), and star pitchers Shawn Saulnier, Rick Clayton and Robbie Chetwynd. Others well-known in Yarmouth sport circles include Geoff Baker, Paul Legere, Shawn Wells, Brian Baxter, Kirk Sweeney, and Stewart Rodgerson. By all accounts there was some stellar play from all the above but also coming up big at the plate and in the field were Stewart Smith (with the game saving play), Darren Welner, James Baxter, Stephen Surette, and Greg Harris. The 1977 Yarmouth Beaver Provincial Champions have their story shared on the walls of the Yarmouth Town & County Sports Heritage Hall of Fame. See more

This week we feature two of Yarmouth’s top golfers of the past, Emmanuel ‘Mannie’ Amirault and Dr. Lewis Morton. Dr. Lewis Morton served with the Royal Canadian Medical Corps during World War I. During this time, he developed a keen interest in golf, dedicating himself to improving his game. From 1942-45, Dr. Morton won 4 consecutive Maritime Senior Golf Championships. He finished 2nd on 2 other occasions, in 1941 and again in 1952. He joined the Maritime Golf Association ...in 1940 and became President of the Association in 1952. Emmanuel ‘Mannie’ Amirault was a local dominant golfer during the 1950’s and early 60’s. He won the Yarmouth Golf Club Championship in 1950, ’52, ’55, ’58, and 1961. In winning the 1961 Club Championship, Mannie won by 15 strokes, shooting a 144. In his later years, he would go on to win the Senior Golf Division to cap his outstanding career. Over the course of his golf days, he also recorded 3 holes-in-one. Two golfers who were dominant during their era, the achievements of Dr. Lewis Morton and Mannie Amirault are captured and preserved on the walls of the Yarmouth Town & County Sports Heritage Hall of Fame. See more

This week we feature the Yarmouth Beaver-Bantam Baseball Teams of 1985-88. With the core of the team together for these 4 years, the Beaver-Bantam baseball teams won 4 consecutive provincial titles and 2 Atlantic Canadian titles, posting a record of 14-2 in Provincial games over this time period. Playing in only 2 Atlantic Championships in the 4 years, the team went 10-0 to win the Atlantic Championships in the only 2 years they competed for the title. The team was one of t...he best Minor teams Yarmouth has ever seen, led by superstars and Hall of Famers Curtis Falls (3xHOF), and Scott Jeffrey (2xHOF), both of whom went on to sign professional baseball contracts and to have outstanding careers of their own. Also, on the team were standouts Patrick Muise (2xHOF), Byron Spinney, Dwayne LeBlanc, & Wade Doucette. With Hall of Fame coach, Tom White at the helm, and assistant coaches Wayne Doucette and Douglas Timmons, they found the right mix with the outstanding talent they had, and guided the team to victory. Other players made significant contributions to the Championships including Gregory Walters, Jason Phillips, Shawn O’Connell, Thomas Upton, Danny Jacquard, Jason Lambert, Luke Kenney, Owen Nickerson, Howard Foote, Ryan McIntyre, Chris Wallace, Robert Jarvis, Randall Deveau, Gary Meldrum, Brent Timmons, Shawn Amirault, and Gilles Doucette. Many of these players are still well-known in the Yarmouth area as terrific ball players & athletes. A great lineup and many Yarmouth baseball names that are very recognizable, this team’s accomplishments and championships, rival many of Yarmouth’s great teams. This team was inducted into the Yarmouth Town & County Sports Heritage Hall of Fame in 2001, where they will reside amongst the greatest Yarmouth Baseball teams of all time. See more

Part II John MacDonald began his baseball career at the Junior level as a pitcher in 1939, graduating to the Yarmouth Gateways in 1940 where he played for Hall of Fame coach and legend, Nate Bain. Serving his country beginning in 1942, John spent 3 years overseas in the Royal Canadian Air Force, returning in 1946. Resuming his baseball career with the Gateways in 1946, John’s pitching was a key reason for Yarmouth advancing to the Provincial Senior Baseball semi-finals. An...other all-around athlete, he played basketball, bowling, hockey and tennis. While in the Air Force he won the RCAF Ontario Zone tennis finals and won the Division Singles & Doubles Championship in 1957. While in Ottawa in 1968 & 1969, he won the Doubles Championship both years. John was honoured for his and contributions to Yarmouth County sports with his induction to the Hall of Fame in 2000, where his picture and story reside alongside the other great sports figures of Yarmouth, to have their legacy shared by all. See more