Description
As a young man, Burton often helped organize the Middleton Men’s Hockey Team and even coached in the Middleton and District Minor Hockey Association for a time. He was instrumental in supporting the construction of the Middleton and District Arena in the early 1970’s and was soon on the Board of Directors of the Rink Commission where he capably served for over two decades. Five of these years he was Chairman and served on the Executive Committee for over 15 years.
Being a practical “hands on” person, he was involved in nearly $750,000 worth of renovations over this time, including: building the east-side Annex and the upstairs changes including the Warm Room or PEP, header-pipes, replacement of three quarters of rink boards, equipment overhauls, Olympia, scoreboard, electric door, scraping and painting all beams and purlins and strengthening them, chiller, compressor, evaporative condenser, lighting, nets, and others. Without Burton’s knowledge and expertise few of these projects would have been brought to fruition.
Burton also served as one of the first Chairmen of the Middleton Recreation Commission in the late 1980’s. Along with his Rink Commission duties, he was also a strong supporter, albeit behind the scenes, for the Middleton and District Figure Skating Association all through the 1980’s. Burton Parker fits the title Builder, both figuratively and literally, and the Sports Heritage Wall of Fame is honoured to enshrine Burton Parker as a most deserving inductee in the Builder category
