All the websites out there that tell fans everything they want to know about hockey players will indicate that Garnet Hathaway is from Florida. But that’s nothing more than a technicality.
Hathaway and his family moved to Maine when Hathaway was six months old. His father was born and raised there, and the family settled in Kennebunkport for Hathaway’s childhood years.
“I have lots of family still there, especially on my dad's side,” Hathaway said. “All of my childhood memories are from there.”
So when the news broke of the recent tragedy in the Maine town of Lewiston, Hathaway followed it very closely. That part of the USA is Bruins country – the Flyers’ parent company owns an ECHL team there that is an affiliate of Boston, and the Bruins were quick to get behind the Lewiston community. But Hathaway wanted to help too, so he sought out an opportunity to get the Flyers involved with those efforts.
The result will be visible tonight during warmups, as the Flyers and Buffalo Sabres will both use special blue tape on sticks that will then be auctioned off to support the Lewiston victims. Flyers Charities will send those proceeds to the Lewiston Strong Fund, which is being led by the Boston Bruins Foundation. Hathaway will also donate a team-signed jersey and he has arranged for autographed items from other NHL players from Maine, all of which will join the Flyers’ online auction.
“I was very fortunate to have the help from the Flyers organization, my teammates, and other Maine natives from around the League,” Hathaway said. “It came together really quickly but with a lot of help.”
While nothing can replace what has been lost by the families affected by the tragedy, Hathaway hopes the support from the evening can help ease the burden at least a little bit.
“It means a lot to be able to give back in a way to help these families who went through such a tragedy,” he said. “The Maine community [is one] that I love so much and spent so much time as a kid, and I still have loved ones around there.”
The auction will start at 6PM tonight and run for 24 hours, through 6pm on Thursday, Nov. 2. You can find the auction by going to FlyersCharities.org and clicking on the Online Auctions button.
