MOUNTAIN TOP, Pa. — It's been nearly one year since Tanner Kahlau passed away in a skiing accident in New York, and ten years since Brian Madry died in 2011 in a car crash.
But both men's memory will live on at the ice rink at the Wright Township Recreational Park, where both men played ice hockey for years.
"To think that my son who passed away 10 years ago, that there's still such an impact and Tanner was at my house all the time too. so he was like a son to me also. I think this is just wonderful and I think all the friends and families it's a little bit of healing for all of them," said Carolyn Madry, Brian Madry's mother.
The impact the men had- was obvious, as more than 100 friends, and family members, even coaches, gathered to witness the dedication and renaming of the rink in honor of Brian and Tanner, who both loved hockey.
"We just always had a blast out here, you know most of the time it'd end up looking like this and we'd be out here most of the day shoveling anyway and it's day and we'd ended up playing anyway, but we had a blast," said Jared McCune of Wright Township.
McCune came up with the idea to rehab the rink and eventually rename it Madry-Kahlau Memorial Rink.
"Everything coming together is amazing I mean the support with all of this was phenomenal, but I would have never expected this big of a turnout," said McCune.
Not only will the rink help keep the legacy of both Brian and Tanner alive, but it will also allow kids, just like this little guy to be able to play the sport for many years to come.
"It was overwhelming sense of joy, at a particularly challenging time in our lives and I think that's what I like to hold on to. That through some tragedy of both our boys has come some really good," said Susan Kahlau, Tanner Kahlau's mother.
As for the rink's future, the township received a grant to conduct a survey to see how to better the park and rink for years to come.
To learn more about/participate in the survey click here.
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