INNISFAIL – When you give your time, effort and energy, you make a difference and a lasting impact.
That’s why the 1962-63 Innisfail Pontiacs alumni team recently made longtime Innisfail resident and community sports supporter Herman Thorsen an honorary Innisfail Pontiac and member of the team.
“Herman is an outstanding Innisfailian and he’s contributed to minor sport in Innisfail for over 60 years in a unique fashion,” said Al Scott, president of the Innisfail Pontiacs Alumni Foundation. “For the 1962-63 Innisfail Pontiacs midget team, his unique way of contributing to minor hockey in Innisfail was that each year he would take a new team and focus on that team,” he added, noting Thorsen attended almost all of the team’s home games and was a volunteer driver for the team’s away games across Central Alberta.
“It seemed that he picked a different team every year and did the same thing. Totally devoting himself to enhancing the activities of that team.”
Thorsen, 93, himself was thrilled to become an honorary Innisfail Pontiac.
“It’s quite an honour,” said Thorsen. “That was a long time ago.
"I was watching minor hockey for 60 years.”
Over the years Thorsen also made wooden clocks, totalling more than 400 for new members of the Innisfail Minor Hockey Association’s Bantam Flyers team.
The Pontiacs launched the Larry Reid Memorial Coaching Development Fund in July 2017, and celebrated their second anniversary last summer with a reunion and media event at the Innisfail Golf Club.
Thorsen attended both events.
“We were very fortunate that at the first launch (in 2017) Herman Thorsen attended the event and we were delighted to see him because he’s so special to the team…as somebody that did so much for us on that team,” said Scott. “He also made a significant contribution to the fund that helped kick-start the fund and getting it going.”
Following the second reunion and celebration last July, the Pontiacs decided to honour Thorsen’s contributions to the team and make him an honorary member of the 1962-63 Innisfail Pontiacs Midget hockey team.
They sent Thorsen a letter declaring his honorary Pontiac status, along with a copy of the team photo and a team T-shirt alumni members wore last summer at the reunion.
“I think Herman considers our team, the 1962-63 Pontiacs, a very special team and he obviously made a great effort to attend both of those press conferences. We were delighted to see him,” said Scott.
Scott talked about the impact Thorsen continues to make today.
“When we talked about it, it was most appropriate that we designate him as having honorary status but he’s also an important part of the Larry Reid Memorial Coaching Development Fund,” said Scott, noting two annual grants from the fund have gone towards coaching enhancements with the Innisfail Minor Hockey Association.
“We’ll be delighted to have Herman as central to all of our plans for our third reunion in July 2021,” Scott concluded.
