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Stettler resident inducted into Bobby Orr Hall of Fame – again

Stettler resident Wayne McKenna, who played on the 1964 MacTier Legion Flyers baseball team in 1964, has been inducted
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Wayne McKenna

Stettler resident Wayne McKenna, who played on the 1964 MacTier Legion Flyers baseball team in 1964, has been inducted alongside his teammates into the Bobby Orr Hall of Fame earlier this month.

McKenna, who has called Alberta his home now for decades, originally grew up near Parry Sound, Ont.

In 2012, McKenna was inducted into the hall as a member of the 1961-62 Bantam All-Stars hockey team, something of which he is very proud since “hockey was his sport.”

It didn’t keep him from dabbling elsewhere, which is how he found himself on the Flyers baseball team.

In 1963, the team was formed by Aub Allsopp, and coached by Gene Rouselle, entered the Ontario Amateur Softball Association (OASA) and won the north zone but lost in provincials.

In ‘64, the team took that previous experience and went on to play in the provincials again, after securing north zone. This time, the event was held in Grimsby, and the final game was a close one, McKenna recalled.

“It was pretty tense,” he said from his home in Stettler. “We barely scraped by to win. I think it was Grimsby we were playing. If Sandy (Heidman) hadn’t caught that ball, they had a man on third and they would have won.”

McKenna found out about the induction by email in March. His wife, Donna, had received the email and let him know.

She passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack three months ago, something that has broken McKenna’s heart.

“She wasn’t going to make the trip to the award ceremony,” McKenna said, noting that travel was something Donna wasn’t up to any longer, but she was excited to see the recording of the event.

The DVD arrived after her passing. While McKenna is coping with his new life without his wife, every time he looks at the granite plaque and gold and black hockey jersey that comes with it, he can’t help but miss her.

“She was so proud,” he said.