Readers who particularly enjoy these monthly glimpses into all that is the wonderful lore of Sudbury sports past should pass along a debt of gratitude in the memory of one George Grace.

A native of Toronto who moved to Sudbury in December of 1939, Grace would begin work with the Sudbury Star as a sports reporter in 1942. Involved with the local daily newspaper for decades to come, the first person inducted into the Greater Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame under the “Media” category would eventually ascend to the role of managing editor before retiring from the Star in 1980.

Yet it was later in life when he most influenced this particular columnist, penning a series of “Looking Back” stories that ran for roughly a decade, his last article printed on December 31st, 2000.

In many ways, it was the visual vistas that Grace could create via his excellence with wordsmith imagery that formed the basis of what is now Nickel City Nostalgia.

Though we never had a chance to discuss the topic, it appeared to me that stories were created through a merging of visits to the Sudbury Public Library to search out microfilmed editions of the Star from years gone by, along with the memories of a man who had seen and experienced much during a life spent in largely in northern Ontario.

This is largely the same modus operandi I would suggest I embrace – though I honestly have no recollection at all of stock car races taking place at Hurricane Speedway in Blezard Valley in the summer of 1972. Mind you, at that point in my life, my entire world likely revolved around a one-kilometre radius or so of Rosemarie playground in New Sudbury.

According to John Mott, Valley Standard editor of that time, however, some two dozen cars raced on this particular Sunday, a number that was well above the average of previous races due to an influx of Sault Ste Marie drivers who wished to partake in the festivities.

Spinouts were the order of the day.

Having relinquished the ride of his 1977 Chevelle to Leo Lampsa due to a whiplash injury, Ray Fex returned to racing but would spin off the track on several occasions, though he did manage to complete the 20-lap race.

Out-of-town competitors enjoyed easily as much success, if not more, than the locals did.

Recognized as the “Driver of the Day”, Fred Page from SSM steered his 1993 Charger to victory in a pair of heats as well as the feature race of the day, joined in the winners’ circle by Garf MacDonald from North Bay (1942 Mustang – super stock heat).

Track and field on a local level was in fine form in the early seventies thanks to the existence of a pair of clubs: Sudbury Track Club and Northland Athletic Club. The age span of competitors was particularly noteworthy.

Competing at the Toronto Police Games, Sudbury senior entries Ken Sellen and Joe Zloty were both tackling the 1500m distance.

Joining the duo at the meet were Fred Meandro (sprints) and Sakari Sirvio (400m). Meanwhile, bantam and midget tracksters representing the STC of provincials in Oshawa included twin sprinters Heather and Kim Chisholm, along with fellow Conistonite Laureen Veno and teammate Pat Garrett from Sudbury.

Having recently clocked a time of 48.9 (400m) at the Olympic Trials in Toronto, Dick Moss would accompany John MacAlpine to the juvenile and juniors meet in Kitchener. Meanwhile, a NAC contingent that featured the likes of Joanne McKinty (800m/1500m), Dave Flowers (triple jump), Mark Cummins (110m hurdles) and Jeff Gilles (800m) would also be part of those festivities.

All this at a time when soccer was far more prevalent than track.

Nightly contests at Queen’s Athletic Field would draw several hundreds, with particularly big matchups reaching four-digit attendance. All of which came with an account of the contest the next day in the paper.

A mainstay in the men’s league, the Polish White Eagles had played to a 1-1 draw with Sudbury United when defender Shea O’Hanlon capitalized late on a free kick awarded some ten yards out. This nullified what appeared destined to be a game-winning goal courtesy of a three-way passing play, started by Colin Smethurst, played through Stewart Doran and on to Steve Ross, who bested keeper Andre Mrozewski from close range.

A call-up from the bantam Cleanol Hawks crew, Mrozeski had delivered an outstanding performance, serving notice the youngster would not look out of place with the men. In an earlier encounter, Croatia Adria controlled much of the game but were rewarded only with a singular tally as Ilya Prodanovic fed a perfect through ball to Danny Parovic, who made no mistake in lifting his team past the Tridents 1-0.

And if there was any doubting the intensity of the soccer of the day, consider that one night later, the Sudbury Soccer Association executive disciplinary committee would be meeting in the aftermath of a brawl between the Sudbury Flyers and Cleanol Hawks that forced the referee to vacate the contest with five minutes to play.

Sounds like that outing would have been very much to the liking of the trio of Richard Lineham, Arvo Punkkinen and David Jamrozik – all of whom would medal at the Canadian Junior Boxing Championships in Edmonton in the summer of 1972.

Members of the Frood-Shamrock Athletic Club, the northern lads produced a pair of gold medals (Lineham and Punkinnen) along with one silver (Jamrozik). Fighting in the 65-pound class, Lineham got the better of Ken Stoekil from South Porcupine while Punkinnen recorded a TKO over an opponent from the Yukon before being awarded a unanimous decision over Marc Givaque (Toronto Cabbagetown).

Jamrozik (112-pounds) had a busier stretch, picking up TKO victories over both Bill Bruce (Newfoundland) and Colin Gallant (P.E.I) before dropping a close split decision to hometown favourite, Mike Young.

“That was the best fight I’ve ever seen David fight,” said Frood-Shamrock promoter & president Johnny Teale. “Some felt it was a hometown decision but this Young was a superior boxer.”