Heaves in Halifax

Listening to the beginning of the Frost Heaves' game at Halifax tonight I was forced to realize that Vermont fans did actually make the 12, 13, 14, 15-hour drive up north for the game - and one even said he plans on going to all games, both home and away. I know the players and the organization in general loves this sort of thing and is one of the most rewarding aspects of this whole endeavor for president and owner Alex Wolff. If any of you fans who travelled to the northern-most read this, care to email me about how the trip went?? I know the Vermont fans came close to outnumbering the Manchester fans a few Sundays back - even with a looming snowstorm! But any interesting accounts of the journey and the game can be e-mailed to me (anna.grearson@timesargus.com.
It is also nice to see the new addition - point guard Dwuan Rice - making such an immediate impact. Kenny Tate and Jamaal Wise are gone, and Matt Vaughn was ultimately not signed - the whole situation is not unlike last season's late arrivals like Kelvin Parker and Antoine Hyman, who both ended up being integral pieces of the championship puzzle.

--Anna Grearson

Comments

[Eric Kingsley]

I've forwarded this to the 4 fans who did make the trip to Halifax. I made the trip to Corning and to Manchester and I now regret not making the trip to Halifax. Hopefully, one of them will contact you.

[Don Mandelkorn]

We read your blog. We’re trying to make every away game (we go to all home games, too, of course). We rent a van, called the Fan Van, and other fans “jump on board”. Everyone helps to cover the cost of the van and we share the gas. We think we can easily accomplish our goal now that we’ve been to Halifax, which we think was our toughest challenge – of course, there’s another Halifax trip later in the season.

The roads heading out Tuesday night we’re snow-packed from Barre to Bangor (very slow drive along Route 2). We stayed over in Bangor and got a fresh start Wednesday morning. The ride home on Thursday morning turned out to be 15 and a half hours….snow again from Bangor to Barre (not sure why it worked out that way).

Feel free to contact Dick Rouelle at lrouelle@innevi.com for more details and stories from the road. He might be a bit “camera shy” at first, but he’s a true “celebrity hound”.

Thanks for being interested in our escapades.
Don Mandelkorn

C: Dick Rouelle, Director of Publicity & lead singer to “the Wheels on The Bus”

[Don Mandelkorn]

I forgot to mention who made the Halifax trip -

Margaret Davis & Don Mandelkorn of Barre
Linda & Dick Rouelle of Calias

[Don Mandelkorn]

7 Away Games Down & 9 to Go!!!

Three die hard Heaves fans (Linda and Dick Rouelle and this writer) have now been to all 7 away games - traveling 3900 miles so far via the "Fan Van". Two others - Margaret Davis, Eric Kingsley - have taken in almost all 7. We're committed to making all away games including a second trip to Halifax. The only challenge will be the potential shutting down of operations by some of our ABA opponents. Our trip to New York/New Jersey may be in jeopardy because the Jersey Express and New York's Strong Island may not be in business by the time we play them.

At each away game we take a "before" and "after" photograph - the "after" shot is extra special since the team looks forward to being part of the photo. Linda recently provided each team member with a series of team shots from the away games - a Christmas present. At our last away game, we brought our old boom box with a tape of the team's home theme song "We Won't Get Fooled Again" by the Who. Our next away game on Sunday, December 30, compared to the Halifax trip, will feel like a trip to the store for milk.

Future road trips include Halifax, Montreal, Quebec, New Jersey, Long Island - NY...