New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame

On the corner of Queen and Carleton Streets stands the John Thurston Clark Memorial Building, built in 1882 and originally housing a post office and customs house.  Today, the building is home to the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame.

Recently Downtown Fredericton’s Business Engagement Ambassador, Ben DeLong, sat down with the NBSHF’s Executive Director, Jamie Wolverton, and Communications Officer, Ben McFarlane, to learn more about the Hall of Fame:

Q: Can you start us off by introducing yourselves and talk a little bit about what you do here at the New Brunswick Hall of Fame?

Ben M.: I am the communications officer and my job is to get the word out and to move us forward to being much more known. We have a mission to honour our best and inspire the rest, which really amounts to celebrating New Brunswick’s highest achieving athletes. So, I try to tell those stories in a relatable way.

Jamie W.: I am the Executive Director, and I have been with the NB Sports Hall of Fame for 15 years. As a provincial entity, we are trying to uphold the rich tradition of honouring our best and really trying to capitalize on the stories of our hall of famers to inspire New Brunswickers to do great things.

Q: Is there anything going on right now that you want people to know about? Or anything special that’s only happening right now at the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame?

Ben M.: It’s a special summer because this is the 100th anniversary of New Brunswick’s participation in the Olympics. It was 1924 when our first three Olympians participated. And fast forward to today, we’ve got three Olympians and three Paralympians nominated to our national teams. So, we’re a special venue for that particular vein of history, and we have an Olympic exhibit showcasing our participation and chronicling some of that broader history of New Brunswickers in the Olympics. 

Last week, on July 25th, we kicked off our Olympics exhibit with a meet and greet featuring some of New Brunswick’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes. We had Joyce Slipp, Bob Kierstead, Dave Durepos and a few other athletes in attendance. They are all incredibly impressive within their respective sports.

In addition to that, starting on July 29th, we are opening our theatre room to the public for France 2024 Olympic viewings between 11:30am and 1:30pm each day. So anyone who wants to come in and do something different on their lunch break can come in for free to watch the events!

We also have some new inductees to showcase, which is always a big part of what we do here at the NB Sports Hall of Fame as well as a number of interactive exhibits like our virtual locker which allows guests to explore the huge archive of artefacts which are housed here.

Q.: It’s fantastic that you’re always trying to innovate, adding more interactivity and creating community-oriented events. I was wondering how you feel the NB Sports Hall of Fame fits into this larger Downtown Fredericton community, and how important that is to you?

Jamie W.: It’s definitely important; we are a provincial entity of course, but the Hall of Fame has had a presence in this building since 1977. So, it’s a considerable amount of time that we’ve been in this beautiful historic building within the Garrison District. We see our role as striking that balance between showcasing our best athletes from around the province for locals and tourists, but also for New Brunswickers who are coming into the city to experience what Fredericton has to offer. We work to give back to the community by trying to ensure that more people know about New Brunswick’s most inspiring athletes, teams, and builders, and hopefully we are inspiring the next generation to keep pushing. 

On the flip side, its really thanks to the community that we’re able to keep going and keep showcasing this history. Without the generosity of the community, the volunteers, and people who make donations we wouldn’t be able to keep going. So we’re truly grateful to everyone who visits and supports our organization in any way. 

Q.: You’re coming up on the 55th anniversary of the NB Sports Hall of Fame, and since it’s inception you’ve inducted over 270 people and that number continues to grow. Who are some of the new inductees this year?

Jamie W.: You know people always ask who’s the biggest or the greatest, but its really more about the mix and diversity of different sports and people. Certainly one of the more wider known individuals this year is Catherine Pendrel. She’s a multiple Olympian, world class caliber, mountain biker. She’s really phenomenal. Canada as whole doesn’t have many mountain bikers that have competed at that level so it’s just incredible that she’s from New Brunswick. And it’s really come full circle because she will be coaching the national team competing in Paris this year!

Ben M.: For me, the coolest one is Louis Lawrence. He was from Victoria Mills which was a predominantly working class black community in Nova Scotia. He rose to international acclaim by becoming the Golden Gloves champion before winning the Western title. And then he won the National Middleweight title against the East Coast champion Cobey McCluskey. So he was just this incredible fighter, and he made quite a name for himself even down in the U.S. Fighters were kind of afraid of him, so much so that Joe Louis wouldn’t even fight him!

Jamie W.: We’ve got so many great athletes being inducted this year, another one is the highly accomplished Olympian, Joel Bourgeois, who was a steeplechase runner. And then we have our first Indigenous person in the Builder category, Jason Peters from Saint John, who was highly influential and highly involved in promoting and supporting Indigenous athletics in the province. Who am I missing Ben? 

Ben M: Oh Randy! Can’t forget Randy Wilson, the President of Volleyball New Brunswick who’s a huge builder. Highly influential and a well-loved figure in the province.  

Then there’s Heather Wilbur, our first female golfer to compete at a professional level at the LPGA tour. And that’s a tragic story, as she lost her life soon after that competition, but her legacy lives on with a number of scholarships and philanthropic initiatives in her name. 

Q: The NBSHF really showcases a huge diversity of sports and people, and I think that’s really key, because without this crucial job you’re all doing here, a lot of this history might be forgotten. I’m sitting here, in this big room full of portraits commemorating every single inductee. They’re very impressive and I was wondering if you could expand on the portrait gallery a little bit? 

Jamie W: We’re really proud of the portraits; we have over 270 now so it’s basically impossible to display them all in one place. For people who are more into art than sports, you might like to know that we have the largest collection of portraits in the whole province right here since we commission a portrait for every single inductee. Another unique thing since we started doing the portraits in 1970, is that we’ve only had 3 different individual artists. So we’ve got this real longevity with our artists. The first one was Marjory Donaldson who did the portraits from 1970 up until the 90s, followed by Alex McGibbon who was actually an art teacher at FHS. And then for the last 12 years, a local Frederictonian by the name of Deb Ferris Bates has taken over the process.  And it’s cool from an art perspective that you can really see the evolution of the portraits through the years, the artists got progressively more skilled and the portraits became more detailed as time went on. The portraits are a really crucial part of our induction ceremony, and every athlete gets a smaller version of their portrait to take home. 

Q: Capping off the interview here, we’re trying to spread the love around Downtown Fredericton. Are there any businesses or anything that you guys really love and want to give a shoutout  to? 

Ben M: Right off the bat Tony’s Music Box comes to mind, they’ve been there forever; I used to work at Tony’s way back in the day. They’re just incredibly kind people, and the city has really grown up around them. Then I’d say The Abbey, because they do really have great food; its hard to find many options for vegan food, and it is delicious. And lastly, definitely Milltown. It’s really cool to see them expanding, and I go get a coffee there every now and then. 

Jamie W.: We’re lucky to have a wealth of smaller businesses and shops in the downtown area, and we make it a point to work with local vendors whenever possible. We hope that comes full circle, and that they’re telling people about the Sports Hall of Fame as well!

Q: Fantastic! Thanks so much for the interview guys, its been a pleasure meeting and speaking with both of you. 

Jamie W: Thanks so much and we’re hoping people will come out for our Olympic viewings and to see the exhibit! 

Ben M: Yes, thanks this has been great! 

If you would like to visit the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame at 503 Queen Street, here is some information about their hours of operation and rates of admission:

Until August 31st 2024:

*Admission by donation 5-8 p.m.

ADMISSION:

​​$3.00 for students
$5.00 for adults
$15.00 for families

Children 3 and under are free

​GROUP TOURS also available

​​Visit https://www.nbsportshalloffame.com/ for more information!

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