New book by Jerry Hayes details history of Tupper Lake Civic Center

by Dan McClelland

The history of the Tupper Lake Civic Center is the focus of a new book by long time coach and local attorney, Jeremiah Hayes.

The story of the civic center- one of Tupper Lake’s crowning moments in volunteerism- is now on sale exclusively at Park Street’s Spruce and Hemlock. All the net proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated later this year to the Tupper Lake Minor Hockey Association, as a gift by the author and the owners of Spruce and Hemlock, Faith and Andrew McClelland.

Cost of the new book is $11 plus tax.

The new book covers the period of 1980 to 2020, but focuses in large part on the founding and construction years of the major community recreational asset in the early 1980s. The book is dedicated to Tom Proulx and Phil Edwards who conceived, planned and supervised the construction of the facility, according to Mr. Hayes.

The local author devoted entire pages to each of them and their families in his new publication.

According to the author, “it’s a story about the marvelous community achievement accomplished selflessly by donors, volunteers, town, village and school boards, local professionals, parents and players in constructing this facility which is one of the finest in the North Country.”

The author began work writing the book over a year ago, and interviewed a number of local people who were involved with the civic center project from the start. The book includes many photos of the work bees taken by long time Free Press Photographer Kathleen Bigrow, from her collection now held by Jim Lanthier. Mr. Lanthier also contributed several shots for its cover.

Mr. Hayes grew up in Potsdam where in the 1950s he played hockey in the Potsdam Junior Hockey Association and at Potsdam Central School. He moved to Tupper Lake in 1977 with his family and practiced law for the next 37 years. His first son, Jay, began playing hockey on the outdoor rink here in the early 1980s and brothers Brendan and Mike joined Jay in playing minor and school hockey at the Tupper Lake Civic Center. The local lawyer worked closely with Tom Proulx and his group behind the scenes in the arena-building campaign, providing legal and professional advice.

Jerry coached many teams here during the time his sons played hockey and continued to coach long after they graduated from the program and from school here.

Now retired, he’s still a frequent visitor and avid hockey fan at games held there.

In an interview with the first-time author last week he said his motivation for writing the book came from several things.

“I was involved pretty much in this from the beginning in the early 1980s. I was involved in coaching in minor hockey at that time and I coached all three of my sons” as they advanced through the hockey program. He said he began working with Tom Proulx and his group as they were working hard to raise the money to build the civic center, providing whatever counsel and advice he could.

Over the years he coached with Garry Lanthier, Bill Hutt and other long-time coaches in the program.

In 2006-07 the high school hockey team didn’t have a coach, so he and Jed Dukett stepped forward, at the urging of their wives, Eileen and Julie, who were both teachers at L.P. Quinn Elementary School.

They were both welcomed into their new jobs by the local athletic department.

In all Jerry coached the varsity team for six years, the first four with Jed.

About 2010 Dan Cook of Potsdam was hired by the school district as a math teacher and he joined the two coaches as a volunteer.

“It was great, because Dan brought a lot of hockey experience with him.”

When Jed stepped down to tend to his young family, Dan, who had been a hockey player, was named as head coach, and Jerry stayed on as his assistant for several years.

“-And I enjoyed those years very much. So that was one of the reasons for the book.”

He said the second reason was his involvement with Tom Proulx and Phil Edwards and their small band of volunteers in the early 1980s as their fundraising began and the project was gaining momentum. “At that time I did whatever they needed me to do, legal or otherwise.”

His secretary Sue LaVigne was serving as the group’s secretary/treasurer at the time, and he joked there wasn’t a day that passed that Tom Proulx wasn’t in his office with money to drop off or for some other matter.

“From the start it was a tremendous community effort- largely volunteer, gathering small donations,” he explained, adding that for years he has felt this wonderful story needed to be told and placed in print for future generations to learn.

He said it was “hand to mouth” for the group for a number of years until it was taken over by the town and then the school district where it benefitted by major improvements like refrigeration in a number of successive capital construction campaigns.

“I thought it was wonderful that the village, the town and the school district officials” worked cooperatively to help this community group build and develop this amazing facility- the pride of the community!”

“-And it was important to tell that story, so generations of hockey players and coaches to come will know how this community came together to build this wonderful arena!”

When Coach Hayes was coaching the high school hockey team one of the most dedicated players was the team’s current head coach, Broyce Guerrette, who played on the team from eighth grade through graduation.

“About three years ago when his team finished the season, I was out of town on vacation. I got a call from Broyce and he told me they wanted to name a sportsmanship award in my honor and I was humbled by that. In the days following his call, I thought about that a lot. Broyce was probably 25 or 26 years old at the time and it dawned on me that he wasn’t even born when our arena was conceived and built.”

“So I think it is important that those younger players and the younger parents in the hockey association now and those involved in the future know this important story!”

In addition to the copies that will be sold at Spruce & Hemlock, the author has also donated a handful of copies to the local library.