King names local park, trail after citizens

By Mark Pavilons

Two King City features will bear the names of two well known residents.
King council decided recently to name the trail loop in the Osmington subdivision, the Jane Underhill Trail. The hardball diamond in Memorial Park will be know as the Tom Ellison Hardball Diamond.
The trail is being named for the “significant contributions made by Jane Underhill, who received a lifetime achievement award from the municipality in 2017. Her efforts have spanned several organizations, including the King City Seniors, King City Tennis Club and King City Trails committee. She's been an ongoing advocate of protecting the environment. She's also a former King councillor.
Ellison has also made many contributions as a volunteer, establishing and growing the sport of baseball in King. He was one of the founding members of the Aurora King Baseball Association, spending a number of years as president. He also spent countless hours coaching young players and even helping maintain the fields.
He coached the King City Secondary School (KCSS) baseball team beginning for more than 30 years.
Ellison also coached the Nobleton Knights Men's Baseball team for a decade, and he held with countless positions within the Nobleton Baseball Association until it expanded and merged with Schomberg Softball Association. It then expanded to King City and formed the King Township Baseball Association (KTBA).
Tom was president of the KTBA from the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s.
After leaving the executive committee of the KTBA he took an even more active role in umpiring and was Umpire-In-Chief of the KTBA and was the mentor to countless young people as they worked to become skilled and accredited umpires under the Ontario Baseball Association (OBA). Tom attained the highest level umpire credential, and was a certified Level 3 OBA Umpire for over 25 years.
Most recently Tom has joined Team Ontario as coach of the 16U team, leading them to success in Chicago at the Fall World Series Event, and in 2018 took on the role of talent scout for the elite teams.
“There is no doubt that Tom was the focal point of baseball in King for the past few decades,” noted Mayor Steve Pellegrini.
The policy to name parks and recreation facilities is based on location, historical significance, a person or family who have made significant contributions to the Township.
Staff received the requests on behalf of both Underhill and Ellison.