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That Nute Catto, what a guy, says Keith Davidson

September 1, 2016

To the Editor:

 

So Brett Hull Catto recently bought the house of his grandparents, Nute and Marg Catto, the old pebble stone house on Princes Street South. 

 

Brett noticed an old baseball home plate on the wood pile and asked Nute where it came from. Nute said, “We used to have a ball diamond out in the back yard.” Brett said, “YOU WHAT?” That broke me up - memories came tumbling back.

Back in the early '70s, we did not have enough ball diamonds in the Town of Kincardine to accommodate the expanding minor ball program. There were no diamonds on the south side except for a wee one at the old “Chicky” School (now Ecole Elgin Market Public School). 


So, guess what? Nute constructed one right in his back yard! He had a huge lot. He put up a big backstop – the three 14-foot-high poles were out of Andy Mackenzie’s bush at Tiverton. He skinned off an infield. The left field line was 144 feet, the right field  was 282 feet, and went over on to Ken Petrie’s property (Ken liked kids and was okay with it). 


Marg’s flower garden was out in left field – if a ball went in it, a ground rule double was called – no tramping on Marg’s flowers! If a ball went over the screen and into the Italian’s garden, an old lady there would keep the balls, but Mrs. Wally Dymer who lived next door, would go over at night and retrieve them for Nute.


The diamond was used from 1970-76 - for T-ball and the Squirt leagues. On the schedule sheets, it was appropriately called “Catto’s Diamond.” Parents would bring their lawn chairs and line up on both foul lines for the games to cheer for the kids. Only on the south side you say? Yep! Nute Catto, what a guy  Nute never took a picture of the diamond – if anybody has one, Nute would dearly love to have a copy.


Here is another story for you, Brett. Can you believe that your grandfather took his entire Peewee baseball team halfway across Canada in 1974 to the Maritimes to play exhibition games in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, arranged by former Kincardine boy Lynn Pollock who lived in Sydney?

 

My two sons, Rob and Dick, played on the team and Nute invited me to come along. I had never been out of Bruce County before – I had more fun than the kids! We camped all the way there. Bob Tout brought along 20-dozen cobs of corn – we ate corn for the first three days. Keith Hunter was freaked out about getting lost on the way down so he was always two feet behind Nute’s car – he even went through red lights to stay on Nute’s tail. 


At every stop, Nute would put his road map up on the hood of his car to chart our course – we used to call him “Captain Catto.” All the way around the Cabot Trail, Nancy Tout called it “The Cabbage Trail.”


One day, we stayed at a scenic campground at Bedeck near Alexander Graham Bell’s homestead – the kids had dug for clams and their pail was full. That night everybody went in to Sydney to visit the Pollocks – everybody except me - I stayed to enjoy the exceptional scenery.


At dusk, I started a fire and cooked the pail of clams . They were so good, I couldn’t stop eating them - devoured them all – the kids never got any when they came back. I still feel guilty about that – but man, those fresh clams were good! 


Nute took us up on a great big ski hill in New Brunswick – what a fantastic sight looking down on the ocean! At the bottom, coming down, Marg did not get off the ski lift chair quick enough and she went all the way back up the mountain.


We stayed in historic Lunenburg for three days – an old sea captain on The Bluenose used to tell the kids stories. One morning, in Lunenburg, Johnny Dupuis and I went fishing before everybody else was  up. Johnny caught a sea eel and wanted to know if it was good  to eat – I told him it was and to put it in Marg’s ice box. When she found it, she kicked Johnny out of her trailer and made him stay with me for the rest of trip. 


At one of our campgrounds, we were near the famous “Big Hole Brook” that fly fishermen from all over the world frequent, so I took Bob Tout’s truck and a truckload of the players up to witness first-hand, salmon being caught on streamer flies –what a lifetime experience. What a wonderful trip it was – none of us has ever forgotten it! We had such great memories – so many laughs and good times  – we owed it all to your grandfather, Nute Catto. What a guy!


In my time, Nute Catto stood out as a volunteer extraordinaire - a great community leader who got things done. He got people working together toward  common goals, and was never afraid to take the first step. He was one of the founding fathers of The Kincardine Minor Hockey Association – president for six years; one of the founding fathers of the Kinucks Junior C Hockey Team and served as president and manager for 10 years; coached baseball for 20 years; was the main organizer, coach and manager  of the Royals Senior Baseball Club;– ditto for the Blues Junior Baseball Club; was one of the main organizers for the initial Young Canada Peewee Baseball Tournament.

 

When the old Lambton arena was condemned as being structurally unsafe in 1973, Nute was one of the main organizers to rally the community to save and repair it. He skated the entire 24 hours in the community skate-a-thons, raising funds for the new community centre in 1974, and for Connaught Park improvements in 1982.

 

He was one of the main organizers for the annual Sports Celebrity Dinners in the '80s (Don Cherry, Danny Gallivan, Fergie Jenkins, etc.); he and Denny Riggin organized the annual Big Brothers Golf Tournament; and he served on the 1990 Old Boys/Girls sports and recreation committee. The very successful Bluewater Games of Brawn and Scottish Day was Nute’s brainchild; he was honoured as Citizen Of The Year in 1991; and he served as vice-chairman for the establishment of the Legion Ball Park  on the south side in 1992. My old friend, Nute Catto, what a guy!

 

Nute has been battling health issues over the past year or so. Everybody wishes him the best – you can’t keep a good man down! Next time you see him, give him a handshake, a pat on the back and a big hug for all he has done for Kincardine over the years. He deserves a medal.

 

I can’t believe he is moving to the North Side to the new apartment complex where the Catholic Church used to be. I am coming back next spring for the rejuvenated North Side versus South Side Great Participation Challenge to walk for the South. I hope that organizer Kate Mahood-Richards will give Nute a special exemption and let him walk for the South Side. I just can’t see Nute walking for the North. We need all the help we can get on the other side of the river.


Slainte!
R.Keith Davidson
Kemble Shore and Kincardine

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