Miscellaneous
Sports Hall of Fame (1978)
Sports Hall of Fame (1978)
Title: Book to Commemorate the Opening of the Prince Edward Island Sports Hall of Fame
Description: Large 4to. Photo album containing 58 black-and-white photographs from the opening of the Prince Edward Island Sports Hall of Fame on September 24, 1978. The title page is hand-drawn calligraphy. This copy was presented to Peter Milburn, a director of the Hall of Fame. Shows scuffing and soiling from usage. Interior pages show minor foxing and staining. Also, signed type-written letter from Senator Lorne Bonnell to Mr. and Mrs. Pete Milburn dated March 15, 1979. In the letter, Senator Bonnell informs Milburn his name appears in the Debates of the Senate for March 12, 1979. A copy of the Senate Hansard for that date accompanies the letter.
The Prince Edward Island Sports Hall of Fame and Museum was incorporated in 1968 and is managed by a board of Directors appointed by Executive Council of the Province of Prince Edward Island. It had its first home at the Summerside High School, then Summerside Town Hall before moving to the Eptek Centre in 1978. In 1997 the Hall found a home at the Wyatt Centre after a significant fund raising campaign.
In the spring of 2012, owners of the facility asked the Hall to move out, but in October 2014, the City of Summerside came to the fore, and a new display area was erected at Credit Union Place.
The P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame’s Banquet of Champions and Induction Ceremonies, in conjunction with the Summerside Lobster Carnival’s popular Celebrity Dinner, was the Hall of fame’s major activity during its early years. In its first year of operation, five well known Island sport individuals were inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame. They were; Alfred Groom – track and field, Vern Handrahan – baseball, Forbes Kennedy – hockey, Davis Lidstone – baseball/coach, Norman “Small d” Macdonald – sports journalist, Dr. Archie MacMurdo – official, and Joe O’Brien – harness racing.
Since its inception in 1968 the Sports Hall of Fame has inducted close to 200 individuals and sports teams as honoured members. The Hall of Fame has two classes of membership, Athlete and Builder. Eligible nominees are those who have brought distinction to Prince Edward Island in any field of sport, and those who have made a major contribution to the development of sports in the Province.
Source: PEI Sports Hall of Fame website
Peter Robert Milburn (1907-1991) was born and died in Murray River. He was a banker, a speed and figure skating coach, and a director of the PEI Sports Hall of Fame.