Street renamed in honour of NHL Hall of Famer

Posted Feb 16, 2012 By Sue Dickens

EMC News -Hastings - River Road West in Hastings is being renamed "Dit" Clapper Drive and the Hastings Village Marina will be #5 which was his jersey number when he played with and was Captain of the Boston Bruins.

The decision to move forward with the change was given approval by Trent Hills' council at a recent February meeting.

All of this thanks to the efforts of the Hastings Historical Society (HHS) that stated in their request they would "assist in any matters pertaining to the

confirmation, creation of signage and installation of an important landmark location in the Village of Hastings."

Skye Morrison, one of the members of the "Dit" Clapper Committee, who was also in attendance at the council meeting, told EMC, "The Hastings Historical Society has been talking about this for years and this fall, realizing that we had one member writing a book and other members who had collected memorabilia about 'Dit', plus 'Dit's' niece, Pat Funk is the HHS vice president, we thought it was time to get the ball rolling."

Described as one of the greatest Boston Bruins players of all time, an NHL Hall of Famer, the only Bruins player to win three Stanley Cups and one of Hastings' most notable citizens with deep roots in the village and Trent Hills, he is the subject of a book in the making by local writer and HHS member Stewart Richardson.

An article published earlier this year in EMC chronicled the progress of the book noting that Richardson has five chapters completed in draft and is now meeting with a couple of Boston-area publishers.

Clapper distinguished himself through his activities in sports and community development in the village where he lived during the off-season of his 20-year career in the NHL.

The "Dit" Clapper Committee of the HHS decided to seek the name change as one more way to acknowledge the historical context of the village and to pay tribute to this famous hockey player.

Morrison explained that choosing a street that does not have any residential homes on it made the process of the name change much easier.

"Changing a residential street name takes longer (if there are homes on it) because everybody has to change all of their legal documents on the road and they have to agree to this," she said.

The next step will involve Trent Hills' staff contacting Northumberland

County Council about the change.

"Municipal staff will have to order the street signs and building number changes," said Morrison.

"When all of this is completed then we will have a big event in the village," she added.

"It is good to do something that everyone is happy to support!" she said.

The members of the "Dit" Clapper Committee are: Dave Barry (president HHS), Pat Funk (vice president HHS) and "Dit" Clapper's niece), Stewart Richardson, Skye Morrison and Jim Coveney.