Not only has he seen what used to be a sleepy little township, with segmented communities, grow into today’s Mississauga, for 35 years Jerry Love was one of the architects of this evolution. The Township of Toronto (Mississauga’s name those days) was a recreational wasteland when Jerry was hired in 1956. Today, it is a city with a thriving recreational and sports life of its own and facilities to match it. The part Jerry played has been recognized in various ways – not in least his induction into the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame in 1991. In typical fashion he would rather give than take credit in praising the army of volunteers and professional staff who helped make it happen. “The thing about Mississauga is the volunteers. To me, it has been a partnership,” he says.

     Fresh out of the University of Toronto, Jerry was hired in 1965 to run sports clinics at summer playgrounds. When he arrived, the Township of Toronto Hockey League celebrated its 10^th anniversary. Apart from that “there were not many recreational opportunities here those days,” he recalls. Minor hockey in the winter and the township of Township of Toronto Softball and Baseball League during the summer (a single organization for the two ball organizations since neither was big enough to stand on its own feet). That just about summed it up. Things changed for the better though, step by step. Soon, there was organized soccer and organized lacrosse. Then came the playground tennis clinics and tennis facilities. Out of these clinics, city-wide championships were organized for juniors and adults. Later tennis in Mississauga has grown tall enough the host the SunLife Nationals that annually brought Canada’s top men and women players to the city.

     During the early ‘60s, Mississauga’s first outdoor swimming pool opened, “motivated by volunteers.” Out of this program grew seeds for a competitive swimming program. The City’s gymnastic program (today the most thriving in Canada with thousands of participants at various ages and levels of competency) got going when parents complained about the lack of instruction in the schools.

     An aquatic program initiated by Jerry here in the mid-60s has become standard for lifeguarding across Canada. For this, he received an award from the Royal Life Saving Society celebrating its 25^th Silver Anniversary. Jerry counts Mississauga’s fitness centres among his “proud personal achievements.” When the municipality became concerned about adult fitness, the multi-purpose Huron Park Community centre was built and opened in 1967. By the late ’80s, Mississauga had seven fitness centres.

     On the competitive scene, Jerry teamed with Lloyd Crawley to win the Mississauga doubles handball title eight times between 1971 and ’84. Jerry also won the consolation title in the ‘90 Canadian Over- 50 handball championships with partner Ed Van Buskirk.