MELVILLE'S BOB RICHARDSON has been accumulating Millionaires memorabilia for more than 40 years. He's exhibiting is collection at the Cornerstone Market for the Millionaires reunion this weekend. His vast collection even includes player registration cards from the 1914-1915 season.

City collector sharing hockey treasures

Bob Richardson’s name is synonymous with the Melville Jr. A Millionaires, at least when it comes to memorabilia.
Richardson has been collecting items since he played for the hockey club in the early 1960s and has, arguably, one of the largest hockey collections in the
country.
In order to share his collection with past and present Millionaires players and fans, the Melville man has assembled a small portion of it at Cornerstone Market in time for the Mils’ reunion anniversary this weekend and the city’s centennial later this summer.
He’s accumulated a lot of his items from attending junior hockey games throughout the SJHL but
has also purchased some on ebay and received others from members of the Millionaires fraternity.
His collection has been in boxes in his basement but the time was now to share the collection.
“I’ve been collecting since 1964-65 when I played and I’ve wanted to put it on display for a long time,” says Richardson.
“It’s time to get it out of the boxes (because) Melville Millionaire hockey is history and if it’s hidden nobody can see it.”
Richardson also hopes people might come forward with items to donate to the museum or even sell to him.
There is one problem, though. He needs a larger, permanent home for the museum.
The current location at Cornerstone Market is too small and only temporary.
“I’ve been here three weeks assembling some items but this is only about 25 per cent of my entire collection. It’s taken several months to find a building that didn’t have a leaky roof and Paul and Judy here at Cornerstone were good enough to donate some space. “
He has a 50-foot wall full of items and a 50-foot display table joining the wall which is also full.
The retired CN employee believes he has at least one item of every piece of memorabilia made for the Millionaires since 1970. This includes game programs, jackets, jerseys, sticks, trading cards, mugs, spoons, and more.
The collection also includes a lot of stories and articles collected from The Melville Advance and other newspapers over the years. He credits The Advance with helping fill gaps in his collection from past seasons.
It’s hard to pick a favorite from a collection of thousands but Richardson does have two items which are high on the list — a pair of player registration cards from 1914-15.
“One of the player’s daughters from that team visited Melville and wanted to see the team picture. It was unbelievable for her. I took a couple of photos of her with the display and when she got home she sent me the pair of player registration cards. It was for the registration with the provincial hockey governing body.
“These are almost 100 years old and I don’t think there is even anything like those in the Saskatchewan Hall of Fame.”
He also points to the uniforms of the early 1960s when they were red and white with the dollar sign.
“I don’t do this for myself. This is a big part of Melville’s history and everyone should be able to enjoy it and all the people involved over the years deserve the public recognition.”
The museum will be open Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. It’ll also be opened intermittently between now and the homecoming with more set hours for Centennial weekend.

Millionaires celebrate century of hockey

Melville will be celebrating its rich history of hockey in the community this weekend with the Melville Millionaires Centennial Reunion. Ceremonies will be held in the Melville Stadium from Friday to Sunday.
It’s been 100 years since hockey officially fired up in the community, and although the team wasn’t dubbed the Millionaires until 1914 it is still considered one of the oldest franchises in Canada.
“This was an important year for us to have the reunion,” says chairman of the alumni committee Brian Morris.
“This year is Melville’s centennial, and in that token hockey is synonymous with Melville, and the Millionaires are synonymous with hockey.”
Organizers are expecting between 250-300 guests register for the reunion. Registration fees run at $60 for the reunion and an additional $60 to enter the Texas Scramble Golf Tournament Saturday morning. A wide range of alumni are expected to attend including former players, coaches, executive members and even stick-boys - anyone who has been involved with the club in the past.
“There’ll be lots of friendships coming back,” says Morris. “It will be interesting to see the people meeting from different decades. There’ll be guys from the 40s, 50s, 60s, a lot of guys from the 70s, 80s and 90s.”
Guests will first get a chance to mingle and reunite with each other Friday during the Night Social held at the Stadium from 7-11 p.m. Auction items will be on display, pictures and memorabilia will be hanging from the windows, and sheets of the different years of hockey will be hung up and signed by players and coaches.
Breakfast is being held bright and early the next morning at the Stadium from 8:30-11:30 a.m. Participants in the golf tournament will meet at the Golf and Country Club for a 9:30 a.m. tee-off time, where golfers will play 18 holes and receive a sleeve of souvenir golf balls stamped with the 100 Year Anniversary insignia. All guests will then meet back at the Stadium for Happy Hour held from 5-6 p.m., then be served a Sportsman Supper at 6:30.
Following the supper will be an on-stage Hot Stove interspersed with an auction. The Hot Stove will feature stories and discussions about the team and its past, with Kevin Karius from Global in Edmonton as MC for the event and NHL stars Brian Propp and Brett Clark as guest speakers. Some items to be auctioned off include jerseys autographed by Sid Abel, John Ferguson and Brian Propp, a stick autographed by Bobby Orr, Maurice Richard’s 1942-43 contract with the Montreal Canadiens, an NFL helmet, and an autographed Chris Kunitz photo and Stanley Cup hat.
Some of the special guests include Metro Prystai, who coached the Mils and played for Detroit and Chicago in the NHL, former Mils coach Don Chesney, current coach Jamie Fiesel, and former coach Gerry James who also played with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The oldest guest will most likely be Glen Boler, who played with the Millionaires in the 1947-48 season.
Ceremonies conclude Sunday morning with a Red-Eye Breakfast which begins at 11 a.m. at Melville Stadium.
Morris says the alumni could help out the franchise in future years.
“We will be a vital group in coming years. We should help the team by being more active. Maybe in the future we’ll hold things like a golf tournament, or an exhibition against Yorkton’s alumni.”
But for now, Morris and the alumni are anticipating a memorable weekend with old friends and people who appreciate the Millionaires club as much as they do.
“This especially means a lot to the older guys. Friendships will be rekindled and there’ll be a lot of stories. It’s going to be a super, super weekend.”

Western Major Baseball League
Mils run into hot teams

Despite generally strong and consistent play, the Melville Millionaires dropped three games last week and managed only one win.
The Mils hosted the Swift Current Indians, one of the top teams in the Western Major Baseball League, on the weekend and dropped both games, losing 11-2 Saturday and 12-5 Sunday.
“We just ran into one of the hottest teams in the league,” says head coach Garnet Keller. “I have never seen a team in this league hit the ball and find holes the way they did.”
In the first game of the double-header, the Indians jumped ahead of the Mils 7-0 by the sixth inning. The Mils were never really in contention as Swift Current steamrolled them 11-2. Matt Warr went three-for-four at bat for the Mils, and pitching duties were shared by Sean Gaughon, Preston Rousey and Matt Tyo.
“Our pitching has been good enough to give us a chance to win every game, and that’s all you can ask for,” says Keller.
The Mils started off stronger in the second game, leading the Indians 5-4 after three innings. However, they lost their momentum and couldn’t bring any more runs home while Swift Current continued its offensive onslaught and won the game 12-5. Right-fielder James Tankersley went three-for-four at the plate for the Mils, and Rob Mueller and James Brunswick took the mound.
“We’re playing reasonably good ball,” says Keller. “But it’s disheartening when they’re hitting ground balls that are always somehow finding holes. They just kept hitting those bleeders one after another.”
The Mils also split a pair of games against the Saskatoon Yellow Jackets last Tuesday and Wednesday in Saskatoon. In the first game, the Jackets led the Mils 5-1 after the sixth inning until Matt Warr stepped up to the plate and hammered a homerun that brought in three runs. However, it was as close as the Mils could get and they lost the game 6-4.
“That was a close one,” says Keller. “There were a couple of close calls, and if they would have gone our way we could have won.”
The Mils bounced back from the tough loss the next day, and held Saskatoon to just three runs on their way to a 7-3 win. Josh Correia went three-for-three at bat and Matt Warr went three-for-five. Paul Zeiser got the win as pitcher.
“We played very well,” says Keller. “We could have won both games against Saskatoon. We just need to keep working hard.”
Keller says his team is in good shape and if players keep putting in the effort it will be rewarded with more games that fall into the win column.
“If you look at the scores, you can see we’ve had a lot of hits. The team appears to be tight as a unit, they’re all pretty close and they all work hard together.”
The Millionaires now have a record of 5-8 and are sitting in third place in the East division. They were in Yorkton yesterday (Tuesday) facing the Cardinals, and will be in Moose Jaw Saturday and Sunday to take on the Moose Jaw Miller Express.
“I think we’ll put in some good performances,” says Keller. “We just need to keep playing and working hard, and hopefully the good Lord will give us some more wins.”

© The Melville Advance Pub. Co. 1986 Ltd.