SINCE penning my last column, a lot has happened in the sports world — especially for Toronto Maple Leafs fans such as myself. Thoughts of this year finally being the year have, once again, been erased from our hearts and minds. I will say it was fun while it lasted, but my fellow Leaf fans and I just wished it had lasted a little longer. Hopefully it will not be another close to two decades before we make it to the second round again.
The silver lining is that at least now me and the boys in blue and white can focus on our golf games.
Speaking of the Stanley Cup, I was recently in the home of the famous 1907 Kenora Thistles, who claimed that illustrious trophy over a century ago becoming the smallest community ever to do so. I was there to attend the Sunset Country Museum Network meeting at The Muse, which is comprised of the Lake of the Woods Museum and the Douglas Family Art Centre. Attendees included representatives from heritage facilities located in Atikokan, Fort Frances, Red Lake, Thunder Bay, Dryden and the Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical Centre near Stratton.
Our host for the event was Lori Nelson, the director of The Muse, who is retiring from her position this summer after 34 years of dedicated service. I have been fortunate to have known and worked with Lori in our regional museum network for all of those years and I can say, unequivocally, that her contributions have been outstanding and she will be greatly missed. She has promised that the next time I am in Kenora we will enjoy a round of golf and a sail on the Lake of the Woods, which I greatly look forward to.
In honour of my colleague’s retirement, I thought I would recount one of my favourite sports history stories from Kenora’s past, alongside a great photo provided to us from the Lake of the Woods Museum collection.
Kenora holds the distinction of having the oldest established rowing club in the region with their history going back to 1890 with the formation of the Rat Portage Rowing Club. When the community changed their name to Kenora in 1905 so did the club, becoming the Kenora Rowing Club that year. A fun fact is that the name Kenora came from taking the first two letters of the names of the communities of Keewatin, Norman and Rat Portage.
In 1892, a multi-purpose facility was built which not only served as a boat house for the club, but also as a home for the agricultural society and a local dance hall and curling club. Given its early establishment and its development of outstanding rowers, the Rat Portage Rowing Club was the first from the region to be connected to the North West International Rowing Association (NWIRA), joining the Minnesota-Winnipeg Rowing Association in 1894.
Rowing at the Lake of the Woods grew to become a very popular pastime and a source of pride for the community. A number of well-known hockey players spent the summer months on the water, including Kenora Thistle Stanley Cup champions Si Griffis and Tommy Phillips.
The mining boom of the late 1800s attracted a number of people to the Lake of the Woods including a man by the name of Jake Gaudaur who moved to Rat Portage in 1897 and established himself in the hotel business, taking over the Russell House. Gaudaur was born in 1858 in Orillia, Ont. He arrived in his new home with an incredible rowing record of close to 200 titles to his credit, including the 1896 World Singles crown. Joining the local rowing club upon his arrival, he remained active with the club during his time in the community, and would go on to literally bring the world of rowing to Northwestern Ontario.
In 1901, as the reigning Champion Oarsman of the World, Gaudaur issued a challenge to row any man for the championship title, along with a prize purse of $2,500. In the published announcement he stated that, as evidence of his good faith, he had deposited $500 at the local Imperial Bank. Receiving a number of replies to his challenge, he waited for the one that he really wanted — that from his rival George Towns of Australia.
After considerable back-and-forth negations about the conditions of the race, with some concern about the fact that this would be the first such race held on a lake when all the others were held on rivers, Towns accepted the challenge. Plans were made for the 43-year-old Gaudaur to take on the 31-year-old Towns on Sept. 4, 1901.
Travelling from England, Towns arrived in Rat Portage on Aug. 6 and began training on the local waterways. A number of people started to descend on the small town, some from as far away as England and Australia and others from throughout North America. The CPR issued a special $2 return train ticket fare from Winnipeg with similar reduced rates being offered for people travelling by rail from other cities.
Due to weather conditions, the race was delayed until the morning of Sept. 7. The Miner and News described the morning as being cold and rather cheerless, with a raw nor’wester rippling the surface of the water.
As Gaudaur emerged from the boathouse, a loud cheer went up with the echo reportedly heard in Keewatin. With the referee setting them upon their course it was not long before Towns established himself in the lead, which he never relinquished, crossing the finish line two and a half boat lengths ahead of his rival.
Although he lost the race, Jake Gaudaur will always be remembered as the man responsible for Kenora having the opportunity to host a World Sculling Championship.
In the cultural world of Northwestern Ontario, soon-to-be-retired Lori Nelson will be remembered as the woman responsible for helping to put Kenora on the map for its exceptional museum programming and newly minted art centre. Congratulations on your retirement my friend and I look forward to seeing you on the golf course and waterway on my next trip to the Lake of the Woods.
Diane Imrie is the executive director of the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.