NEWSSports

Baseball leader to be remembered with fall event

David Stickney coaching baseball
REMEMBERING A COACH, TEACHER: David Stickney, seen here at a York Mills CI softball game, will be remembered fondly at a September fundraiser.

Leaside baseball figure David Stickney will be remembered at a September event, which will also serve as a fundraiser to create memorials to the longtime coach who died in May.

Twelve of Stickney’s friends and colleagues have set aside Sept. 26 at Leaside Pub as the date and venue for the celebration of his life. The night will begin at 7 p.m. and run until closing.

Organizers have planned raffles and live auctions and promise laughter and memories will also be included. Tickets are $60 per person and there is a limit of 200 being sold. Tickets can be purchased at www.davestickney.ca, and donations can be made at the same address.

The group is aiming to raise funds to foot the bill for several memorials including a park bench and plaque, starting a scholarship fund at Leaside High School, and renaming local road Markham Avenue as Stickney Way.

Stickney, affectionately known as “Mr. Leaside”, was 71 when he died on May 11 after suffering heart failure and collapsing on the field while coaching the York Mills CI girls softball team at Goulding Park in Newtonbrook.

Stickney was also known for his 40-year tenure as a math teacher at Leaside High School and for his various volunteer efforts including being a founding board member of the Leaside Sports Hall of Fame, taking the team photos for the Leaside Baseball Association, and being active in the Leaside United Church community.