UPDATE: A Community Comes Together To Fulfill A Hockey Lover’s Wish With Ash’s Pavilion
Staff Reports
UPDATE: Make-A-Wish announced the postponement of Ash Pavilion Ribbon Cutting Friday and released the following statement.
In light of current medical and public concerns, we are taking urgent and deliberate steps to ensure the health and safety of all wish kids, their families, as well as our partners and supporters. And in these challenging times, Make-A-Wish kids represent some of the most vulnerable of our population.
At this time, due to current medical and public concerns Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas has made the difficult decision to postpone the ribbon cutting celebration for the Ash Pavilion until further notice. We do not have rescheduling details available at this time.
We will continue to monitor guidance from national and international public health and government organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. State Department, and are working closely with the national Make-A-Wish Medical Advisory Council, keeping the best interest of the children and families we serve at the center of all policy decisions we make.
On October 3, the City of Kyle and the Make-A-Wish Foundation will hold a social distancing ribbon cutting to mark the fulfillment of a young Kyle resident’s wish.
Ash Crane, 12, has a congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left syndrome and asked Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas to help him share his love of Hockey with his community.
Make-A-Wish partnered with the City of Kyle to build Ash’s Pavilion, which was funded with the help of the city, Make-A-Wish, and many community donors.
“Through all of this, he has remained one of the happiest kids I have ever seen,” Lisa Crane, Ash’s mother, said. “Ash’s hope is to share his love of hockey with the community with the development of a multi-use hockey pavilion in Kyle.
Due to COVID-19, the ribbon cutting is invitation only to attend in person but will be live-streamed on the City of Kyle’s Facebook Page for the community to tune in virtually.
All in-person attendees must wear a mask and maintain proper social distancing of at least 6-feet between individuals and/or households.
The ribbon-cutting will include a short program and a 30-minute hockey exhibition game with the Chaparral Ice.
“This pavilion was a collective outpour of care — from Make-A-Wish to all the amazing individuals and businesses in our city that came together to make Ash’s dream come true — it’s just been an incredible thing to witness,” Kyle Mayor Travis Mitchell said. “We’re truly thankful to Ash for sharing his love of hockey with the community.”
“This has been an incredible story of inspiration that brings out the best in our community,” said Kathrin Brewer, President, and CEO of Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas. “Ash’s generous wish to share his love of hockey brought the City of Kyle and friends together to create something that is so much more than any of us could have imagined. The reverberations will be even more exciting.”
The ribbon cutting will take place at 11 AM on Saturday and can be viewed here.
Ash Pavilion was made possible by donations from Make A Wish, Texas Stars Foundation, Southwest Water Company, City of Kyle, TF Harper and Associates, Lewis Signs, Asif, Doucet and Associates, Rick Coleman, Smart Paint, Majestic Realty, Anthem, Six Creeks, Robert McDonald, John Doucet, Charles Teeple, Dave Mahn, Kathy Roecker, Penny Krug, Gayle Wismar, Jennifer Cavazos, Rick Sheldon, Scott Felder, Richard Hill and Paige Saenz.
