Hall of Fame observes African Heritage Month

Pictou County Sports Heritage Hall of Fame volunteer curator Barry Trenholm, left, and Ruth Paris peruse records of athletes and other African Nova Scotians of note before mounting displays to commemorate African Heritage Month. (Goodwin photo)

The Pictou County Sports Heritage Hall of Fame is doing its part to honour Black History Month in Nova Scotia.
Acting volunteer curator Barry Trenholm spent part of Saturday with Ruth Paris gleaning photos and recorded history on African Nova Scotia athletes of note in order to showcase them starting today and continuing throughout February.
“We have quite a collection,” Trenholm says. “We’ll have several spots for displays.”
The athletes run the gamut of different era and various sports.
Runners, such as Wilena Borden and Henderson Paris, are mentioned.
Boxers – many of whom trained with Paris’s husband, Sparky Paris – figure prominently.
Now 89, Sparky Paris was a boxing trainer for more than 40 years.
His boxing club spanned a time that produced many accomplished pugilists. The records at the hall of fame feature names synonymous with the sport, including Keith and Percy Paris, Buddy Daye, Jo Jo Jackson and Joe Borden.
Only recently, Sparky Paris shared some of his stories with a younger generation.
“Boys were up the other night – they laughed at some of the stories Sparky told,” Ruth Paris said.
She also recalled how the building where the club was located sometimes doubled as a dance hall.
“Sparky would say it cost a quarter to get in and a dollar to get out,” she said.
Collected information at the hall of fame goes beyond the realm of sports, including local journalist and activist Dr. Carrie Best and William Hall, the first Black person, the first Nova Scotian and one of the first Canadians to be awarded the Victoria Cross for valour.