She hasn't played football or lacrosse but there aren't many other sporting activities that have escaped the challenge of Patricia Belliveau, one of the young ladies you may see when entering the Sackville post office. And lacrosse is definitely on her radar as is the hot new fitness craze Zumba.
"I knew from a very early age that my life would be surrounded with fitness and health related activities," she said during a recent discussion. "It really started at home as there were eight of us in the family and I had to compete for everything."
The 54-year old native of Dorchester has been employed by the postal service for the past 24 years and she says she loves every day as she helps solve the challenges faced by customers, leaving them satisfied as they depart.
But where to begin to tell the story of a lady who "has been there and done everything." It seems she cut her teeth track and field at the junior high level in Dorchester. Her specialties were field events like discus, shot put and javelin – upper body demands – but she also participated in long distance events. While still at the Dorchester school she took up basketball with Bob Dixon as coach. Dixon lined up with the Sackville Atlantics with the likes of Wayne MacKay, Andy Kranack, Henry Davis and Bill Allen as they competed at the senior level. Patricia also joined the volleyball team with Bill Crawford, Jr., as coach.
From the shot put it was just a short stretch to initiating the rolling pin throw as a part of Marshland Frolics. She continued to operate this event, adding a men's division, for a half dozen years. Her mother had been champion in Dorchester and Patricia dominated locally until being dethroned by Pat Lekas. Her husband at the time, Mike Tower, was dominant in the men's division.
During this period they had two children, Jason, 30, of Ottawa, and Michelle, 27, of Sackville, the mother of infant twins.
Back to Tantramar from where she graduated. She joined the Lady Titans with players such as Donna Cole and Marlene LeBlanc with coach Don MacIntyre and played three years.
Along the way she became a certified aerobics and aquasize instructor, as well as a personal trainer and conducted classes for several years. But this was only the beginning of unusual moves. Joined by Mickey McMahon, Anna Acton and another one or two, she went on biking tours. The first included a tour of the entire Magdaline Islands and then it was off to Newfoundland, where she hiked and biked the coast of Newfoundland.
"These were truly wonderful and educational experiences," she says, "and were really phenomenal."
Then it was an experiment with fastball. Joining the Sackville team coached by Bob Cann and featuring players like Jacquie Phinney, Paulette Ward, Cathie Milner and Shirley Jollymore, they won a pair of Maritime titles and advanced to Pasadena, Nfld. where they competed for the Eastern Canadian championship.
"Jollymore was a true athlete in the real sense of the word," Belliveau says. "She fully understood the game and what it takes to be a winner."
All the while she was playing competitive badminton and tennis and playing some recreational golf.
Canoeing and kayaking also got a taste and for seven years she sailed 55 miles along the Restigouche River in July.
But it seems the highlight of her athletic career involved the most unlikely of events – boxing. She attended the Bob Edgett Club on York Street three times a week over a three-year period.
"I gained a whole new understanding of the sport, of the techniques and tactics and got in the best physical shape of my life. I learned a new form of discipline, instituted a new eating-habit system under his direction. Bob asked for and expected a lot from each one of us and he never hesitated to send me into the ring to box with Mark Adams, who won several Canadian amateur as well as the professional championship in his division."
Patricia believes she was fortunate to have been in school when such disciplines as art, music and sports were accentuated, as they should all be part of ones education.
She is convinced there are unlimited opportunities for young people to be involved in in Sackville and for unlimited growth. However, she feels there will be some who resist authority and end up in trouble.
Her advice for young people is to stay active physically and emotionally and take care of your body as you have just one.
"As you exercise your body your mind is also being honed."
While Belliveau continues to canoe, kayak, curl, golf, and practice fitness each day, she is a hard working member of the local Rotary Club and Live Bait Theatre and encourages others to say thank you to their community by becoming involved in volunteer activities.
