The Men of Hope Golf Tournament

    Last Friday my Wife and I went to The 2nd annual Men of Hope Golf Tournament in Belleville Ontario. It was a deeply moving experience that I will never forget. I had the opportunity to to talk with alot of great people there but most notably were George Chuvalo, Joanne Jessie Chuvalo, Theo Fleury, Carey Fraser, Lee Ferrel, and last but definitely not least Paulie O'Byrne.
    When we got there we were welcomed with open arms and hugs all around by Lee. He and his wonderful group of volunteers arranged the event and did a miraculous job. Every minute detail was taken care of. The Trillium Woods Golf Club that hosted the event were absolutely top notch. There were sponsors everywhere shmoozing it up and doing their thing.
    The event was to help raise awareness and funding to support male sexual abuse survivors in the Quinte district of Ontario. Being that we didn't play in the tournament and only had tickets for the buffet afterward we had a chance to stroll around and enjoy everything that the tournament had to offer. We perused the tent where all of the auction items were located and I almost died when I saw a hockey stick, jersey and plaque going as a trifecta signed by my favourite hockey player of all time Daryl Sittler.
    Gradually time wound down and the golfers started to trickle in from the course. This was when George and Joanne arrived. We were told that everything was getting set for dinner to take our seats in the tent so Denise and I found a table that only had a couple of people sitting there. We sat down and introduced ourselves and one of the ladies introduced herself as Carey. I had heard that name before in this circle but I didn't quite make the connection at first until she mentioned what she does. She's one of the representatives for Theo. Holy crap. I only knew her as Carey09 from Twitter so I was a little caught off guard. Carey and I were chatting about the 1in5 guitar I had airbrushed and low and behold, George and Joanne came strolling by and asked if they could sit at the table. Ummmmmm yes. I got George a seat and Denise and I proceded to have a conversation with George that was like we had known each other for years. I was starstruck. We finished our dinners which were delicious beyond belief and there was about a half hour before the auction started.
    I had the opportunity to talk to Theo and get his book signed for my dad and one for me. He personalized each of them. He didn't have to so it was greatly appreciated. Class act all of the way. We chatted a few times that night.One of the discussions I will keep between Theo and I for now but my heart swelled and every emotion I could have felt all came to the surface all at once. It was powerful, it was scary, but it was relieving. I'm not alone nor will I ever be.
    We had to look at heading out after the auction was near it's end because we had to go to my cousins place to pick up our 6 year old and it was a 2 hour drive so I quickly asked George for a photo opportunity and Joanne offered to take the picture which was so nice. George gave me an autographed and personalized photo from one of his bouts that I will be framing. I just about hugged him right there on the spot. We got a quick snapshot with Theo which Carey took for us and we were off. We saw Lee and Paulie on our way out the door and thanked Lee for a great time. A week later and every little detail is as vivd in my memory as if it happened moments ago. I will cherish it my heart always. Farewell my friends, stay creative

It's been a while since my last post. Things have been picking up extremely well for us but it's no excuse for the lack of Blogs. Ever since we did the Colliers Cool Cats t-shirts for the tournament, t-shirts have been in high demand from us. We found the need to upgrade the equipment and bought a 4 in 1 multi press to make things go smoother and faster. I have no doubt that this piece of equipment added to our arsenal will undoubtedly pay for itself in no time. We picked it up yesterday from All Image Printing and had it running first thing this morning filling the first of many shirt runs that it is going to see. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to put together tutorials of everything from designing to transfering onto different materials such as hats, shirts, etc. to help you make the most of your time, and materials. Thanks again to Benjamin at AIP and all of his help. Stay creative my friends.