For almost 24 years now, this column has remembered athletes and sportsmen on their passing.
We pay tribute this week to two highly thought-of individuals who were involved in hockey and harness racing.
Donnie Porter, 83, Lower Onslow, passed away Feb. 26., 2018. A celebration of life for Porter will be held tomorrow afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Peg House, Masstown Market. Words of remembrance will take place at 2.30 p.m.
After playing high school hockey with Colchester County Academy, Porter joined Nova Scotia Agricultural College Aggies of the Truro District Hockey League in 1952-53. Porter, a centre, was also captain.
“I remember Donnie was a laid-back guy, a great teammate,” Jack Johnson, 88, of Lower Truro, said. “We played together for two years with the Aggies. Donnie had finesse, he handled the puck well and he passed the puck well. Donnie was a very dedicated team player.”
Later years saw Porter play defence for Onslow.
“We were teammates for a few seasons,” Onslow’s Vaughn Dickie said. “Donnie was a good, steady defenceman. He could break up a play and he could get rough if the game called for it. Donnie Porter was a good team guy, he was great to play with.”
In 1955, Porter began dairy farming in Lower Onslow. He would become involved in harness racing for a number of years later. A successful breeder, he stood such stallions as Time Zone and Waveore. Owning a number of producing broodmares, legendary horseman Phil Pinkney named Deep Finesse as one of the top horses Porter raised. Winning in 156.2 as a two-year-old, Deep Finesse would later win in 1.49 in the United States.
Other outstanding stock raised by Porter included Deep River Cruise, Force Ore Finesse and Dube Finesse.
Pinkney and Bernard McCallum, who both raced horses for Porter, described him as running a classy breeding operation and being of outstanding character.
Porter’s sons, Alan and George, both played hockey locally as did
daughters Beth and Patti. Donnie skated with and supported grandchildren Ella, Natalie, Timothy, Marion, Jessica and Ryan Porter, a member of the Truro Bearcats junior A team. The children’s parents are Alan and Jennifer Porter.
Wayne O’Neil, 73, Pleasant Valley, passed away April 2, 2018.
Buddy Gardiner, a Barrie, Ont., resident and former 30-year Ontario Provincial Police officer spoke about his friendship with O’Neil.
“Wayne O’Neil and I played hockey together for East Hants Rural High School. I lived in Shubenacadie East and Wayne lived in Stewiacke. Later, we played for Stewiacke Eagles in the Lantz Border Hockey League. We won the league championship in 1965-66. Wayne was a clean hockey player, he was a really fast skater and he had a good shot.”
Gardiner said when his son Bruce Gardiner was playing in the NHL, Wayne would telephone offering support. When the Gardiners visited Nova Scotia during summers, visits with the O’Neils were given priority.
“Wayne and I were really good friends, I’m certainly going to miss Wayne,” Gardiner said.
Former harness racing trainer John Proude was also a close friend.
“I got to know Wayne when I was stabled at Sackville Downs during the 1980s,” Proude, of Halifax, said. “Wayne would drop into the barn, he’d give me a hand race nights. We occasionally did things together and Wayne’s wife Helen and my wife Lilly became friends.
“When I moved my stable to Truro, I saw more of Wayne. He had a heart as big as outdoors; there was nothing he wouldn’t do for another person. Another thing I liked about Wayne, he had a real sense of humour.”
Harness racing driver Emmons MacKay knew O’Neil for many years.
“Wayne was a good fella,” MacKay said. “Danny Romo, Phil Pinkney and all the horsemen found Wayne an all-around great guy. Wayne was always out to help anyone he could, and as a horseman, he was an excellent caretaker, he could really look after a horse.”
On a personal note, Wayne trained Blenheim Tarport, Projak and the trotter Hope For Us for me during the 1980s and 1990s. These horse’s chart lines showed an incredible number of firsts, seconds and thirds – a tribute to Wayne.
Although working fulltime for the N.S. Power Corporation, Wayne was truly an incredible standardbred trainer.
Wayne’s grandson, forward Ben Fraser (the son of Scott and Heather Fraser) is an outstanding hockey prospect as a member of Pictou County Weeks Major Midgets.
Lyle Carter’s sports column appears Saturdays in the Truro Daily News. If you have a story idea, contact him at 902 673-2857.
