Here is a picture of the Avonton Softball Team in 1932. Unlike the other men, Gordon is wearing braces and so his team shirt is neatly tucked into his trousers. Of the 15 people in the picture, Gordon is a blood relative of all but one of the others. Only Helen Struthers, the woman second from the right in the second row, appears to be an outsider in this close knit group. Although Will Smith, the man in the tie, is related to Gordon through the Hemsley's, Will is also an outsider to the group in that his ancestors came from the south of England. The other 13 people can all trace their ancestry directly back to Robert Ballantyne, a shepherd who lived near Peebles Scotland and whose grandson, also called Robert, first emigrated to Perth County and settled land in Downie Township.
