Shepley to be inducted into the Caledon Walk of Fame

September 10, 2026 · 0 Comments

By KATHRYN FRASER

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Long-time Caledon resident and athlete Barrie Shepley will be inducted onto the Caledon Walk of Fame on September 12.

He will be enshrined at a ceremony set for 1 – 2 p.m. at the Walk of Fame Pavillion in recognition of his long-lasting contributions to sport, wellness and community building and the impact that he has had over many residents throughout the years.

“Barrie Shepley represents so much of what the Caledon Walk of Fame is about. His accomplishments on the national and international stages are outstanding, but his ongoing commitment to our community is what makes his legacy so very special,” says Mayor Annette Groves.

“Barrie has inspired generations of Caledon residents to be active, believe in themselves and support one another. He has also become a familiar face at our annual Caledon Sport Hall of Fame ceremony, where he has been an outstanding emcee. It seems only fitting that we give him a permanent stage of his own on the Walk of Fame!”

Through his work in initiatives such as Kids of Steel, the Egg Nog Jog and especially his work at C3 James Dick Quarry, Shepley has been able to bring people together and create an open environment for all.

Shepley says he was so surprised by the announcement email that when he first received it he believed he was being pranked by his business partner of 35 years as it was sent on April Fool’s Day – and Shepley had been on the receiving end of many pranks in the past.

“It happened on April 1, and my business partner of 35 years is the King of April 1, so, I put the email in my junk box because I had been on the wrong end of about a dozen of his jokes over the years so I gave it no more thought,” says Shepley “Until about three days later when I received a follow up from the Town wondering why my underwhelming response to their kind acknowledgement was not really being given any love. So, only at that point, did I take it back out and reread it, and realize that, in fact, this was not my business partner, but the Town sending it to me”.

Shepley is grateful for the town’s recognition of his work but says that nothing could be done without all the volunteers and members of the C3 community that have given so much to help and make a difference.

“There’s absolutely zero that I could do, without the C3 army, who have donated more than $10,000, who have put in hundreds and hundreds of hours of volunteer time, who have worn the uniform and gone on to great things. I am simply just a visual perception of this army, and so it’s a bit embarrassing being the one recognized when without any of those 100 teammates, none of this would happen significantly,” says Shepley. “The James Dick family, if we weren’t allowed to have developed the property and the fashion that we have, the thousands of people who use that space now regularly for camps and family outings, swimming, and summer, just getting away with grandma to the beach, would never have happened. So, it’s our volunteers. It’s the James Dick family. It’s Kim Nelson and Steve Benson, two massive sponsors in Town and Newville Iron, all of those people have come together, show up.”

Not only does the induction to the Walk of Fame mean a lot to Shepley but the location of the stone is what makes it even more special.

Six years ago, one of Shepley’s teammates was killed in a car accident and, in remembrance, the C3 team had a bench named and placed in her honour. Shepley’s stone is located 25 meters from the bench, and it means a lot to Shepley to have his stone so close to the tribute.

“We have our bench there and it’s a tradition every Sunday morning – we tap our bench.

Some of us leave our Gatorade bottles or our jackets on the bench and say, ‘Hi, Patricia,’ and recap it on the way back at the end. To have my stone 30 yards from her bench on a trail that we use every single Sunday for 30 years, there isn’t a more sacred piece of land. [It’s] literally it’s 25 metres apart. There isn’t a more sacred place for me in all of Caledon then at that spot,” says Shepley.

Looking to the future, Shepley says he hopes that future teammates and C3 members will walk past the Caledon Walk of Fame and remember all the hard work that everyone has done to get to this moment.

“I hope that our teammates over time, when they run, walk, bike past, and hopefully they’ll stop in and say part of that rock was from all those years that we donated time or money or volunteered and remember,” says Shepley.

For more information about the induction visit www.caledon.ca/en/news/caledon-walk-of-fame-to-induct-barrie-shepley-on-september-12.aspx.