History

Championship Trophies

The championship awards for the Royal St. John's Regatta are uniquely different with striking similarities.

The Kim Stirling Memorial Trophy for the female champions and the Molson-Gerry Angel Memorial Cup fo the male champions are nearly as well known as hockey's Herder Memorial Trophy and both are presented in memory of individuals who loved and cherished the Regatta.

Stirling was killed tragically in an automobile acident in Western Newfoundland in 1977 when she was 19. She gained her affection for the Rgatta after three races while Angel, who was 89 when he passed away in 2002, had 74-year association with the Regatta and was the only honorary life president it ever had.

Their love for the Regatta was mutual and is reflected in the historic trophies. The Kim Stirling Memorial Trophy is regarded as the most beautiful of all the atheletic awards within Newfoundland and Labrador.

"Uniquely Newfoundlandic" is how John Perlin describes the trophy. Topped by a pewter racing shell that was modelled afte the famous Blue Peter and features a rowing crew, the award is fixed top a block of Labradorite on a wooden base.

The base is 26 inches long with the racing shell measurin 18 inches. Including its plexiglass cover, added when Hamelman Jewlery refurbished it in 1997, it stands 10 inches tall. Perlin, a Regatta Hall of Famer and past president, arranged for well-known sculptor Francis J. ("Frank") Warren to design the trophy in time for its first presentation in 1979 with the Health Sciences crew recording the initial victory.

"Joyce and Geoff Stirling, Kim's parents, wanted something that was unique, beautiful and had a Newfoundland connection," Perlin remembers. "I know that was certainly achieved." The Molson-Gerry Angel Memorial Cup has a 10-inch silver cup mounted on a 20-inch ebonized wood base. It is extremely impressive.

First presented as the award for the men's championship race in 1954, it was provided by Caling Breweries in the U.S. through the NCO Clu at Pepperell U.S. Air Force Base. The Air Police crew from Pepperrell was its first winner.

Paddy Dobbin was the agent for Carling Breweries in and he was responsible for that company's beer for all the U.S. bases within the province. In the 1940s he had the U.S. brewery agree to provide the title award, then named the Carling Cup for the Armed Forces Race that featured mostly crews from Pepperell.

Carling in the U.S. puchased O'Keefe Breweries of Canada and the Carling-O'Keefe firm was born. Carling-O'Keefe purchased the local Bennett Brewery that produced Dominion Ale. Around 1973, Carling O'Keefe arranged with the Regatta Committee to have the impressive award become the Dominion Ale Cup.

When Molson and Carling-O'Keefe merged, the award went to Molson who continue its sponsorship. Its latest name change is a very worthwhile and impressive tribute to the late Mr. Angel, who was a long-time employee of Molson Brewery in St. John's.

(Dee Murphy)