​Get Real: Paul Henderson plaque should remain at the Davidson Centre

So there I was, leaving the Kincardine hospital on a sunny day back in November, when I looked around and saw the plaque, immortalizing the birth of famous hockey legend, Paul Henderson, loaded into the back of a truck.

I wondered if perhaps the Municipality of Kincardine had sold the plaque to Henderson and he was taking it away to be set up at his home. Or perhaps the plaque was offensive to someone in the community so it was being taken down. Or maybe it had been damaged and was being taken away to be repaired.



Paul Henderson plaque on the move



My nose for news began to itch, so I wandered over to the truck driver and asked what was going on. He was pleasant and said he was moving it to the Davidson Centre in Kincardine, but that was all he knew.

So, I drove to the Davidson Centre, home of the Kincardine arena, community centre, pool and gymnasium. I climbed the ramp to the recreation office, thinking I’d find recreation director Karen Kieffer (sorry, she has a new position – director of recreation programming) there. But she now has an office at the municipal administrative centre on the 5th Concession.

However, I did find facilities manager Frank Tourloukis who told me that, yes, indeed, the plaque was being temporarily placed beside the main entrance of the Davidson Centre, until the construction at the hospital has been completed.

The placement is perfect, and I think it should stay there.

Seriously, how many people can say they have seen the Paul Henderson plaque at the hospital? It was located west of the big bush in the island that you drive around to drop people off at the main door of the hospital.

And let’s be honest, most people going to and from the hospital are not sight-seeing or having a good time. Most don’t want to stop and smell the roses or read a plaque that talks about the baby born on the ice in Kincardine, who grew up and played minor hockey in Lucknow, then played for the NHL and scored the winning goal in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union (now Russia).

Meanwhile, over at the Davidson Centre, where people go to play hockey, there, right at the front door, is the plaque where people can stop and read it. Where they can return to continue reading it, during intermissions, and where they can point it out to friends when they return to play hockey again.

Former Kincardine recreation director Keith Davidson was the driving force behind the creation and installation of the Henderson plaque. He’ll likely weigh in on this, but I strongly believe that more people will see the plaque where it is now, at the Davidson Centre, than at the Kincardine hospital.

So, that’s where it should stay.



Paul Henderson plaque beside the main entrance to the Davidson Centre