ONB can now count a select group of three honourary life members. In addition to Andy Martin, the founder and first president of Orienteering New Brunswick, Gary Feeney from Grand Falls and Richard Faulkner from Hillsborough will have that distinction as a result of a decision at the last ONB AGM.
As long ago as 1975, Gary Feeney is mentioned as one of three members in Grand Falls. In 1978 he founded the Coureurs de Bois "O" Club and also was producing the first of several orienteering maps for the Grand Falls area. He has been president of the club since its inception. Competitively he has won provincial championships, but his best Canadian result is probably a third place finish at the 1979 COCs in St. John's, Newfoundland. He coached several of New Brunswick's top orienteers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including Allyson Feeney, Daniel Blais and Marco Cote.
In 1984 Gary was meet director and co-course setter for the first COCs to be held in New Brunswick and filled the same function at the 1993 COC Relay event, both events held at Blue Bell Mountain. In addition, he has organized several provincial championships and introduced ski-orienteering to the province. As a result of his club's Best in Canada Growth in 1984, he won the Silva Challenge award, which meant a trip to Australia for Gary and his wife Jacinthe in 1995 to witness the Orienteering World Championships.
Richard Faulkner was instrumental in getting orienteering off to a very good start by introducing it at the high school where he taught in Hillsborough. In 1987 he made orienteering a part of the Fundy Outdoor Club's activities. The Falcon Orienteering Club was later formed as a dedicated entity, where he served as president. Through Richard's introduction of orienteering and his 1987 school trip to the Troll Cup in the Boston Area, a group of elite orienteerers emerged who have formed a surprisingly large proportion of Canadian National Squad athletes, given New Brunswick's limited resources and large distances to major events.
Richard has organized several provincial and Eastern Canadian championships, and was course setter for the 1993 COCs in Fundy National Park. He served as President of ONB from 1988 to 1990. Competitively we find that he was M35/M40 provincial champion in 1990 and that he placed 7th in the 1988 COCs in M35.
Thank you both for all the hard work you have put into our sport and for contributing to a well organized outdoor activity which we all currently enjoy.