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Bennie's Corners Baseball Team.1900
Almonte
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Bennie’s Corners Baseball Team c. 1920. Photograph taken at the N.L.A.S. fairgrounds.1920
Almonte
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The Bennie's Corner baseball team practicing.1920
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The nucleus of the great Union Hall 'Tiger' Baseball teams. Starting on the warpath, 1915.1915
Almonte
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A mixed baseball team from Bennie's Corners. They won the championship that year.1950
Almonte
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SkatingSkating has always been a popular pastime for Almontonians. Skating was referenced in poetry and around the town accounts in the town’s first newspaper the Express in 1861, 1862. Whether it was on the frozen Mississippi or Indian Rivers or the numerous small ponds that dotted the rural landscape skating was the thing to do on cold winter nights. Skating parties and carnivals were very popular social events. Skating was something men and ladies could enjoy together. When the first indoor arena on the Island was built it saw an endless stream of patrons both young and old.
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Old skates, the kind you had to screw on to your boot or shoe.1890
The Mill of Kintail
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Other sports in Almonte1870
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Almonte Gazette - Saturday February 19, 1870Bonspiel - Last Tuesday afternoon, a very interesting game was played between junior members of the Mississippi Club, with Messrs. S. L. Davis and P. McArthur acting as skips. An additional window being required in the rink, it was previously agreed by the skips that the losing side would pay the cost of putting one in. The sides stood as follows: J.L.Reed, A. Sinclair, F.A.W. Lister, Dr. Patterson, Wm. Templeman, S.L. Davis, skip - 7.
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A group of skaters on the Indian river. A hockey game is on in the background.1900
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A group of lads pose with their sticks before strapping on the blades for a game of shinny.1920
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The Almonte Arena where it stands today, near Gemmil Park, was opened in 1950. Through the years it has seen its share of activity. Hockey players, Broomball players, Figure Skaters, Ringette Players, call this there second home in winter months. Roller hockey and ball hockey enthusiasts use the surface in the summer months.39
Teams from the Almonte Ladies Ball Hockey League face off at the Almonte Arena.2003
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Water SportsGiven that Almonte and the surrounding area are are located on the Mississippi River it is not surprising that our residents would use it in the spring and summer as well.
Canoes and rowboats were a vital form of transportation along the Indian and Mississippi Rivers. The Young family, cousins of James Naismith traveled by row boat to church every Sunday all year round.
The April 16 1870 Gazette reports that the Mississippi Jr. is swollen to unusual size by melting snow and that canoes "are paddled about from door to door."
Both McKenzie and Naismith fondly recalled their exploits at the local swimming hole.
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