EDAM
NSRHL Champions 9 years running
1999 to 2007
MORE THAN A DYNASTY
THE THREE STARS
by Tommy Terpstra
Blow! the bugles loudly; Beat! the drums strongly, and
let their wild outbursts echo and re‑echo throughout the rolling hills
and aspen groves. Gather all the kith and kin; all the faithful followers and
the hosts of cheering fans to bear solemn witness to the hoisting. Still the
strident call of drum and bugle, now let them blend their souls in fanfare, as
fold by fold that Crimson Banner, emblazoned with the three white stars,
unfurls.
Raise it slowly on its journey upwards, and once
there, from the rafters, forever let it proudly hang – a bold testament to
achievements gained, battles waged and won, titanic efforts given, and tears
and pain endured for glory sake.
For out of the snowbanks we wandered. From rickety
boards and chicken wire goal nets we came. Arch rivals from another time, we
gathered to shake hands and join forces to do battle with a common foe. Battle
them we did! We met them face to face and skate to skate, under their blazing
domes and soaring bleachers, and proved to the world that our heads were as
high and our shoulders as strong.
The colors we wore were the only colors we had – the
red and the white. Upon them, we sewed
three white stars, each one depicting a community from whence we came –
Jackfish‑Cavalier, Vawn and
Legs, lungs, and hearts spawned on sloughs and open‑air
rinks and tempered in a hockey league between towns along highway 26 in the
later part of the thirties – this was the nucleus used to form the dynasty of
the newly‑formed Three Stars.
Let the shadow of that high hanging banner grow wider
and wider; let all the new names and faces find room within its scope. But, in
its fabric, let there always be room for the names and faces of those of us who
came before – the Blanchettes, Webers, LaClares, Vallieres, Ste. Maries,
Terpstras, Foulds, Elliotts, Hardcastles, MacGregors, Forsyths, Palensteins,
L’Heureuxs, Painchauds and McCaffreys – the list goes on and on. Everyone who
ever wore the "Red and White" must claim a spot of honour on our path
to glory. For the grand tradition is still strong and the dynasty continues on.
‑Excerpts:
`THEIR HOPES – OUR HERITAGE’
North Saskatchewan River Hockey League Website: NSRHL
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