The surprising gold medal win by Jeff Buttle at the 2008 World Figure Skating Championships has left a lasting impression on many in Simcoe County in recent days.

It reminded this reporter that 21 years have passed since I ventured to Ohio to cover Brian Orser’s gold medal win at the 1987 worlds.

Isn’t amazing how fast time can get past you?

But most of all, it made me think of Barrie, Doug Leigh, the Mariposa School of Skating and the multi-use recreation facility (MURF).

And I was reminded of the words spoken recently by Tracey Zwiers, during a MURF deputation before Orillia City Council.

She spoke of the departure of Leigh and Mariposa from Orillia to Barrie in the late 1980s and how the Sunshine City lost an important marketing tool.

Even before Buttle had loosened his skates, following the medal ceremony in Sweden, sports reporters were descending on the Buttle home in Barrie and the Allandale Recreation Centre to get reaction.

Jeff’s parents were featured on the national newscasts that evening on CBC and CTV from their Barrie home, while video footage and interviews with skaters at the Mariposa School of Skating headquarters at the Allandale complex were beamed across North America.

Orillia once enjoyed the same exposure in the days when Brian Orser and Doug Leigh both resided on the shores of Lake Simcoe.

From 1981 onward, Orser was climbing the figure skating ladder, getting gradually closer to his ultimate goal of obtaining world and Olympic skating gold.

All of Canada’s major news networks made trips to Orillia, grabbing footage of the city and the Orser-Leigh combo at work.

ABC was the Olympic broadcasting rights holder for the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics and they also sent camera and reporting crews to the city to collect footage for the Olympic broadcast.

So there it was, moments before hundreds of millions around the world watched Orser skate in prime time, ABC showcasing Orillia in words and images.

I know I felt pretty darn proud that evening. Somewhere inside a pile of boxes in the basement is a dust-covered video of that broadcast.

As Tracey noted so well earlier this month, when Doug Leigh and Mariposa slipped away, a golden opportunity was lost.

Buttle not only had the Canadian figure skating world buzzing with his victory. He also reminded everyone where he trains and lives.

Tourism Barrie must have loved the moment.

With the construction of a MURF in Orillia, we would hope that we can shift some of that spotlight north of Kempenfelt Bay.

The opportunities are endless, if we have the desire to move ahead.

As for Buttle and his coach Lee Barkell, I offer them my congratulations on creating yet another major Canadian sports memory.

A gold medal win all Canadians can be proud of.