Victoria Baseball Has Officers

Baseball Directors Will Be Named Today
[Victoria Colonist, Nov. 1, 1945]
Director of the Victoria Baseball & Athletic Co., Ltd., will be elected at a meeting on the Chamber of Commerce commencing at 5 p.m. today. Organized earlier in the year to operate the Victoria club in the Western International Baseball League, the local organization has been operating with pro-tem directors and will name a full slate of officers for the coming season. Anyone who has purchased shares will be eligible to attend the meeting.
The Victoria club will be hosts at the annual meeting of the W.I.B.L. which will be held at the Empress Hotel on Saturday and Sunday. Election of officers, adoption of a 1946 schedule and final arrangements for the resumption of the league will be discussed. Robert Abel, who was president of the loop during its last year of play, will preside.

Name Directors of Professional Ball Club Here
Prominent Businessmen Head Local Entry In Western International Baseball League
[Victoria Colonist, Nov. 2, 1945]
Seven prominent Victoria businessmen were elected to the directorate of the Victoria Baseball and Athletic Co., Ltd., at a well-attended meeting of shareholders held yesterday in the Chamber of Commerce. Guiding the destinies of the Victoria entry in the Western International Baseball League next year will be J.V. Johnson, James Neely, Ray Parfitt, George Straith, Francis Norton, Eric Cox and Vic Clarke. Mayor Percy E. George was named as honorary president. The directors will elect their own officers at a future date.
Prior to the election of the directors, W.C. Straith, K.C., M.L.A., attorney for the company, gave an account of the organization of the company, the steps taken to obtain a franchise and subsequent plans for the operation of the club. He stressed the fact the club had been organized on a sound basis to ensure the successful continuation of professional baseball here for many years.
Laurel Harney, who first started the move toward organization of a professional baseball club in the city and who is expected to manage the club next year, also spoke to the meeting. Harney pointed out the numerous benefits to be obtained from the operation of a professional club, citing the added tourist attraction and the value of advertising to the city as well as added entertainment for Victoria citizens. He stated that such a club would stimulate interest amongst the youth of the city in the game and give them a definite goal for their athletic aspirations.
Full realizing that solid support from the fans of the city would be needed to make the club a successful venture, Harney stated that there were no doubts on that score and promised that the Victoria entry would be a hustling ball cub, which would always [half a line unreadable] battle.
With the Victoria club as hosts, the W.I.B.L. will hold their annual meeting at the Empress hotel tomorrow and Sunday. W.T. Straith was named to represent the local organization at the meeting, while J.V. Johnson and Vic Clarke were appointed as an entertainment committee to see to the comfort of the visiting delegates.