Chuck Carson Return to All Inductees
Charles “Chuck” Carson was born in Chatham on September 10, 1934. He attended St. Joseph’s Elementary School where he developed his love of all kinds of sports. He attended Chatham Vocational School (CVS) winning many ribbons and awards for the school in track and field. Chuck was also a very good basketball player and lacrosse player. On graduating from CVS with a Certificate in Drafting, Chuck went to work for Dover Corporation, Chatham.
Chuck was an active member of the Chatham Kinsmen Club and at one time held the position of secretary. On February 1, 1962 Chuck won top honours in the annual Gord Harbinson speaking contest preliminaries for the Chatham Kinsmen Club. In April he moved onto Zone finals and was the first winner of the Zone “C” Deputy Governor’s Trophy for public speaking at a public speaking contest held in Leamington at the Zone “C” annual conference. He was the Chairman of a very successful national Kinsmen Club convention that was held in Chatham. He received the award of “Kinsmen of the Year” September 13, 1962. Chuck was a past member of the Chatham Arena Commission.
Chuck was a hard worker in the Kinsmen Pee Wee minor ball leagues where he served two terms as president of the Chatham Minor Baseball Association. In February, 1962 the Chatham Daily News recognized Chuck as Sportsman of the Week for his work in minor baseball.
Chuck was a great hockey fan and became involved with Junior Maroons in the 1960s when his family boarded players off the Senior Maroons. In 1971, Chuck, along with Ross Day, Merle Penner, Dave Rikley and Dennis Makowetsky, purchased the Junior Maroons. In 1972, Chuck bought the Maroons ourtright and was the owner of the team when it won both the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League “A” Championship and the Ontario Junior “A” title in 1972-73.
Chuck married Helen Jones, booster club president for the Maroons for many years. Together they owned and operated the Bayview Market at Rondeau Park. While owning/operating Bayview Markets, Chuck also worked as a travel agent at Forsyth Travel Ltd. in Chatham. After selling Bayview market, Chuck went to work for Bingo Country and became Director of Public Relations province wide for them.
Chuck passed away September 24, 1992 at the age of 58.