John Thompson grew up in Mildmay, Ontario, a little known town in the South Bruce area north of London and Kitchener. Nowadays Mildmay is home to about 1200 people.Mildmay is typical of any small Canadian town. In fact is not so different than many neighborhoods and inner-communities within Canada's bigger towns and even large cities. The hockey rink is much more than a place of sport. It is a place of community, a place of social gathering.
This was especially true in the years after World War II when Thompson was growing up. It was a time of innocence. For the young hockey players of the Mildmay Monarchs, this was their glory days.
Published locally in 2006, Thompson goes on to document hockey's great history in this small Ontario town. He scours through the news archives, retelling stories of yesteryear, from great victories to the day Rocket Richard came town. He relives his youth while keeping alive the memories of local heroes gone by, names like Hat Trick Harry Dosman, Snoozer Trushinski, and Pepper Voisin. The Monarchs even had their own "Rocket" - Jiggs Liesemer.
This book could be about any community in Canada. Ultimately, the target audience is pretty small, as only residents of the South Bruce, Ontario region will be interested. Nonetheless, it is an excellent keepsake for any current or former resident.
Even though I've never heard of Mildmay or any of the players mentioned except Frank Trushinski, I took a real liking to this book. Perhaps it brings back fresh memories of my hometown winning the Hockeyville contest, and the great hockey pride that brought up. I toyed with the idea of writing a Hockeyville book for Terrace, but never got anywhere with that. If I ever did though, Thompson's book would excellent example for anyone looking to do their own book on their own hockey community.
One thing I really like about Thompson's book is even though this book looks back mostly the days of his youth, he very much wants this book to be inspirational for current and future Monarchs hockey players. These little Monarchs will dream of becoming a Mildmay legend and included in a future edition of Thompson's book "Hockey Night In Mildmay."
Where To Buy The Book
This book, expertly produced and presented, is not widely available. You will not find it in Chapters or on Amazon.
You can get copies mailed to you by contacting John Thompson at sstj99@yahoo.com. You can also pick up copies at the Town Crier Weekly or Stewart's Market in Mildmay, Wordsworth Books in Waterloo, or at The Outpost and Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener.
It is listed at $19.95.
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