It has been 40 years since the Kimberley Dynamiters won the Allan Cup on May 3, 1978, and it’s more than time for a reunion.
Aurel Beaudin, Kimberley resident and team member, is organizing a reunion on the weekend of August 17, 18 and 19, and he says that 90 per cent of the team members have committed to attend.
Players from the Kimberley Senior Dynamiters team will register on Friday evening, August 17, an event that is open to the public. There will be a private banquet for team members, spouses and special guests on Saturday, which will open to the public after the meal. Both those events are at the Kimberley Elks Club. Another open to the public event will be held at the Kimberley Riverside Campground on Sunday, August 19.
“Guys are coming from all over, from Victoria to Manitoba,” Beaudin said. “There are eight or nine of us still in Kimberley and the rest went back to farming and other jobs.”
The Western International Hockey League was place for the very good hockey player to finish out his career, Beaudin says. It was something of a semi-pro league. Many of the players had played junior hockey, college hockey, and some even did a few years in the pros.
“It was basically semi-pro, a lunch bucket league,” he said. “It was a place to finish your hockey career and still pursue education or have a job.”
The Allan Cup was a very big deal, especially when won by a city as small as Kimberley.
As the Kimberley Bulletin stated on their front page on May 4, 1978, “The time to rejoice has come. For one instant we forgot our troubles and were happy. You did it Dynamiters.”
If you’d like more information on the upcoming reunion, contact Beaudin at 250-427-1039 or 250-427-2980. Also watch the Bulletin for more as we get nearer to the event.
The 1978 Allan Cup team members were Wayne Bell, Barrie MacKay, Jim McCrimmon, Dallas Ellerby, Barry Cummins, Gene Strate, Chris Becker, Ken Ireland, Dale Booth, Murray Myers, Aurel Beaudin, Mickey Wilson, Darwin Mott, Glen Walton, Jim Cruise, Len Hicks, Allan Fleck, Brian Macklin, Jeff Ablett and Keith Goodwin. The coach was Jim McCrimmon, the Asst. Coach, Darwin Mott, Steve Fabro was the stickboy and Terry Martin the trainer.