In his 84th year, Elmer Cross, a lifelong resident of Big Tancook Island, takes the pedestrian ferry three times a week to the village of Chester on the mainland. Elmer pays a visit to his wife, now in a Chester nursing home, and then goes to play hockey at Chester's Eleanor Pew Memorial Arena with our local old timers league. Elmer has been playing hockey on various teams, including the Tancook Islanders, for over fifty years, patrolling the blue line on defense. Elmer is a lifelong Leafs fan and this past winter suited up with the Maple Leafs alumni when they played the Chester All Stars in a charity game. Elmer used to run the general store on Tancook Island, but now he says it is more of a museum. Elmer has boxes stuffed with trophies and other hockey memorabilia, and is a well known figure in the Chester area.
The local Bank of Nova Scotia has put a mounted photo enlargement of Elmer posing with the Leafs' Alumni on prominent display in their community area. A similar one, with game puck, is on display at the entrance to the arena. IN the spring of 2013 , Elmer was chosen by his teammates to receive the 2nd annual Paul Aulenback/Doug Barkhouse Memorial Award, presented each year to the player that most represents the true spirit of gentlemens' hockey. Elmer loves to play the game, loves to talk hockey, and didn't mind telling Mike Krushelnyski when he was suiting up for the Alumni game that he was sitting in his spot in the corner. A plaque mounted on the wall above Elmer's "spot" now commemorates Elmer's participation and love of the game.
