Two players from that 1957-58 series, Jim McClure and Trevor Kaye, are only seven days apart in age but became closer in life when they met twin sisters, June and Joan. Trevor noticed June at a Beehive game and met her at the Friday night public skating. They dated for a while and broke up. Then he got to know June’s sister Joan, who was dating his best friend. After their break up, he started to date Joan, while Jim started to date June. They were married in a double wedding at St. Hilary’s Church in Cooksville on August 29, 1959 and remained best friends for 42 years. Jim died in May of 2001.
Howard Pallett took pride in seeing his players better their education. The first Dixie player to receive a U.S. scholarship was Ronnie Palmer in 1953. Palmer went to the first school of science and engineering in the United States, Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., on a hockey scholarship. When the Beehives were formed in 1954, Howard continued to encourage players to advance their academic standards. Several players over the years received scholarships and some hockey pundits have said had they not, Dixie might have had a little better playing record.
There are thousands of stories to be told about the St. Lawrence Starch Company’s Bee Hive photos and Bryan Lewis, retired NHL Director of Officiating, recalls one that could grace a Valentine’s Day card. In a little touch of irony, his wife Elaine, who is Howard Pallett’s daughter, worked for St. Lawrence Starch one summer when she was a teenager. Her job was to send out Bee Hive hockey photos to fans who had sent in stubs from the Bee Hive products. Bryan and Elaine were going through memorabilia many years later and realized that Elaine might well have sent photos to Bryan as he was a big hockey fan as a youngster. Bryan met his wife Elaine when he played for the Dixie Beehives in 1961-62.
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