Hermantown Boys Honor Mom by Letting Her Drive Them to Mother’s Day Hockey Tournament
Photo by Gustavo Braz Braz
HERMANTOWN — Mother’s Day is nearly here and children around the state are figuring out how best to pay tribute to the one person in their lives who has sacrificed so much. In the Northern Minnesota community of Hermantown, a group of sons may have found the perfect solution.
“Me and the boys on the team got together and decided, we love ‘em a lot, you know?” said senior hockey player Chad Perala. “Then, Coach reminded us we had a Mother’s Day tournament anyway, so we figured we’d let our moms drive us there.”
Coach Leo Bray was proud of how his team responded to the challenge of honoring Mom on her special day, while at the same time remembering that Hermantown hockey is all-encompassing, requiring a 24/7 blood, sweat and tears commitment from every living, breathing youth in town.
“The schedule’s the schedule,” Bray said. “Hermantown always has tournaments on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas, Easter, and the occasional grandparent’s funeral. Now, at least they can talk to their moms while she schleps them to the arena.”
The team made additional plans to recognize every mother during the tournament by permitting them to run the concession stand and sell fundraising coupon books in the lobby.
“Moms are kinda cool,” admitted Perala. “Letting them do stuff for us, on a day dedicated to them, is the least we can do.”
Brian Matuszak has been trying to make Duluth funny for 35 years now through the writing, directing, performing and producing of live sketch comedy revues, as well as scripted plays. His current theater company, Rubber Chicken Theater, will be celebrating their 15th birthday in 2023. He also wrote a weekly humor column for the Budgeteer News, creating nearly 400 columns over seven years. He can be found on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (@rchickentheater). His interests include geocaching, time with family, and singing along loudly and proudly to Barry Manilow, not necessarily in that order.