HOW ONE KINGSTON BUSINESSMAN made his dream come true.
In The Canadian Register on FEBRUARY 17, 1962
"Faith, hope and Harvey
"KINGSTON -- One man's dream has influenced for good the lives of thousands of boys and girls in the Kingston area. A new $150,000 recreation centre opened by the 12-year-old Church Athletic League of Kingston bears the name of Harold Harvey, an Anglican who found a way to make religion a vital thing for youngsters. It's an unique example of interfaith cooperation.
"(A member of its board told me that as the building neared completion last December, Mr. Harvey remarked that the lines 'Church Athletic League' and 'Recreation Centre' were too far apart. He didn't know his name would be placed in that space the night before the dedication. He objected when he saw it.)
"The CAL now has a membership of more than 2,300 boys and girls from 63 churches of 15 denominations in 19 communities. It is a non-profit, strictly non-commercial organization whose only membership requirements are age and proof of attendance at a church or Sunday school. Hundreds of adults devote thousands of hours to it. And no CAL participant ever has gone on record as a delinquent.
"Harold Harvey is a tall, grey-haired man, remarkably handsome, very shy and reluctant to talk about his role in the CAL. He founded the Harvey Construction Company in Kingston and was one of the builders of the Alaska Highway. The father of two sons, he wondered during long trips away from home how religion -- which he sees as the only answer to communism and other 'isms' appearing in the world -- could be made to mean something to boys and girls.
"In 1950 he won the support of several Kingston clergymen who began to publicize his plan: Youngsters of any race or creed could participate in organized sports if they maintained 80 percent attendance at a church or Sunday school during the year, excepting July and August.
"At first only Protestant churches participated, but in recent years synagogues and all of Kingston's Catholic churches have joined. Mr. Harvey says the key men are the clergy whose monthly attendance reports on children govern participation. The churches supply uniforms and equipment and arrange practices. If one has more participating youngsters than are needed for one team but not enough for two, the 'surplus' is moved to other teams. It isn't unusual for a Catholic to play for a synagogue, or a Jewish boy for a Lutheran team.
"During the first six or seven years of the League's existence, it was financed by Mr. Harvey to the extent of at least $3,000 per year. Now it is incorporated as a charitable organization. Teams pay a certain amount per game (not alms but money from parish organizations) and each youngster pays 50 cents per sport per year in exchange for a League crest. An annual Kingston police-firemen and clergy-press hockey double header also raises funds. The League's non-commercial rule is strictly enforced; only names of congregations appear on players' sweaters.
"Mr. Harvey especially wanted children who do not play a game well to participate in competitions. Each member of a team competes during every game. Many who began as poor players have become proficient. A few former members now play for the professional Kingston Frontenacs, a farm team of the Boston Bruins. Fourteen-year-old Mike Farrell, born with polio, might never have enjoyed hockey without the CAL. He is goal tender for the St. John's Catholic Church team. Last season he allowed only 14 goals in 17 games. CAL President E. Ebby Hare says that 'the only rule change necessary is that teams do not change ends when Mike plays.'
"Mr. Hare became involved in the CAL through his two sons and a daughter. 'It grows on you,' he says. His enthusiastic work continues although his own children have passed the age limits. The numbers of boys and girls in the League are almost equal. Age limits are, unofficially, flexible. In the hockey 'farm team' Mr. Hare coaches at his church, there are boys as young as five, and one even appeared for practice on double-runner skates. Mike Farrell was allowed to play peewee hockey for an extra two years.
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