Elmer Lach died at 97
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Graeme Decarie shares the following story:
Elmer Lach died at 97. Elmer Lach, centre for perhaps the greatest line in NHL history with Toe Blake for left wing and the rocket for right wing. I remember the day I met him, and actually had a conversation.
I was twelve years old, and a caddy at Marlborough Golf and Country Club. just west of Belmont Park. I had been waiting outside the clubhouse for my owner to come out and pay me (as much a a dollar if he gave me a tip.) He was late because he couldn’t find me. At last, he did. And just as he paid me a man stopped, and said, “So you found your caddy?” I recognized immediately that this was Elmer Lach.
“Yep. Here he is.”
Lach grinned at me, and said in a strong voice, “Hi, kid.”
I was silent for a moment, looking for le mot juste. Then, at last,
“Hi”, I squeaked.
[End of text from Graeme Decarie]
Update
A Sept. 18, 2016 CBC article is entitled: “Golf reaching out to younger generation — but is it trying too hard? Bikinis, beats and beers: Stodgy sport tries to reinvent itself in face of changing consumer demand.”
Well there is another thing I have in common with Grahame Decarie. I mentioned this earlier on another website and thought this was added here because I had mentioned it here. I cannot find it here so I guess not. I too caddied for Elmer Lach at Marborough Golf and Country Club on the weekend or during the week one summer. I guess with his background he could take time as he needed it to play a few rounds. To this day I can remember how battered his face looked up close from all the hockey accidents that gave him cuts and broken bones that were the trademarks of early NHL hockey players.
Being 11 years younger than Grahame, I guess we caddied there at different times unless he was somewhere else. After the 2 mile trip to Cartierville each day for schoolAndost the same distance to caddy, usually on a bike in the warmer weather, I subsequently had to travel all the way to Ile Bizard the island off of St. Genevieve in the Riviere des Prairies to caddy at the new Royal Montreal Golf Course and later at Elmridge which also moved there. That was a lot of hitchhiking as well but the golfers knew we were there from a long way off and often gave us a ride. Elmridge was a predominately Jewish club back then and there were soon too many caddies at Royal Montreal so those of us who went to Elmridge did okay for the weekend.
One never knows the energy one has when we were young until we get old and feeble, do we? I was one of the oldest students at MCHS and under normal circumstances would have graduated from the High School of Montreal in 1961 but that did not happen. Life is a journey and mine has been a most interesting one.
Sorry Graeme, my ex-wife’s English father’s name was spelt as Grahame. It slipped by.