Beyond the never-ending bridge controversy

St. James

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/07/2023 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

To many contemporary readers, Moray Street is defined by the 50-year controversy that led up to the 1995 opening of Charleswood Bridge. This column will examine some of the other history of Moray Street between the Assiniboine River and Ness Avenue.

Between 1959 and 1977, Birchwood School was located on the southwest corner of  Moray and Portage Avenue. In 1962, student Brent Beattie won $500 in a national art competition for his work entitled My Favourite Pastime, beating out 25,000 competitors. In 1965, the school won the Elmer Safety Award from the St. James Police Department for an accident-free year. The Birchwood School building is still used by the St. James Assiniboia School Board as its professional staff development centre.

As I searched Henderson directories, I discovered another connection to education. — a couple of my St. James Collegiate teachers, Eric Sozansky and Mrs. Terry Baillie, also resided on Moray.

The southeast corner of Bruce and Moray has evolved from a small forest into Moray Park, which was renamed Neil Bardal Park in 2014.

Renowned jazz bassist Mike Downes grew up on Moray Street and won the jazz musician of the year award at Silver Heights Collegiate. He won a Juno Award for traditional jazz album of the year for his Ripple Effect album in 2014 (when the awards were held in Winnipeg), and captured the 2018 Juno for solo jazz album of the year for his album Root Structure.

The Girl Guides movement has been active in Canada since 1910. Moray resident Dorothy Thom, a.k.a. Tawny Owl, was a Guide leader for more than half of a century. In 2002, she was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II golden jubilee medal. Dorothy’s daughter Sharon, and granddaughters Allyson and Kara, have continued the Girl Guide tradition in their family. In 1968, Marjorie Lodge placed third out of 3,000 entries in the Writer’s Digest poetry contest.

Another Moray resident, Glen Ryan was the treasurer of Cowin Steel but his baseball accomplishments in his younger days have not received proper recognition. In 1948, Glen led the Elmwood Giants to a six-game upset of the Rosedales to win the Manitoba Junior Baseball League championship. He was the winning pitcher in three of Elmwood’s four victories. In the final game, his sacrifice bunt scored the only run. The following season, Glen threw a no-hitter against Morse Place in a 12- 0 victory. Glen’s sons Pat and Jeff are accomplished, nationally known curlers. Pat Ryan has represented four different provinces in national championships and has been a member of two world championship teams. Jeff was a 2022 inductee into the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame and played third on Kerry Burtnyk’s 1995 world championship team. Harry Jr. and Jean Monk were second-generation owners of College Electric, and both served in executive positions at Deer Lodge Curling Club. Jean was instrumental in founding the club’s first junior girls’ league.

Lawyer George E. Chapman, of Chapman and Chapman, served as chair of the St. James Chamber of Commerce in 1963 and was a national race car champion in 1966. He is a member of the Manitoba Motorsports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, and the Manitoba Runners Association Hall of Fame. He has also been involved with involved with Winnipeg West Rotary, the Shriners, and the Royal Aviation Museum.

While living on Moray Street, Gerry James played for both the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Western Hockey League’s Winnipeg Warriors. He kicked the game-winning convert in the 1962 Grey Cup, which is better known as the Fog Bowl.

Al Mackling was attorney general and minister of consumer and corporate affairs in the NDP government of Ed Schreyer. After moving from Moray Street, Mackling served in various cabinet positions in the government of Howard Pawley between 1982 and 1988.