A round of golf would have been on the cards had the late George Majic known friend Gerry Pang would be the recipient of a community award created in his honour.
The men knew eachother from the Fernie Golf Club, where Pang worked at the pro shop for 20 years, and were “good buddies”, according to George’s wife Anne.
Golf wasn’t the only passion they shared.
George brought Junior A hockey to the Elk Valley and was the first president of the Fernie Ghostriders, as well as a lawyer and councillor.
Pang spent a decade volunteering his time with the Riders as goaltender coach before retiring at the team’s awards banquet last month.
On Monday night, the City of Fernie presented the 81-year-old with the George S. Majic Spiritus Award, which recognizes individuals who have demonstrated years of commitment to the community.
“We had quite a few applications and they were all really worthy, but Gerry really stood out for the length of time, the work that he’s been doing and the fact that he exemplifies really clearly what the George Majic Spiritus Award is, and that’s someone who has been devoting his life to volunteer work and doing it without expecting anything in return,” said Mayor Mary Giuliano.
Pang believes Majic would have challenged him to a round of golf had he still been alive.
“He’d bug me every now and then when he saw me standing outside the pro shop and he’d say ‘c’mon, we gotta get a game in one of these days, I want to get into your wallet’,” he chuckled. “We were always joking like that, he was a great guy. This is an honour and I really don’t know what to say, it’s something I never expected.”
Pang has previously received recognition from local hockey leagues, but this is his first community-wide award.
During his time with the Riders, he ran free goalie camps to ease the cost burden on families and was always happy to offer advice to other players and coaches in the community.
He dedicated many hours to the sport and local teams, but never once considered it a chore.
“I was retired and my love of hockey is greater than getting 10 hours’ sleep I might say,” he said.
“I just love hockey and watch it day and night, so it wasn’t a job for me, it was a pleasure to help out.
“It was something I loved to do.”