The Prince Edward Island Curling Hall of Fame and Museum is set to host its sixth annual induction ceremony on Monday October 15, 2012 at the Charlottetown Curling Complex, Charlottetown PEI.
The four inductees being honoured for their achievements and contributions to the sport of curling are: Kim Dolan, Charlottetown, Don Hutchinson (posthumously), Charlottetown, Irving MacKinnon (posthumously), Charlottetown, and Wanda MacLean, Summerside.
The event, with co-hosts Paul H. Schurman and Tricia Affleck, gets underway at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $10.00 and are available at the door, or in advance at the Charlottetown Curling Club, or by contacting Jerry Muzika, phone (902) 672-2822, email mmuzika@pei.sympatico.ca, or other members of the Hall of Fame Board of Directors.
This year’s ceremony is sponsored by PEI Ford Dealers, Beaton’s Wholesale Dry Goods, City of Charlottetown, Purity Dairy, and Phillips Feed Service.
Here is Irving MacKinnon’s curling biography:
Irving MacKinnon
Irving was an all-round athlete excelling in many sports including tennis, baseball, badminton, bowling, and snooker, but it was the game of curling which allowed him to travel extensively to truly “see Canada from the hack,” as noted by John McNeill in his column The Realm of Sport in the Summerside Journal-Pioneer in 1981. Irving, in total, went away to represent PEI in nineteen Canadian curling championships.
Irving started to curl in 1963 at the Charlottetown Curling Club.
He won his first of six PEI Seniors Men’s Curling Championships in 1972, playing lead for skip Arthur Ballem, with third Jim Cameron, and second Chris Gallant. His next win came in 1974, when he played second for Dr. Wen Macdonald. John Squarebriggs was at third, and lead was Arthur Ballem.
With Don Hutchinson replacing Arthur Ballem at lead, this team won the PEI Seniors Men’s Curling Championship the next two years, 1975, and 1976. They went on to win both the 1975 and 1976 Canadian Senior Men’s Curling Championships. Recognising this accomplishment, the team was inducted into the PEI Sports Hall of Fame in 1976.
His next provincial win was in 1980 with the same team – but Irving played lead and Donald Hutchinson played second.
His last provincial seniors win was in 1982 with Dr. Macdonald’s team with third Donald Hutchinson, Irving at second, and lead, John Squarebriggs.
In postal curling, he represented Prince Edward Island ten times at the Canadian Postal Curling Championships, mostly curling with teammates Erroll MacNeill, and Phil Perry.
In 1966, he won the Royal Canadian Legion Provincial Championship playing second for the Arthur Ballum team. Other team members were Doug George at third, and Art Crockett at lead.
In 1976, Irving skipped his team of third Don Hutchinson, second Aurel Morais and lead Claude Whitenect to a provincial Legion Senior Men’s title and went on to curl in the Royal Canadian Legion Dominion Senior’s Curling Championship in Stettler, Alberta in April 1977, winning this Canadian Championship.
In 1982, Irving won the Royal Canadian Legion Provincial Championship playing second with skip Lorne Burke, Bill Beer at third, and Ivan MacDougall at lead.
Irving also spent time volunteering on the executive of the Charlottetown Curling Club as a director starting in 1969/70. For the next three years he served as Chair of Entertainment. He handled all of the bingo draws which generated a steady income used to help pay off the mortgage for the club. As well, Irving was a member of the Host Committee for the Canadian Senior Men’s Curling Championship held in Charlottetown in 1982 with House and Ice as his responsibility.