A Campbell River man is looking for a bowl-shaped trophy from a now-defunct annual slow-pitch tournament organized by the local Canada Cystic Fibrosis Chapter.
"The last tournament was at least ten years ago, and I've kind of been searching for it ever since," said Gordon Smith. "I've pretty much exhausted every avenue I can think of. Now I'm just hoping somebody has it sitting on their shelf."
His fear is that it could have been destroyed or taken to the dump by someone not knowing what the trophy represents.
"That would be a crime, in my mind," he said.
The trophy, the Laurie Smith Memorial Trophy, is named after his sister.
Laurie was born with Cystic Fibrosis, a rare genetic condition that affects the lungs and sometimes the pancreas, liver, kidneys and intestines. The disorder can cause difficulty in breathing and frequent lung infections. She passed away when she was 20, around 42 years ago.
She loved playing softball, something she started during her teens.
"It was just something she loved to do. Other than that, it was just sitting at home and taking her medications, on and on. It was something near and dear to her heart, the only sport she really got into during that time," said Smith about his sister.
After she passed away, a few of her schoolmates commissioned the trophy and donated it to the local CF Chapter, which used it in a fundraising tournament once a year during the summer. It was awarded to the winning team but had to return it to the chapter for the next tournament.
"CF stopped doing a tournament, and the trophy just disappeared. The local chapter doesn't know where it's at. They have searched all their records, and I was recommended to contact various places, i.e. Strathcona Gardens because they have a lot of trophies there that aren't just hockey or swimming. They don't have it," said Smith.
Smith has two pictures of teams with the trophy. He managed to track down one or two people in the photos. One of them told him the team sponsors were given the trophy, and his team was sponsored by the local hotel.
"Unfortunately, that's the negative part of this one. They wouldn't send staff around with me to look around the closets. They just said, "No, it's got to go through management." They wanted emails. They wouldn't talk to me even. So I just walked through what I could see, and they didn't have the trophy either."
Smith also says he has talked to every executive of the CF Chapter since the tournament stopped. But none of them know, and the executive body changes constantly. He even talked to the umpire-in-charge during the last tournament.
"He has no idea where it's at or what team won it. It's just gone."
Smith is the last of his immediate family. His parents have passed away, and so has his brother.
"She's gone. The family is gone. I just want it back. I got grandkids now, and I would love to give their great aunt's trophy to them and keep it in the family."
