Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

MINIATURE MEDALS

Date

1975

Materials

METAL, ADHESIVE

No. Pieces

3

Length

4.3

Width

4.1

Description

A. GOLD MEDAL; FRONT HAS RAISED MINIATURE ALBERTA PROVINCIAL SHIELD AT TOP, WITH SPORTING GEAR AND REPRESENTATION FOLLOWING EDGE OF MEDAL, SNOWFLAKE IN CENTER AND EMBOSSED TEXT “CANADA JEUX GAMES 1975”. BACK HAS TWO YELLOWED ADHESIVE PADS OVER EMBOSSED IMAGE OF LAUREAL LEAF, RECTANGULAR BAR, AND MAPLE LEAF WITH SNOWFLAKE INSIDE. MEDAL HAS ADHESIVE LEAKAGE ON BACK; TARNISHING ALONG EDGES; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. B. SILVER MEDAL; FRONT HAS RAISED MINIATURE ALBERTA PROVINCIAL SHIELD AT TOP, WITH SPORTING GEAR AND REPRESENTATION FOLLOWING EDGE OF MEDAL, SNOWFLAKE IN CENTER AND EMBOSSED TEXT “CANADA JEUX GAMES 1975”. BACK HAS TWO YELLOWED ADHESIVE PADS OVER EMBOSSED IMAGE OF LAUREAL LEAF, RECTANGULAR BAR, AND MAPLE LEAF WITH SNOWFLAKE INSIDE. MEDAL HAS TARNISHING ON FRONT AND BACK SURFACES AND ALONG EDGES; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. C. BRONZE MEDAL; FRONT HAS RAISED MINIATURE ALBERTA PROVINCIAL SHIELD AT TOP, WITH SPORTING GEAR AND REPRESENTATION FOLLOWING EDGE OF MEDAL, SNOWFLAKE IN CENTER AND EMBOSSED TEXT “CANADA JEUX GAMES 1975”. BACK HAS TWO YELLOWED ADHESIVE PADS OVER EMBOSSED IMAGE OF LAUREAL LEAF, RECTANGULAR BAR, AND MAPLE LEAF WITH SNOWFLAKE INSIDE. MEDAL HAS ADHESIVE LEAKAGE ON BACK; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

DOCUMENTARY ARTIFACT

Historical Association

SPORTS

COMMEMORATIVE

History

ON SEPTEMBER 22, 2017, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED KEITH LEES REGARDING HIS DONATION OF THREE MEDALS FROM THE 1975 CANADA WINTER GAMES. THE 1975 CANADA WINTER GAMES WERE HOSTED IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA WITH LEES AND OTHER LETHBRIDGE RESIDENTS FORMING THE PLANNING COMMITTEE FOR THE EVENTS. ON HIS INVOLVEMENT IN THE 1975 CANADA WINTER GAMES, LEES ELABORATED, “I WAS THE GENERAL MANAGER OF THE CANADA GAMES IN 1975.” LEES RECALLED THE PURPOSE OF THE MEDALS, NOTING, “THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO GOT THIS MEDAL SET WERE THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. WE HAD OUR MEDALS MADE IN FORT SASKATCHEWAN…ALL OF A SUDDEN AFTER THE GAMES, THESE APPEARED. AFTER EVERYTHING WAS DONE – FOR THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.” “SOMEBODY WOULD HAVE WALKED IN AND SAID …OR GIVEN THEM TO US INDIVIDUALLY…THAT’S AN ANOMALY TO ME. I DIDN’T KNOW [IT] WAS BEING DONE. I HAD NO IDEA. I WAS PREPARED TO WALK AWAY WITH HANDSHAKE AND A GOOD-BYE. SOMEBODY REALLY WAS THOUGHTFUL ON THAT...THEY’RE MEMORABILIA FROM THE GAMES THAT NOBODY ELSE HAS GOT. I WOULD NEVER GIVE THEM OR SELL THEM TO ANYBODY.” “AT THE TIME, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GAVE SOUTHERN ALBERTA - LETHBRIDGE AND SOUTHERN ALBERTA - THE RIGHT TO HOLD THE GAMES AND FUND THEM…IT STARTED OUT WITH A GROUP OF PEOPLE FROM THE CITY. AT THAT TIME BOB BARTLETT WAS THE CITY MANAGER AND THE CITY WERE BUILDING THE SPORTSPLEX SO THAT TIED INTO THE ORIGINAL APPLICATION TO HOST THE GAMES. THIS WAS BEFORE MY TIME, BUT THAT HAPPENED, I THINK, IN ABOUT 1972…THEY HAD A COMMITTEE OF ALDERMEN, SPORTS-INTERESTED PEOPLE TO DRAW THE PLANS AND PRESENT THE PLANS TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. THAT WENT THROUGH; THE GOVERNMENT OKAYED THE DECISION TO HOST THEM HERE AND THEN THAT COMMITTEE CAME BACK AND HAD TO START THE ORGANIZATION OF THE GAMES. I THINK AT THAT TIME ANDY ANDERSON WAS THE MAYOR, AND THE CITY CAUGHT ONTO THE CONCEPT AND THEN THE ENTHUSIASM STARTED GENERATING…” “THE BID COMMITTEE WERE ALL CITY EMPLOYEES OR VOLUNTEERS WHO WERE INTERESTED IN SPORTS…WORD GOT OUT AND APPLICATIONS WERE MADE FOR THE JOB OF THE GENERAL MANAGER. THEIR PROCEDURE WITH ME WAS AN INTERVIEW…THEN THEY MADE A CHOICE. I ACTUALLY GOT INTO IT BY ACCIDENT. CHARLIE VIRTUE, WHO WAS THE PRESIDENT, AND I WERE WAITING FOR A TRAFFIC LIGHT AND KICKED UP A CONVERSATION. CHARLIE ASKED ME IF I WOULD BE INTERESTED. I WAS IN BUSINESS FOR MYSELF THEN, AND I DIDN’T REALLY HAVE ANY CONCEPT OF THE CANADA GAMES OR THE LATITUDE OF THE CANADA GAMES, SO WE CHATTED. HE ASKED ME TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION, AND FORTUNATELY AT THAT TIME I HAD JUST SOLD MY BUSINESS, SO I THOUGHT ABOUT IF FOR QUITE A WHILE AND THEN I JUST SAID TO HIM, 'OKAY, THROW MY HAT IN THE RING AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.' THERE WERE INTERVIEWS AND THEN THAT’S BASICALLY HOW I GOT INTO THE GAMES.” “I KIND OF FELL INTO IT [IN 1973]…I HAD NO CONCEPT OF WHAT THE JOB WAS. BUT THE COMMITTEE FIGURED THAT MY PAST EXPERIENCE IN THE CITY WOULD HELP…IT WAS SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO DO ONCE IN YOUR LIFETIME.” “ALL THE PEOPLE WHO STARTED OUT WITH ME WERE VOLUNTEERS. I HAD TO SET UP AN ORGANIZATION, AN OFFICE, THE WHOLE NINE YARDS…THE SIZE OF THE ORGANIZATION…FAR EXCEEDED WHAT OUR ANTICIPATION WAS. AFTER WE GOT TO THE DECISION - I THINK IT WAS ABOUT THE END OF JUNE, AND IN JULY, NEW WESTMINSTER/BURNABY WERE HOSTING THE SUMMER GAMES AND I WENT OUT THERE FOR A WEEK TO LOOK AT THEM. IT WAS GOOD THAT I HAD ALREADY COMMITTED BECAUSE YOU THEN FIND OUT THE SCOPE. WE HAD, I THINK, 35 PEOPLE ON OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS, ONE FROM EACH OF THE TOWNS, EACH OF THE AREAS. WE HAD A HOTEL ROOM IN BURNABY AND THEY CAME OUT, TWO OR THREE AT A TIME, AND WE WENT THROUGH THE PROCEDURE…AFTER THEY HAD SEEN THE SET-UP THERE, THEY CAME BACK TO ME AND SAID, 'DO YOU THINK WE BIT OFF MORE THAN WE COULD CHEW?' I DID, BUT I DIDN’T TELL THEM THAT ‘CAUSE WE WERE COMMITTED AND IT WAS A MATTER OF JUST GOING FROM THERE.” “YOU GET OVER THE SHOCK AND THEN YOU START TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT AND GET YOUR COMMITTEES ORGANIZED. OUR VOLUNTEERS DID THE JOB. WE HAD…TWENTY-SEVEN OR TWENTY-EIGHT HUNDRED VOLUNTEERS…WE EMPLOYED A RETIRED CAPTAIN FROM THE ARMY AS THE ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER, ARCHIE LOGAN. ARCHIE WAS A TRAINED SOLDIER IN MOVING MATERIAL, MOVING MEN…LOGISTICS. WITHOUT HIM, I COULD HAVE NEVER DONE IT.” “DURING THE GAMES THEMSELVES MY JOB WAS DONE. I COULDN’T CONTROL ANYTHING ELSE. EACH INDIVIDUAL SUB-COMMITTEE LOOKED AFTER [THINGS]… IT WAS A THRILLING PROSPECT. I REMEMBER AT THE OPENING CEREMONIES, BOB BARTLETT AND I WERE IN THE SPORTSPLEX, SITTING TOGETHER, AND IT WAS KIND OF A ‘LET OFF STEAM’ SITUATION…PEOPLE HAVE SAID TO ME, 'WELL, WHAT DO YOU THINK?' AND I THINK THAT IT WAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY AND I APPRECIATED IT BUT I’D NEVER DO IT AGAIN.” “OUR PLUSES WERE THAT WE COULD UNITE THE WHOLE COMMUNITY. WHEN I SAY ‘COMMUNITY’, I MEAN BOW ISLAND TO THE PASS AND WE HAD COMMITMENTS FROM EACH OF THE TOWNS, EACH MAYOR…THEN WE HAD TO DECIDE WHICH SPORTS WENT TO WHERE BUT EACH LITTLE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE KEPT FALLING INTO PLACE.” “[GAMES BECAME MORE REGIONAL, IN DIFFERENT VENUES RATHER THAN ONE SPECIFIC CENTER] THE ORIGINAL BID COMMITTEE OF PEOPLE WHO ORIGINALLY MADE THE APPLICATION, FLOATED THAT. THAT WAS AN IDEA THAT CAME BEFORE MY TIME. THERE WAS A LOT OF NEGATIVE THINGS BECAUSE WE HAD NEVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE IN THE COUNTRY, SO THERE WAS NO PLAN TO WORK FROM…I THINK PART OF THE IMPETUS [FOR PURSUING THE GAMES] WAS WE HAD SO MANY NAYSAYERS THAT WE WERE GOING TO PROVE TO THEM THAT IT COULD BE DONE.” “WE INCLUDED THE POPULATION AND EACH TOWN THAT HOSTED ITS SPORT, AFTER THE GAMES WERE OVER, [THE TOWNS] GOT ALL OF THE EQUIPMENT FROM THAT SPORT. IT’S NOT ONLY THE EQUIPMENT, IT’S THE COACHES, THE TRAINERS ALL THE WAY DOWN THE LINE. WE LEFT A GOOD LEGACY.” “THE SPORTSPLEX IS OPERATING; THE CITY IS OPERATING IT. THEY’VE OPERATED IT QUITE SUCCESSFULLY OVER THE YEARS. THE SKI HILL WAS UPGRADED. WE UPGRADED THINGS THAT YOU WOULDN’T THINK OF. THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT BUILT A ROAD SO THAT WE COULD MAKE SURE THAT WE COULD GET TO WEST CASTLE. THE ROAD’S STILL THERE. THERE WAS A HILL THERE [ALREADY] AND THERE WAS A ROAD TO IT, BUT IT WASN’T IN THE CONDITION OR COULD TAKE THE TRAFFIC THAT WE PUT ON IT, SO THAT WAS ONE OF THE FACTORS THAT CAME UP. EVERY TOWN BENEFITED [WITH] SOMETHING, SOME DIFFERENT THING THAT THEY NEEDED.” “THE ATHLETES’ VILLAGE [WERE] SCHOOLS IN THE CENTRE OF TOWN. THE GOVERNMENT OF ALBERTA ALLOWED US TO CLOSE THE SCHOOLS FOR THE TIMES OF THE GAMES…THAT ALSO HELPED US GET AUDIENCES. WE CONVERTED THE SCHOOLS TO A VILLAGE AND THEN, EVERYDAY, IF YOU WERE IN WEIGHTLIFTING IN BOW ISLAND, YOU GOT ON A SCHOOLBUS AND WENT TO BOW ISLAND AND THEN WE PICKED YOU UP AND WE BROUGHT YOU BACK. ALL YOUR FOOD HAD TO BE TAKEN THAT YOU NEEDED DURING THE DAY…[WE DID] THAT WITH EIGHTEEN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA. WE HAD A DREAM AND BROUGHT IT TO FRUITION WITH A LOT OF BLOOD, SWEAT AND TOIL. AT THE END, WE GOT LETTERS FROM FEDERAL/PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS. THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT HELPED. THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS HELPED. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HELPED. WE BROUGHT ARMY COTS IN. WE HAD FOURTEEN OR FIFTEEN HUNDRED STUDENTS OR ATHLETES HERE AT ONE TIME…” “PART OF THE REQUIREMENT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WAS WE HAVE A SPEED-SKATING OVAL. WE SAID, 'THIS IS SOUTHERN ALBERTA. IT ISN’T FEASIBLE TO HAVE AN OUTDOOR SPEED-SKATING OVAL AND WE CAN’T BUILD AN INDOOR SPEED-SKATING OVAL.' IT’S THE MONEY FACTOR…THEY INSISTED THAT IT WAS ONE OF THE SPORTS THAT HAD TO BE REPRESENTED SO WE BUILT A SPEED-SKATING OVAL. LUCKILY, THE WEATHER STAYED. IT WAS COLD ENOUGH. WE DIDN’T HAVE A CHINOOK. WE HAD SPEED-SKATING IN THE ’75 GAMES. IF YOU WERE TO LOOK AT IT TODAY, YOU CAN PROBABLY PARK A COUPLE HUNDRED CARS THERE…WE WERE WORKING WITH FEDERAL, PROVINCIAL AND MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS SO YOU’RE COVERING A BIG SPECTRUM. THERE’S THREE KINDS OF GAMES [THAT] GO ON: THE SPORTING GAMES, THE POLITICAL GAMES AND THE SOCIAL GAMES. THEY’RE ALL GOING ON AT THE SAME TIME IN DIFFERENT AREAS.” “THE ONLY THING THAT’S AT THE SPORTSPLEX NOW IS, AND YOU PASS IT AS YOU GO INTO THE SPORTSPLEX, THE FLAME. IT’S SITTING THERE. IT HASN’T BEEN LIT FOR A LONG TIME. EVEN I PASS IT BY AND NOT NOTICE IT…IT’S ON THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE SPORTSPLEX JUST AS YOU GO TO GO IN THERE. IT’S JUST A TOWER.” “WITHOUT [THE] KIND OF KNOWLEDGE, SUPPORT [WE HAD FROM COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND VOLUNTEERS] YOU’D NEVER PULL IT OFF. THAT STICKS OUT IN MY MIND…THERE [WERE] A MILLION THINGS THAT HAPPENED, BUSES GOT STUCK…BOW ISLAND HAD A BLIZZARD. WE COULDN’T BRING THE KIDS HOME FROM [THERE]. PEOPLE OF BOW ISLAND OPENED THEIR HOUSES AND TOOK THEM IN. WE HAD A SUB-VILLAGE IN PINCHER CREEK. PEOPLE IN PINCHER CREEK JUST WERE AMAZING WITH THEIR SUPPORT. THAT WENT ON EVERY DIFFERENT PLACE BUT THE COMMITMENT FROM…ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT WERE OVERWHELMING.” FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION AND COPIES OF LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES ON THE 1975 CANADA WINTER GAMES, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20170031000-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20170031000

Acquisition Date

2017-09

Collection

Museum

Less detail