To the Selection Committee of the St.

Stephen Sports Wall of Fame,

Don Brown was a great pillar within the community and had a large impact in my life. He was
the kind of man that sought out new ways to build upon the community and bring everyone
within it together. His pride and joy was the St. Croix Sportsman’s Club. He built the youth
airgun section of the club within St. Stephen. He did everything in his power to make it
available to all to enjoy. He was a great coach who knew the sport was about the athletes and not
about the wins. He wanted to see his athletes having fun and growing as both marksmen and as
people. He put an emphasis on the benefits outside of the sport so that his athletes knew that they
could take what they learned into their everyday lives, lives that he was interested in and wanted
to see you thrive in as well. To him, it wasn’t all about the sport, it was about creating a positive
community for our youth to grow and be supported in.
Don looked to have anyone, and everyone join the club. It was not a cheap sport, but Don made
it accessible and affordable for everyone, if you wanted to participate, he would make sure you
could. I witnessed Don making sure applications for grants were made so that some friends of
mine could enjoy it to the fullest. Although he would have loved to see everyone compete and do
well, he did not push you past your comfort level and truly wanted to ensure everyone was
enjoying themselves. Some shooters competed, some didn’t, some won, some lost, some came
every week, some came every once in a while, when they had free time, no matter who you were
or what you wanted out of the sport, Don cared about you and made sure you got everything you
could out of being there.
Air rifle wasn’t my only sport, and at times, I was busy and couldn’t get to the club. Whenever I
wasn’t in attendance, Don would always reach out to make sure I was doing okay and let me
know that I was missed.
If you didn’t know about the club, Don would be happy to tell you all about it. Everyone knew
Don and listened to his stories. Those who knew the club, knew it as a safe, open, and
welcoming one within the community that cared about all its members. He took an interest in all
his athletes and coaches and was a true builder in the community. His passing has been a loss to
not only the club, but to the Town of St. Stephen as well.
Please accept this as my letter of support for Don Brown, “Builder” for the St. Stephen Sports
Wall of Fame.
Sincerely,
Alyssa Gidney