AMHERST - When Jason Cormier was killed in a car crash a decade ago a community mourned the loss of one of its top young athletes.
However, thanks to an outpouring of support from the community in the days and weeks following his death, Cormier's legacy and memory live on in the annual Jason Cormier Memorial Scholarship that's handed out every year to a player in the Cumberland County Minor Hockey Association heading on to college or university.
"It's amazing to think that it was 10-years ago. I think Jason would be pleased with what has been done in his memory," Cormier's brother, Matthew, said while presenting this year's scholarship to Springhill High graduate Brittany Herrett.
Cormier played his minor hockey in Amherst before going on to play Midget AAA with Pictou County Weeks Construction. From there, he earned a spot on the Kent's Hill prep school team in Maine and with Plattsburgh State of the SUNY Conference in New York.
After being on the road for many years, Cormier decided to come back to Nova Scotia where he enrolled at Saint Mary's and played with the MJAHL's East Hants Penguins and was supposed to play with the AUHC's Huskies.
He was coming home late one evening in August 1997 when his car left the road in Warren and struck a power pole.
Jennifer Brennan, who is a member of the society that oversees the award, said money from the scholarship comes from interest earned on money that was donated in Jason's name soon after his death. Herrett is the ninth recipient of the $500 award with $4,500 having been dispersed since the first scholarship was presented in 1998.
The Cormier family also presents a Jason Cormier Memorial Scholarship at Amherst Regional High School every June.
Herrett is pleased and honoured to receive the award and while she did not know Cormier, she knew he was a good athlete and was well liked by his friends and family. She is now busy preparing for the start of classes next week at Acadia University in Wolfville where she is entering the first year of the school's biology program.
[email protected]
