b'Mychildhoodhomesathasalwaysbeenandcon-on top of a rise, perched welltinuestobeanimportant above street level.Our slop- partofourfamilylife,so ing driveway met a busy citythat alsot.road at its base, making myAdriana stresses that The house unsuitable as a streetTyler Hanson is an event, hockey venue. not a tournament.The distinction of hostingThe teams involved set fell, most often, to anothertherulesforeachgame neighbourhoodkidwhosenumberofplayersonthe drivewayhadtheadvan- surface at a given timethat tages of being perfectlyatsortofthing.Teamscan as well as long enough thatRemembering Tyler. Town Crier Bill McKee (second from left) andpre-arrangetochallenge onlyamiserablyexecutedthe Whitby Wildcats team, joined Tylers parents, Troy (far left)another,orwellassign shotwouldstrayclosetoand Adriana, (far right) for the tournament held last year. them randomly.The games the road. are self-refereed, and scorekeeping is optional; in the end, Ourfrequentgameswerentlimitedbyseasonorthe real winners are the participants and our charities.weather.ThequantityofplayersandtheirindividualImagination has driven some of the match ups, she says.skill sets varied, but no one seemed bothered by unevenSometimes, a greater disparity in skill level produces teams. the most fun.Like Moms vs Sons from an organized NordoIrememberanyseriousin-gamecon icts.hockeyteamyoushouldseethatone!Andweve Perhaps the only contentious issue surfaced pre-game,tried to add some community spirit, by encouraging the when we each declared which pro player we were goingPortPerryMcDonaldstochallengethesta fromthe to be. (After all, there could be only one Dave Keon.) Uxbridge restaurant, or sponsors against the team they Play continued until total darkness fell or someonessupport.That builds bridges and connections.At the parent bellowed for him to come home.No doubt theheart of the event, we want to bring people together and exercise stimulated our youthful appetites and ensuredjust have fun.a good nights sleep.In short, those games were whole- TheTylerHansonStreetHockeyEventhasgrown some fun and remain a pleasant memory these manysteadily since theone four years ago.The word,rst years later. Adriana says, has spread.AdrianaHansonhasrecreatedthatsamejust-for- We sign up more teams every year, and made valua-fun atmosphere with the annual Tyler Hanson Streetble community connections with groups like the Durham Hockey Event, named in memory of her son.While thePolice and the Were fortunate to have there ghters. event itself may be lighthearted in spirit, its support ofuse of the parking lot at Vos Independent for our playing two charities is entirely serious. surface.And the guys from 101.5 FM in Uxbridge are on WefundraiseforSickKidsPACT[Pediatricsite with music throughout the two days, and that cer-Advanced Care Team], which deals with patients andtainly contributes to the atmosphere.The communitys their families facing loss of life.And we also support Bigrallied behind us. Brothers/Big Sisters of North Durham. This years Tyler Hanson runs September 28 - 29, with These causes are close to the familys hearts, and thosea full days play (9 a.m. to 9 p.m.) on Saturday and 9 a.m. of a friend. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.Registration costs a mere $150 a Our friend, Steve Hicks, suggested PACT because itteam.Teams select an hour on the calendar from those isnt funded by money coming in for the hospital itself.available throughout the two days, so scheduling for con-And we knew Marg Ayres, Big Brothers Big Sisters Northvenience is never an issue.Durham Executive Director, so that was a natural.AndTheres a bit of kid in all of us.The chance to play when it turned out that Marg and Steve knew each otherlike one for a day, perhaps relive a pleasant memory from from way back, our fundraising plan came together easily. childhood,andatthesametimesupportworthwhile Steve also contributed to the Hansons decision aboutcharitiesnow thats a sure- re hat trick.the kind of event to honour Tyler after a tragic accidentFull details and registration information is on the took his life in 2015. Events website, www.tylerhansonstreethockey.comStreet hockeys inclusive, we agreed: everyone can participate, regardless of age or skill level.And hockeyBy Scott Mercer, Focus on Scugog14 FOCUS - SEPTEMBER 2019'