Gerald A. Rideout – Builder

Inducted 2014

Labrador City “Builder” Gerald A. Rideout is well known across the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in the sport of Cross Country Skiing. His twenty-eight years as President of the Menihek Nordic Ski Club and ten years as President of Cross Country Newfoundland and Labrador are unprecedented in sport organizations in this province. From 1984 – 1988 Gerry was Chairperson of the Canada Cup Cross Country National Races and in 1985 he was the Assistant Chairperson of the World Cup Races in Labrador City. These competitions attracted and had competitors from sixteen countries including those from the Iron Curtain. From 1989 ? 1993 he was Chairperson of the Great Labrador Loppet Odyssey Series and in 1992 he was Chairperson of the Jeep Eagle Senior National Championship. From 1994 ? 2012 he was Chair of the Great Labrador Loppet series and in 1997, Gerry was Chair of the Canadian National Masters’ Cross Country Senior Championship. In 1998 Gerry was the Cross Country Skiing Convener for the Newfoundland and Labrador Winter Games and then technical representative for Cross Country Skiing at the 1999 Canada Winter Games in Corner Brook. In 2000, Gerry received the Dave Reed Award, a national award for outstanding contribution to sport nationally, provincially and locally. For 22 years Gerry served as Chairperson of the Provincial on Snow Cross Country Training Camp and the Labrador Open Races’ Provincial Team. From 1999 – 2003 and from 2006 ? 2011 he chaired the Provincial Cross Country Ski Championships. In recognition of Gerry’s countless hours of dedication and passion for this sport he was the recipient of the 2011 National Volunteer Award from Cross Country Canada Ski Association and in 2012 was awarded the Government of Canada’s Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for his outstanding contribution to sport. Gerry is an acclaimed ambassador for the sport of Cross Country Skiing far and wide and never misses an opportunity to promote and advance the sport. His organization and dedication of ski events have served to provide legacies of infrastructure, equipment and trained officials, exposing provincial athletes to high caliber competition in their home province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Gerald Rideout’s achievements and dedication for the development of his sport speak to his induction into the Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Hall of Fame.