2007 Inductees

Paul L. Ward

Paul was born in Weston into a sports-minded family. One sport they especially enjoyed was hockey. In those days everybody joined including family, farm workers, and warehouse people. They were all eager to play on an outdoor rink or a frozen meadow. Paul’s family had a store in Weston with an attached room. In between customers, Paul would scoot in and shoot a rubber ball at a paint can cover that was nailed at the other end of the room. The result was a very hard and accurate shot.

Track and field was dominated by the Weston school team. They won many competitions – including the 1947 Berwick School and the 1948 West Kings Track Meets. The events included racing, the high jump, the hop-step-and-jump, and the shot-put. Paul was always a total-points leader in school track and field meets. In racing, Paul only lost once – in a sprint for the provincial championship held at Acadia.

In 1950, as there were no local high schools – Central Kings and West Kings had not yet been built – Paul moved to Middleton, where he boarded with an aunt. He starred in rugby and was the leading scorer on the 1950 – 51 high school hockey team. He also continued to be successful in track and field, especially in shot-put, running, broad-jump, and the 440-yard relay.

As successful as Paul was in other sports, it was in baseball that he was most proficient. He played third base and right field for the Middleton Cardinals in the Western Valley League and led in RBI’s and home runs – some noted for their length. An American import, Steve Howe, said Paul had the most potential he had seen. In 1951, Paul starred for the Middleton Cardinals as they beat Londonderry for the Provincial Intermediate Championship and defeated Holman’s of P.E.I for the Maritime title.

The South Shore had a very successful baseball league and they could recruit four imports. Paul of course, caught their eye. However, his work would take him to Thunder Bay and later to St. Catharines. He loved these areas as they were great sports towns – and even had batting machines.

In 1961, Paul returned to the area. He played hockey and became the president of the highly competitive Berwick and District Hockey League and manager of his team. In order to encourage even more hockey players, Paul also organized six more teams into what became known as the Paul Ward League.

A decade later, Paul began playing slo-pitch in the Berwick and District League for the Graves team and the Berwick Building Supplies Old Timers team; both of which won League Championships. Paul recalls the fun he had playing – and yes, he could still hit them out of the park.

Paul also served his community in many capacities as fifth president and a twenty plus year member of the Berwick and District Lions Club.

It is with pride that Paul is recognized by the Berwick Sports Hall of Fame.

Inducted June 2007