A history of Orioles Community Club - Part 3

© 2012, Christian Cassidy. UPDATED 2026!

The clubhouse for Orioles Community Club, now Valour Community Centre - Orioles Site, turns 75 in 2026!  To celebrate, I've gone back to this 2012 blog series and made updates to links, images and information as there is a lot more archival material available online today.

Part 1: West End Orioles (1937 - 1946)
Part 2: Transformation (1948 - 1951)
Part 3: Orioles Community Club (1950 - 1970s)
Part 4: Orioles Community Centre (1970s - present)
Part 5: Lists, and photos of the March 2012 history show and tell!

  

St. Matthews Avenue view, ca. 1950 (City of Winnipeg Archives)

As a city-funded community club, Orioles had to offer a wide range of activities that appealed to every age level. In 1950, activity committees were created for seniors, children and teens, but most indoor programs were held at other locations until the clubhouse was ready to occupy, likely in late December 1950 or January 1951. (It officially opened on February 1, 1951)

Even without the clubhouse, its hockey program continued through the winter of 1949 - 1950 at the site, and on March 1,  1950, it hosted its first Winter Carnival, an event that would continue annually for more than 40 years.

Activities in the 1951 - 52 season, its first with a clubhouse,  included numerous inter-club hockey, softball, basketball and volleyball teams. For children and youth, there were handicraft classes, game days and dances. Dance lessons, skit clubs, and book/comic exchanges proved popular for all ages. There was also a weekly seniors drop-in, a Friday family movie night, and a weekly whist tournament. 

Orioles Jersey logo ca. 1956-57

The total 1951 - 1952 winter attendance at Orioles Community Club was more than 11,000 people. In January 1952 alone, it hosted 53 events. 

The club often had to turn people away from events. Its 26-foot by 62-foot clubhouse was not adequate to serve a catchment area of 4,500 homes filled with growing families.

A building fund was established in November 1951, and the board passed a motion to set aside 10% of revenues from any source, such as canteen sales and hall rentals, to that fund. It also raised funds through a Christmas tea and a door-to-door canvas.

Orioles ca. 1979, showing both H-huts (City of Wpg Archives)

The fundraising efforts paid off, and in September 1952, the club purchased for $1 another H-hut, this one was surplus RCAF property located at the airport. It cost another $2,500 to move it down St. Matthews Avenue and bring it to the site.

A work party to move the new building next to the existing one took place on November 16, 1952. The full project, which included adding a basement and plumbing to the new wing and interior construction, was completed over the course of a year.

The first event held in the new space was a community talent show on November 22, 1952 that drew 200 community members.

Rob Storry served as Orioles Community Club president from 1952 - 53 to 1955 - 56 and oversaw the rapid expansion in the club's attendance and programming.

The West End's population grew rapidly thanks to the baby boom. This led the city to add a new community club in the area under its community club program.

The Isaac Brock Community Club was established in 1954, though its roots date back to a club of the same name established in 1919 that operated out of Isaac Brock School. In 1921, an affiliated Isaac Brock Community Club Athletic Association was created. Both were merged into the new city-funded entity.

May 5, 1960, Winnipeg Free Press

The city realigned the community club catchment areas in 1959, which trimmed the Orioles western boundary from Wall Street to Dominion Street. This led to conflict at times between the two clubs.

Isaac Brock complained to the city in 1960 that Orioles was targeting people in its catchment area for programming and fundraising. Orioles countered that after a decade of service, many of its members, including two of its five executive members, found themselves on the other side of the boundary and that residents should decide which club they want to participate in.

The fight lasted most of the year, and in the end, Orioles was told to cease canvassing the area. (A similar battle involving Orioles, Isaac Brock and Clifton community clubs arose in 1971 when the latter had its territory expanded.)

Orioles ca. 1970s, City of Winnipeg Archives

Orioles and several other early community clubs received money from the city in 1964 for renovations and expansion. 

Tenders were let in June and the new space was officially opened on Friday, November 20, 1964 at 7:30 pm followed by a tea convened by Mrs. E W Lawrence. the opening coincided with the organisation's 15th anniversary, (though the clubhouses itself opened in 1951). The celebrations featured a street parade and gala dinner at the Maryland Hotel.

Here are some Orioles programming and events from the 1950s and early 1960s:

WINTER CARNIVAL

One of the earliest events hosted by the club was a Winter Carnival on March 4, 1950. It was held on the grounds using the city shack as a headquarters. The carnival continued to be an annual Orioles event into the 1990s.  

As the indoor space became available, the carnival featured displays from all of the Orioles clubs, from figure skating to dance recitals. Hockey (and later broomball or ringette) tournaments were usually held in conjunction with the carnival, as was an evening dance. 

The carnival was also a time to choose Miss Orioles, a contest that all community clubs participated in. 

Above is 1950 Miss Orioles Marjorie Blake, who went on to become Miss Winnipeg that year. (For a list of Orioles Queens see the lists section.)

As the population of its catchment area grew, the programming at Orioles grew with it.

The club did this under the guidance of George Hamende, the club's longest serving president from 1965 - 66 to 1972 - 73. He dedicated 35 years of his life to the club, doing everything from coaching to organizing teen dances, and held most executive positions on the board numerous times.


HAPPY HOUR CLUB

On January 15, 1951, the Happy Hour Club was created. It was a seniors drop-in held on Tuesday afternoons and was initially run by Mrs. P. Fellows, Mrs. E. Knudson, Mrs. T. H. Jonasson and Mrs. A. Miller. It started with just 17 members, but within a year had 100 members, and by the mid-1950s there were over 200.

Activities varied from week to week. There were game days that included checkers, chess and whist. Sometimes it was handicrafts or music and dance lessons. Often, performers were brought in to give a recital or lead a singalong. The afternoon always ended with a hot lunch.

The Happy Hour Club lasted into the late 1970s. 

DANCING

A popular activity for all ages that began in 1951 was dance classes. For the older crowd, square dancing was the rage. What began as a single class offered in 1951 grew to five classes and 200 participants in 1953. Its popularity continued through the 1960s.

For the younger children, tap and jazz dance classes were offered. Orioles performed at city and provincial dance recitals though to the 1990s.

MUSICAL BAND AND MAJORETTES

In the mid-1950s came the music program. By 1958 Orioles boasted a 70-piece marching band that performed around the city and went as far afield as North Dakota. By the 1970s, the band program consisted of a drum and bugle corps.

Around the same time, Majorettes (baton twirling) was also introduced. Through the 1960s to early 1980s, Orioles was a major hub for baton twirling in Winnipeg. It put on annual camps that attracted national-level twirlers.

The Majorettes and Drum Corps went to a competition in St. Paul, Minnesota together in 1974 and captured 5th place.

SPORTS

Though hockey was still king, Orioles branched out into a wide variety of sports. In 1955, it entered 22 teams into city leagues for hockey, basketball, lacrosse, volleyball, baseball and softball.

SPORTS - Hockey

Hockey continued to be a big draw for the club but with an increasing number of community clubs, it was tougher to create a dynasty.

In 1950 - 51, Orioles entered five teams into city hockey leagues: Tom Thumb, Bantam A, Bantam B, Midget and Juvenile. The best of the bunch was the Juvenile team that lost out to the provincial championship to the Winnipeg Monarchs. The team, however, dominated the league and the Free Press' All-Star team named at the end of the season. Sandy Morrison was named the Winnipeg Juvenile Hockey League's MVP.

The Juveniles came runner-up the next season as well. Despite finishing top of the league for most of the 1950s, it appears that the coveted provincial title did not return to Orioles until 1965 - 66 and again in 1968 - 69.

SPORTS - Baseball

From 1955 - 1964 Orioles won five Junior baseball championships, thanks in part to their all-star pitcher Robert Hunter.

SPORTS - Basketball

Starting in 1951, women's basketball, softball and volleyball teams were created.

In the 1950s, the Junior Girls basketball team created a dynasty that rivalled that of the old club's 1940s hockey teams. In 1952 - 53 they took the city championship, beating St. Vital 58 - 35. Ruby Hoski scored 28 points and June Kozak scored 17.

April 15, 1955, Winnipeg Free Press

In 1955, the team topped the league again. Irene Morris, Joan Cox and Pat Murphy made the Free Press' "Dream team" lineup. They won the title three more times that decade. (Image: Apr. 15, 1955, Wpg Free Press.)

BOOKMOBILE

In 1953, the city's library department recommended a travelling "bookmobile" for underserved areas of the city, uch as the West End.

Orioles Community Club, through its Women's Auxiliary, were vocal supporters of a bookmobile and appeared as a delegation before city committees at every step in the formation of the program. When it was finally introduced circa 1953, Orioles became one of the stops for Bookmobile Number 1.

In the early 1960s the stop was moved to Ellice and Arlington where, in 1966, a permanent West End library branch was built. (Image: July 28, 1955, Winnipeg Tribune)

OTHER PROGRAMMING

Thousands of events took place at Orioles over the 1950s to early 1970s. These include movie nights, whist tournaments, singing recitals, games nights, concerts, and many more!

Next: Part 4 - Orioles Community Centre (1947 - 1950)