Corny Lever was born in New Waterford on August 8, 1917. A graduate of Mount Carmel School. Corny was both a capable and popular athlete. Known for his clean method of play and great dedication to sport, Corny was a member of several championship sport teams.

Corny was a fine baseball catcher and did the receiving for the New Waterford Cubs when they won the Maritime Intermediate Amateur baseball title in 1938.

Corny was also a fine rugby player and was a member of the New Waterford Juniors, a team which held the Cape Breton Championship from 1935-36.

However, the sport Lever is most widely associated with is basketball. In fact, in 1944, Corny Lever was reported to be one of the finest guards of all time.

The most significant part of Corny's basketball career was from 1935-47, during which time he played for the New Water- ford Strands. He began playing on the Strands junior team and gradually worked his way up to the intermediate team. During his years of play, Corny held the position of guard and, for many years served as captain.

Over his 12 years of play, Corny helped bring many champion- ship titles to the Strands. These include eight Cape Breton titles, seven Nova Scotia championship titles, six Maritime titles, and one Canadian Championship title.

As a member of the Strand juniors, Corny helped them hold the N.S. title from 1935-36 to 1937-38 and win the Maritime ti- tle the 1936-37 season. For the rest of Corny's basketball career (1937-49), he played on the intermediate team except for those years he spent overseas in the War (1942-45). During his first year of intermediate play, Corny's team won the 1939 N.S. and Maritime Championships and these vic- tories were repeated in 1941 & '42. Because of service in World War II, Corny's next basketball season was the 1946-47 season and this was the year that saw his team capture the Canadian championship. In recognition of these great ac- complishments, Corny and his fellow players were inducted in- to the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame.

Corny Lever is an exceptional individual who's reputation for clean play and clean living set an excellent example for younger players to follow.

Bucky Gillis was born on April 23, 1923, and died on January 31, 1989. He began his sport career at a very young age by serving as mascot and ballboy for the New Waterford Strands and mascot and batboy for the New Waterford

Cubs. Bucky had a great love for sports and early in his life played hockey, rugby, and the sport of boxing. Although he did win a boxing title in the flyweight division, most of Bucky's sport recognition came from playing basketball.

Bucky Gillis was a forward for the New Waterford Strands and was said to be as fast as lightning. With his speed and dedica- tion, Bucky helped the Strands win a number of champion- ships (between 1937 and 1949). As a member of the Strand Midgets, Bucky helped them obtain two maritime champion- ships: one in 1937-38, and again in 1938-39. Bucky was also a member of the Strand juveniles in 1939-40 when they won the Maritime championship in their division. In 1940-41, Bucky was the mascot for the Strand intermediates when they went for the Canadian title against Toronto. Bucky was a member of the Strand juniors when they won the N.S. title in 1941-42. The next few years of his life were spent in the war overseas. When he returned he was on the 1946-47 intermediate team, which went on to win the Canadian title. This got Bucky and the rest of the Strand team inducted into the Sport Hall of Fame. Before his basketball career ended, Bucky and the in- termediate team went for the Canadian title again, in 1947-48, but lost out to Montreal.

In 1949, with a wife and family to think about, Bucky gave up his position on the Strands so he could work full-time in the mine. He did not, however, give up his love for sport nor did he stop contributing to it. In fact, his athletic contributions and achievements are only part of the reason Bucky is being honored. Bucky Gillis was a man who from his early teens dedicated a great deal of his time to help sustain and further a number of New Waterford sport teams. He did this by raising funds to help uniform the teams and help them travel out of town and take in out-of-town teams. He was a man who did not want to see talent limited beacuse of a lack of funds. Without the personal and financial support of Bucky Gillis and men like him, many sport teams in New Waterford may not have gotten as far as they did - or looked as good when they got there.