Gordon Graydon, MP for Peel, addressed the gathering. “I want to pass along my good wishes to the directors of this new rink. The people of Dixie are proud of the building and justly should be,” he said.
Leslie Pallett thanked all those in attendance and graciously acknowledged the financial support given by Hand’s Fireworks Company and the St. Lawrence Starch Company. He also extended his best wishes to an ailing J. Andy Sherman, who had supplied the Union Jack and many of the other flags, which adorned the arena that night, but was not present. He thanked the consulting engineer Jack Soules for his long hours over the length of the construction project. Leslie ended by paying tribute to the wives of those involved. “I thank the wives who gave us to the community for the last month and who now call themselves the arena widows,” he said.
Premier Leslie Frost drops the puck for the opening night game at Dixie Arena. In an exhibition game the Dixie Staffords defeated the Junior “B’ St. Michael’s College 6-1. Photo courtesy of the Mississauga Heritage Foundation.
A 64-page souvenir program for the official opening was published by The Port Credit Weekly. The week of the opening, the newspaper carried a front-page story in its edition boasting of the fact the paper was selected to be the publisher. It was the first major sporting souvenir program to be published in the community. It contained more than 100 advertisements from local business owners. It is a nostalgic read down memory lane.
The Dixie Staffords played St. Michael’s College on opening night and soundly defeated their Toronto rivals by an impressive 6-1 score. In the opening night souvenir program, the Staffords were billed as a Junior ‘B’ team playing every Saturday night at Dixie Arena. In the other contest on opening night between two Toronto Township Hockey League squads, the Dixie Intermediates defeated the Toronto Township All Stars 2-1.
The Dixie Intermediates were the Perennial Dixie Co-Op Cup Champions having won the title for three consecutive seasons, 1947-48, 1948-49 and 1949-50. The trophy was presented annually by the Dixie Growers Limited.
Also on the opening night were skating exhibitions performed by Miss Suzanne Morrow, Mr. Don Tobin, Miss Jane Kirby, Mr. Jack Cox, Miss Sally Ann Blogg, Mr. Harold Hartley and a young rising star from Cooksville, Miss Gail Pinkney.
Sally Ann Blogg was a professional instructor formerly with the Toronto Skating Club and was the current professional at the Silver Blades and Outdoor Figure Skating Clubs. She had just been contracted to teach ‘fancy skating’ by the newly established figure skating club sponsored by the Cloverleaf Community Group.
Vic ‘Benny’ Henderson, the Port Credit Weekly newspaper’s sports reporter and sports columnist, described the opening entertainment as something of an eye-opener. It was common in the early days for sports reporters to know very little about figure skating. The coverage in the Port Credit Weekly was reported usually by local community columnists and figure skating was not treated as a sport.
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