1
Young men and women in the Saint John Jewish community were active participants in organized sporting events and activities in the 1920s and 1930s and beyond. Activities organized by the YMHA involved many in the community. Gym classes were organized by Maurice Elman for boys and girls. Basketball, bowling and baseball teams were also organized. In 1927, the YMHA basketball team became the City Champions. Team members included "Bucky" Jacobson, Abe Guss, Harry Holtzman, Abe Davis, Al Taxar, Zelig Fine, Isadore Meltzer, Maurice Green, Joe Kunitzky and coach Maurice Ellman. Members of the bowling league played on both in-house teams and against other organizations. One of the team members, Samuel Everett was a champion bowler.2
YMHA Basketball Team1927
Saint John, New Brunswick
3
Samuel Everett (back centre)1950s
Saint John, New Brunswick
4
School and university teams benefited from the efforts of local Jewish athletes. Dr. Joseph Tanzman played football in High School and at McGill also listed basketball, baseball and wrestling to his activities. Another was Dr. Sanford Goldman who both played and managed basketball while a student at McGill.5
Saint John High School Football1920
Saint John, New Brunswick
6
There were a number of outstanding individual athletes. Nathan Rubin's specialty was distance running - the half-mile, one mile and three mile races - as a member of the Saint John High School, McGill University and Saint John Trojan track and field teams.. Although he missed the tryouts for the 1924 Olympics, he was the Canadian Collegiate Champion that year. Lawrence Earl was a sprinter for Saint John High School and Dalhousie University in the 1930s. In the late 1950s and early 1960s Philip Davis was a champion shot-putter in high school and Gary Davis was a long-jumper and a winning sprinter at Saint John High and UNB.7
Nathan Rubin (second from left)1920s
Saint John, New Brunswick
Credits:Photograph courtesy of the New Brunswick Museum
8
Gary Davis (centre)1960s
Saint John, New Brunswick
Credits:Telegraph Journal
9
Hyman and Max Kashetsky were featherweight boxers in the 1920s. Hyman competed as a popular amateur boxer for four years and competed in the New Brunswick Amateur Championship in 1926, while his brother Max received a medal in 1932. At the same time, another pair of brothers, Jacob and Harry Baxt were making names for themselves as body builders and weightlifters.10
Max Kashetsky1930s
Saint John, New Brunswick
11
Aside from gym classes, there were few women involved in sports. Anne Taxar participated in track and field and Edith Corber was an all-star bowler. Miriam Goldstein was a champion figure skater winning the Maritime Ladies Championship and placing second in the Ladies Open Competition in 1967.12
Anne Taxar1920s
Saint John, New Brunswick
13
Miriam Goldstein1967
Saint John, New Brunswick
14
Others promoted sports. Dr. Frank Boyaner was president of the Intermediate Hockey League from 1927 to 1928 and was a member of the Saint John Rifle Association. Hyman L. Marcus and Gar Meltzer both sponsored baseball teams, Jack Levine sponsored the Atlantics Basketball Team in the mid-1950s, Dr. Moses I. Polowin coached the Saint John Wanderers Football Team in the 1950s, and Solly Goldberg was general manager of the Saint John Irving Oilers Senior Hockey team in the early 1960s. |
 |
 |
 |