Everyone remembers Ivan McLelland and the Vees

Ivan McLelland is, understandably, well-remembered around here and elsewhere. I wrote about the legendary Penticton Vees goalie a couple of days ago and have heard back from some of his fans.

Sheila emailed me with this:

“Thanks for an early morning gift! I grew up in Oliver, lived in Kamloops for a decade and a bit, and am now retired in Victoria….. I often think about responding to some of your columns. Today I can’t resist. The Penticton Vees. Who in Oliver didn’t sit around the radio listening to the games. The Warwick brothers were our heroes. You knew if someone crossed one brother there would soon be a pile-up with the other two brothers coming to the rescue…. After I grew up and lived in other places I was surprised that not many folks remembered them. I still am. Thank you for remembering. Say hello to Ivan. It wasn’t just boys who loved the game… the Vees were our first celebrity heart throbs.”

Another fan pleaded, “Can I tag along (to coffee with Ivan)? Please!!!! I’ll be good, I promise.”

The Penticton Herald got in touch Monday asking for the OK to run the column about Ivan and our Daily News story about the Penticton Vees hat.

And Tom from Chase tells me he drove the Greyhound bus that took Ivan from Vancouver to Penticton when the Canucks sent him to the Vees. They got talking, Tom phoned ahead to his wife from a stop in Princeton, and took Ivan home for dinner that night when they got to Penticton.

“He was a super, super person,” Tom says.