BUILDER – HOCKEY – INDUCTED IN 2019
When Walter Bianchi was approached about sponsoring a few players on the Georgetown midget team, he didn’t like the idea of the team going into a visiting rink with multiple sponsors on their sweaters.
Instead, Bianchi sponsored the whole team. Not only did Sunny Acres Farms appear on every players’ sweater in that 1968 season, it has appeared on every Georgetown or Halton Hills major midget AA sweater since then.
Following Walter Bianchi’s death in 2001, his son Gary continued on the tradition, which is now approaching 60 years.
Walter Bianchi was always too busy on the family farm to play organized hockey. But he loved the game. Even if the Georgetown midgets were playing hundreds of miles away, it was not unusual for Bianchi, who was a licensed pilot, to show up and cheer the team on.
He often chartered planes or flew the team himself to tournaments, including one in Drummondville, Que. where Georgetown triumphed over 110 teams.
Bianchi did more than just sponsor the midget team, though. Sunny Acres Farms has sponsored every Georgetown Hockey Heritage dinner and also backed Georgetown’s junior, intermediate and senior teams.
Having struck up a friendship with King Clancy over a shared love of horse racing, Bianchi arranged to have Clancy attended numerous Georgetown Hockey Heritage dinners, including the 1986 event where Bianchi received the Hockey Heritage Award.
Gary Bianchi has continued his father’s work with the same enthusiasm. Not just a team sponsor, he is a fixture in the stands at the team’s games, cheering on the team both at home and on the road.