Jack Higgins was recently honored in Kemptville. Here are a couple of articles in local newspapers:
Jack Higgins’ baseball beginnings
BY JENNIFER WESTENDORP, Kemptville Advance
Often we do not realize we are making history when what we really want to do is just have some fun.
Kemptvlle’s Jack Higgins has always been a baseball player, enjoying small town fastball in a big league way.
“You get to be one of the boys, you know,” said Jack Higgins, known as Mr. Fastball, on reflection of his early days playing baseball in Kemptville.
Higgins contributed immeasurably to the North Grenville community over a period of 65 years.
He was born in Oxford Mills in 1923 and settled in Kemptville after he married Mary O’Kane in 1952. Together, they raised seven children.
“I knew Mary for three years before we started dating,” said Higgins. “She was going with this other guy for a while and then my friend told me they weren’t going steady anymore and I said ‘what’s her phone number?’”
Higgins began playing baseball in 1937 for the Kemptville Senior Men’s League. Between 1946 and 1949, he played for the St. Lawrence Senior Men’s within Leeds and Grenville.
“Well I started off playing fastball before the war and then went into the Air Force and played baseball on the Trenton team,” said Higgins. “I played some hockey too. Believe it or not Oxford Mills had a hockey team back then.”
Higgins continued to play baseball for surrounding leagues until 1954. A year later, he organized the first Kemptville Major Softball Tournament.
Over the years, the tournaments have brought in more than 300,000 dollars for the Lions Club of Kemptville.
“I didn’t do it for recognition,” said Higgins. “I did it to have the satisfaction of a job well done.”
A large portion of the proceeds went to funding the construction of the Kemptville Public Pool, the Kemptville District Hospital and the development of Riverside Park. The personal and financial contributions Higgins has made to Leeds and Grenville are profound.
“Home was always home to me,” said Higgins.
Higgins said when he built his house in Kemptville it was surrounded by an orchard. Now, the street is lined with houses.
“There have been a lot of changes in this area,” said Higgins.
“If you go downtown now, you don’t know anybody. There used to be a time when you knew everyone. A stranger stuck out like a sore thumb.”
Higgins said there were too many good moments during his involvement with the tournaments to choose a favourite. He had a lot of fun organizing the events and met some amazing people along the way.
“I remember I was sitting behind the backstop and the umpire and I were talking,” said Higgins. “He said ‘that woman in the stands, she was here last week. She’s making me nervous, like she’s waiting for me to make a mistake.’ I said, ‘you mean the woman with the big straw hat?’ He said, ‘yeah, that’s the one.’ I said, ‘that’s my sister-in-law.’”
Higgins said it was very satisfying working with kids and watching them “get a kick” out of baseball. One of his sons still plays baseball out in Calgary. He said coaching was alright, but he loved to play.
“This one lad got around to third and the coach said ‘go home,’” said Higgins. “The coach looked up and the lad was gone. He was halfway across the field. He was going home. Talk about not being acquainted with the terminology.”
And another article in the Kemptville EMC.Kemptville's 'Mr. Fastball' recognized for his dedication to sportJack Higgins is a native of Kemptville and was born at his homestead in 1923 on Beach Road in Oxford Mills. Jack married Mary O'Kane in 1952 and together they raised seven children.Jack, formally known as Mr. Fastball, starting playing baseball back in 1937 at the age of 14 for the Kemptville Senior Men's League. His unique talent for the game lead him to the St. Lawrence Senior Men's within Leeds and Grenville in 1946-49. Jack also played on the Trenton Air Force Base team while he was in the RCAF from 1941-45. In 1945-49, he played for Hallville/Dundas Senior Men's League, which was the best team in Eastern Ontario for four consecutive years. Jack continued to play in surrounding leagues until 1954. In 1955, Jack organized the first Kemptville Major Softball Tournament. The Kemptville Softball Tournaments: Junior-Intermediate and Senior were known as "softball at its best."Over the years, the tournaments took in more than $300,000 for the Lions Club of Kemptville and many of the proceeds went to the funding of the Kemptville District Hospital, along with the development of Riverside Park. The large impact of revenues for Leeds and Grenville County and spin off dollars that were spent within the different communities was never measured. The success of the initial tournaments in growth was due to the high quality of teams. It took enormous effort on behalf of Jack to coordinate participation of teams from the United States, Maritimes and Quebec. This included the best of umpiring along with the highest prize money in the province of Ontario. In 1963, Jack Higgins added the junior section to the tournament, which added another 16 teams to the tournament, totaling 32 teams.The staff of the tournament became very experienced over the years of service, due in part to Jack Higgins' leadership, management and presentation skills, along with the high calibre of Softball being played. Through meetings in both Windsor and Toronto, and with the support of the Kemptville Lions Club, they secured the (OASA) Ontario Amateur Softball Association Tournament. The tournament took place in 1974 at Riverside Park in Kemptville.Congratulations to Jack Higgins for all of your community support and effort over the past 65 plus years. Jack, you have been an outstanding player, manager, coach, committee and executive member and president. You have made an important contribution to generations of sport enthusiasts in this area.
Labels: history
