| We'd love to tell you all
about the origins of the Vancouver Canucks Booster Club. How and why
it came to be and stories about the men and women who formed the organization
that continues to thrive more than fifty years later. Unfortunately,
we don't know the story ourselves.
What we do know is
that the club was originally formed during the 1950's (the exact year
has been lost to history). The earliest physical proof we have of
the club's existence comes from a February 1963 Canuck program:
JOIN THE VANCOUVER CANUCKS BOOSTER
CLUB
MEMBERSHIP FEE ONLY $1.00 PER PERSON
NEXT
BOOSTER CLUB MEETING . . . WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13th at 8 p.m.
at the CANUCKS' OFFICE, 1014 Howe Street.
Everyone Welcome! |
We also have a Canuck program from November 1963 with this
little quote:
| Sharing our premises in the lobby is the
Canuck Booster Club. They have opened their membership drive
for this season, and it only costs you a buck for a badge.
President Bud Smith and Vice President Marilyn Smith (no kin)
are both in attendance at every game. |
Not bad, eh? We have in our possession two Vancouver Canuck
programs from their WHL days and the booster club is mentioned in
both. Maybe the club was mentioned in every single issue of
the game night program. Okay, maybe not.
The next set of records
on the Vancouver Canucks Booster Club comes courtesy Frank Garner who,
for years, has kept records on all the clubs in the NHLBC. The Vancouver
Canucks Booster Club was the first Canadian club to send members to
the annual NHLBC convention (in 1977). As Frank kept membership records
for all the clubs in the NHLBC, he started tracking Vancouver as well.
The club had between 130 and 185 members each year between 1976-77 and
1986-87.
The
End of the Booster Club
In any group, there are
those who get the work done and those who sit back and tell the workers
what they are doing wrong. These days, there are very few of the latter
group in our club. This was not always the case.
During the 1986-87 season,
certain members (other than those in charge) felt that changes needed
to be made. The exact details of what the problems were are not known,
but rest assured it was probably something very minor. Unfortunately,
members of the Canuck staff found themselves in the middle of a booster
club feud. After waiting for the club to sort out its own problems,
the Canucks decided that enough is enough. They pulled the plug on
the club and asked that it be disbanded.
The Vancouver Canucks Booster
Club members had a meeting and voted to cease operations. Despite
howls of protest from various NHLBC clubs and other friends of the
club, the booster club officially disbanded.
Of course the story doesn't
end there. Read about the new club.
|
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