2014 Inductees

George Moody

Born August 3, 1942 in Kentville, George Moody grew up in Grafton and became involved in sports at an early age. While attending Central Kings, he participated in track and field, representing the Valley in the 100 and 220 yard dash at the provincial level.

George played softball for Grafton and Waterville in a Valley league. He coached the Waterville Mohawks, then became the first coach of the Berwick Eassons fastball team. That year, the Eassons represented the Valley in the Canada Games tournament held in Brookfield, and in the provincial playdowns, reached the semifinals.

After coaching the Eassons, George became president of the Valley fastball league for several years.

In hockey, George was a goalie for Grafton in the 1960s in the Berwick Suburban League. Starting in the 1970s, he played goal for the Berwick Graves Old-timers team, which was inducted to the Berwick Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.

A schoolteacher and then school principal for many years, George, after his retirement following 21 years as a provincial MLA and cabinet minister, continued to be involved in local sport, first as co-owner and developer of the Berwick Heights golf course.

He also, for many years, chaired the committee to raise funds for and build a badly-needed new sport and recreation facility for Berwick and District.
Along with Bob Best, George was able to secure large monetary donations toward the project, which eventually saw the Kings Mutual Century Centre (the ‘Appledome’) become a reality.

George met personally with Kings Mutual Insurance to secure the $1 million lead donation to the project, in exchange for naming rights for the new facility.
He recalls, “when the project first started, we thought the cost would be somewhere between $6-8 million, so we approached the province for $2 million.” Premier Rodney MacDonald personally delivered the cheque to the golf course.

A year later, it was found the cost would actually be between 12-14 million. Another visit to Premier MacDonald secured an additional $2 million, pending the approval of federal government funding for the project which eventually also became a reality.

On its completion, George and the rest of the committee were proud that “the least amount of money per square foot of any new rink built in the province” had been spent on the KMCC, and it was the only facility of its kind built through volunteer effort.

An avid golfer, George scored a Hole-in-One at the Fox Harb’r course on Sept. 21, 2007.

Up to this year, George remained an active member of the Berwick and District Community Association that operates the Kings Mutual Century Centre.
For his notable contributions to the development of sport and recreation in Berwick and area, the Berwick Sports Hall of Fame is pleased to induct George Moody in the builder category.