About the Sports Parades of History

For images of the current displays, view the photo gallery

The Sports Parades of History (SPH) at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex and the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex have a storied history.

The Kitchener Sports Parade was a K-W Civitan Club project that began in 1988-89 in recognition of its 25th anniversary. Six years after the Kitchener’s Sports Parade of History launched, the K-W Civitan Club unveiled its Waterloo equivalent in the new Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex (WMRC) in 1995. It was originally intended to launch the Kitchener and Waterloo Sports Parades of History simultaneously. However, due to a lack of appropriate physical space, the Waterloo contributions would be delayed until the completion of the WMRC.

The project was spearheaded by Ed Davies, a long-serving President of the K-W Civitan Club. He was joined on the committee by Donna Weber (vice-chair), Murray Grose (Secretary), Howie Dietrich (City of Waterloo), Bob McFarland (City of Waterloo), Roy Wuertele, and Pat Doherty.

The initial induction for the City of Waterloo’s Sports Parade of History in 1995 saw 95 photos accepted. Since then, another 111 inductees have been added to the Waterloo wall, now totalling 206 inductions. Kitchener’s starting number of inductions is unknown, but between 1989 and 1993, 204 inductees were added to the Kitchener wall. Since then, another 99 photos have been put on the wall, now totalling 303.

While the K-W Civitan Club has not formally disbanded, they no longer operate. The Kitchener and Waterloo SPH continued inductions until the 2010s. Its final member composition remains unknown. It’s not entirely clear why the Civitan Club ceased inductions. However, judging by the fact that the driving force, Ed Davies, passed away in 2013, it’s assumed that the committee’s capacity gradually faded.

The revitalization of the Sports Parades of History has been attempted once before. Around 2016, a scan was done to assess the state of the SPHs and determine the best course of action. While the findings and research from this project are unknown, it got no further than the planning phase, and any information acquired by this project has since been lost.

For images of the current displays, view the photo gallery