The honours keep falling to Fanny ‘Bobbie’ Rosenfeld.
A plaque in her honour will be re-dedicated at 3 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 30, at Five Points Theatre in downtown Barrie.
The plaque, which normally sits near the entrance to Allandale Recreation Centre, was originally dedicated in June 1987 by then-Mayor Ross Archer and Federal Minister of State for Fitness and Amateur Sport Otto Jelinek.
Aug. 30 has already been proclaimed Bobbie Rosenfeld Day, by Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall, and that evening is the first performance of Theatre by the Bay's upcoming production of Bobbie at Five Points Theatre. Tom Ewles, chairperson of the Barrie Sports Hall of Fame, said the plaque will be on display in the downtown theatre for the duration of the play’s run, until Sept. 10. It will then be returned and reinstalled at the Allandale Recreation Centre.
“Putting it on display in the lower lobby of the theatre is going to open the plaque up to a whole different clientele,” he said. “Tying in with Bobbie Rosenfeld Day, I just thought it would be a nice thing. Let’s recognize it again.
“Put it on display, then put it back at Allandale (Rec Centre), hopefully inside in a prominent location so we don’t have to worry about the wear and tear," Ewles added.
The plaque is being cleaned right now for its busy times ahead.
The Barrie Sports Hall of Fame will also launch its new logo and motto during the Aug. 30 ceremony — ‘Preserving the Past, Honouring the Present, Inspiring the Future.’
Ewles said this is also a way to rebrand the organization.
“Reach out in social media and attract that next generation of people who are going to carry this organization forward,” he said of the Barrie Sports Hall of Fame. “Really add to the momentum that we’re getting with Rosenfeld, the play, the day, etc.”
Rosenfeld (1904-1969), a member of the first-ever Canadian women’s Olympic team, was among the first inductees into the Barrie Sports Hall of Fame in 1985, along with Red Storey and Hap Emms.
Along with her Ontario Historical Plaque, Rosenfeld Drive, in the city’s east end, north of Grove Street East, is named in her honour.
Theatre by the Bay's production of Bobbie was written by local playwright Trudee Romanek and directed by Lynn Weintraub. Bobbie will play Aug. 30 until Sept. 10 at Five Points Theatre, at 1 Dunlop St. W., in downtown Barrie.
Rosenfeld was born Dec. 28, 1904 in the town of Katrinaslov, Russia, which is now Dnipro, Ukraine. As an infant, she immigrated to Barrie with her parents, Max and Sarah Rosenfeld, and her older brother Maurice. As a youth, Rosenfeld attended Victoria Public School and Barrie Collegiate Institute.
At the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Olympics in the Netherlands, the first which allowed women to compete, Rosenfeld was a member of Canada's gold medal-winning 4x100-metre relay team, which also included Ethel Smith, Jane Bell and Myrtle Cook.
Individually, Rosenfeld won the silver medal in the 100-m race in Amsterdam.
She was also a star athlete in basketball, hockey, softball and tennis, while holding several long-standing Canadian track and field records, and at one point the world record for the 100 m.
Arthritis ended Rosenfeld’s athletic career in 1933, and she became a prominent Toronto sports columnist.
In 1949, Rosenfeld, called Bobbie for her ‘bobbed’ haircut, was chosen Canada's outstanding female athlete of the half-century by a Canadian Press poll.
She was later elected to the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, the only female all-around athlete so honoured, and in 1981 was posthumously elected to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
