World's Oldest Hockey Stick at Mount A

Mount Allison scientists are excited about looking at what appears to be the world's oldest known hockey stick.

Scientists are preparing to conduct tests on the age of the artifact that could be critical to the game's history - a hand-hewn, maple-root specimen from Cape Breton that historians of Canada's favourite sport are endorsing as the most genuine candidate yet to be considered a "national treasure."

While other contenders have recently been offered for sale on eBay, experts say the object owned by Nova Scotia youth worker Mark Presley has the composition, design and provenance of an authentic, early 19th-century shinny stick - a relic from the era when hockey was evolving from a variety of stick-and-ball skating games throughout Eastern Canada.

Presley, who was in Campbellton, N.B., on Saturday to give the stick its first national exposure during a nation-wide CBC broadcast for Hockey Day in Canada, told Canwest News Service the stick was being sent this week to dendrochronologists - tree-age specialists - at Mount Allison for analysis aimed at confirming other tests and research indicating an origin in the 1830s or earlier.

Experts from the Toronto-based Society for International Hockey Research (SIHR) examined Presley's stick last fall and declared it the best example yet of a mid-1800s hockey stick.

Presley, a 41-year-old history buff from Berwick, N.S., acquired the stick last March after it had been displayed for about 30 years on the wall of a barbershop in North Sydney, N.S.

He carefully traced the stick's origins to the Moffatt family, which had a homestead on the shores of nearby Pottle's Lake. Oral and written records describing shinny contests on the lake in the mid-1800s - with Moffatt family members among the skaters - have strengthened the case for the stick's authenticity.

Particularly intriguing are the initials "W.M" etched into the blade of the stick, suggesting the metre-long object was carved in the 1830s for a family ancestor named W.M. (Dilly) Moffatt, born in 1829.

But Presley's research has also identified other "W.M." candidates from the family tree going back as far as the late 1700s.

Read more:
NS shinny stick could be a national treasure
(Nanaimo Daily News)

New Director at the Canadian Stage Company

Congratulations to internationally acclaimed theatre director and arts administrator Matthew Jocelyn ('79), who has been named Artistic and General Director of The Canadian Stage Company.

Jocelyn was born and raised in Toronto, and was named Chevalier des Art et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Ministry of Culture in July, 2008.

In Canada, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Mount Allison and a Master of Arts degree at Montreal’s McGill University. He attended the Université d’Aix-en-Provence in France and Oxford University in England as a Rhodes Scholar.

He was shaped by some of the leading forces in European and Asian theatre and dance. He studied with acclaimed Polish director Jerzy Grotowski, Japanese Butoh dance master Tanaka Min, and was assistant to renowned French director Patrice Chéreau and England’s legendary Jonathan Miller.

His professional credits include: guest director at Canada’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival where he received critical acclaim for the direction of Pierre Corneille’s The Liar (Le menteur) in 2006; co-founding the Théâtre de l’Autre Rive, founding the Théâtre Des-Hérités and directing at the Atelier Chekhov in Paris; assisting in artistic coordination and directing at the Centre de Formation Lyrique of the Paris National Opera; creating and performing dance-theatre productions in France and Spain; developing and directing original plays, operas and translations in Canada, Switzerland, France, Germany and Brussels.

He is an educator, who has held positions at the University of Toronto, the American University of Paris and the Université de Toulouse-le Mirail and more recently at the Conservatoire National Supérieure d’Art Dramatique in Paris.

In 1998, the French Minister of Culture appointed Jocelyn as the Artistic and General Director of the Atelier du Rhin, a regional drama centre in Colmar, France. Over a 10-year period, he put the Atelier du Rhin on the international map, establishing the organization as a major centre for theatre, opera and contemporary dance - the only multidisciplinary artistic centre of its kind in France.

It became highly regarded for the excellence of its productions, numerous artistic residencies, network of community and educational programs, and the state-of-the-art renovations transforming it into one of the best-equipped and most versatile theatres in France.

His achievements included launching the Jeunes Voix du Rhin, an internationally recognized training centre which attracts performers and instructors from around the world; and establishing France’s first policy of corporate sponsorship and partnership for artistic institutions.

In addition to his administrative and financial roles, he directed a number of productions at the
Atelier du Rhin and Jeunes voix du Rhin.

Learn more about the Canadian Stage Company.

Read more:
Canadian Stage hands reins to Jocelyn
(Globe and Mail)

Bermuda Trip Update

Here's a match report for the Men's Soccer Team's games in Bermuda:

First Game
On a perfect evening for soccer, temperature around 63 degrees and no wind, the Mount Allison Mounties soccer team took on the Bermuda select under 23 squad. The game was divided into 3 periods of 30 minutes so that all 25 of the University team would get to play. The opening period saw the Mounties put constant pressure on the home squad and were rewarded with a goal from a set piece just outside the 18 yard line. Ian McCloud, from Newfoundland took a free kick and put it into the top left hand corner after coming off the crossbar.

The second period saw the younger Mount Allison players take the field and made a good account of themselves. However, miscommunication in the defense lead to a Bermuda equalizing goal. The final period saw end to end action and terrific saves by both goalies. Mount Allison went ahead again when Ian McCloud once more scored. The Bermuda team pressed forward during the later stages of the game and were rewarded by a terrific goal from 20 yards out.

The final score of 2-2 reflected the play and spirit of the game. The next match will be on Wednesday evening when the Mounties take on a Club team Somerset Trojans.

Second Game
The Mounties took on a Bermuda First Division Team tonight called the Somerset Trojans. The conditions once more were perfect for soccer, no wind and 60 degrees. The games was played in 3 periods of 30 minutes. The youngsters started the game for MTA and gave a good account of themselves. However, towards the end of the period the Trojans got a deflected own goal to make the score 1-0 for them. The second period was more even in play and resulted in a stalemate. In the final period the Mounties pressed hard and were unlucky not to score. It was another spirited match and the boys did themselves proud. They are great ambassadors for the university.


Submitted by Rick Thompson ('67)

To read more about their trip to Bermuda, see the Bermuda Chapter Page.

Ms Darbus Finalist

Rosalee Peppard Lockyer '78 is a FINALIST in the "Ms Darbus" competition along with 4 others. By winning tonight, she will be given the opportunity of a lifetime to perform in the musical theatre show at the Neptune Theatre. But it depends upon your vote!

You can vote for her tonight online between 6 pm-12 pm (Atlantic time). Vote now!

You can tune into CBC Mainstreet (streamed) from Nova Scotia between 4 and 6 this afternoon when some of the finalists' marvellous performances at the Neptune Theatre from last night will be aired!

Mounties headed to Bermuda

The year was 1945...the place was Mount Allison University...in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada...and the event — the birth of the Mount Allison Soccer Mounties.

Well known Bermuda resident Dr. Clarence Terceira (’49), AKA, “Tessi” was a freshman study­ing pre-dentistry at Mount Allison in the mid-40s. In his first year (1945), Tessi convinced the university athletic director at the time, Major McCormack, to start an intramural soccer league with four squads and 44 interested players.

From these humble beginnings, Tessi appealed to the Mount Alli­son Men’s Athletic Union for varsity status on campus, and then appli­cation was made to join the Mari­time Universities Athletic Union.


The 2008-09 version of the men’s Soccer Mounties are heading to Bermuda to meet these “charter mem­bers” of the University’s historical program, and to hone their soccer skills against current Bermudian players, over the University break from February 21-28, 2009.

Find out more!

The RECORD ONLINE!

The Record is now available online!

Flip through our magazine, and zoom in to read the articles. Once you're done, send the link to a friend. Don't like reading on a computer? You can also open the magazine as a PDF and print yourself a copy.

Go Green!
If you would like to opt-out of the print version of the Record and receive an e-mail reminder when a new issue is ready to view, e-mail us: alumni@mta.ca.

http://alumni.mta.ca/therecord

Mount Allison’s Animal House

Did you know that Mount Allison now has its own Animal House?

To read all about this Canadian, possibly North American first, read the Winter 09 issue of the Record (Green and Furry, page 23).

Want to learn more about the Animal House and ways to support the project? Click here to download the residence’s community brochure.