Island-Sity

Meeker learned of the award Thursday morning when his daughter Jane phoned from Newfoundland, where her father ran a hockey school for 20 years. The cheerful and personable Meeker also taught hockey for 25 years in the Parksville area, and one of the rinks at Oceanside Place is named in his honour.

He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame years ago, after a 30-year career on TV, but Meeker's contributions go deeper.

In the early years of the B.C. Guide Dog Services, which has trained 93 dogs for blind people since 1996, Meeker and his wife Leah played a key role in fundraising.

Meeker lent his name to a fundraising golf tournament at Fairwinds which was only supposed to go one year, recalls Bill Thornton, founder and CEO of B.C. Guide Dog Services. It ran for four years and, because of his and Leah's efforts, was very successful.

"Through his celebrity and prestige, the tournament netted about $350,000 for us," said Thornton.

Meeker has also been heavily involved in Special Olympics in Campbell River for 25 years, and assists the Salvation Army, but downplays his role.

"I just open the doors," he said. "That's all I've ever done, mainly."

Leah, he noted, has canvassed for the group.

"It makes you feel good," Meeker said about the Order of Canada. "It's totally unexpected. I'm delighted to join such an elite group of people."

Then he remembered the phone call he got about a month ago, from a woman in Ottawa. He almost hung up, but then she told him he'd been nominated for the Order, and would he accept if it went through?

"Holy jumpin' gee willikers," he thought, "this must be April Fool's Day."

Of course it wasn't, and among those pleased by the news is Michael Warmington, who began working four years ago to make the nomination a reality.

The retired Edmonton native, who winters in Oceanside, said he's delighted that Meeker is being recognized by not only the nation but by "millions of people across Canada who not only admire him but benefited from his coaching skills."

In the Second World War, Meeker was wounded in training when a live grenade was tossed over a wall, but he recovered enough to serve until 1944.

He then joined the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1946-47 season, when he won the Calder Trophy as the year's top rookie, beating out Gordie Howe. He played in three all-star games and won three Stanley Cups with the Leafs.