It started out as a reunion for the Garson-Falconbridge Native Sons championship winning 1964-65 squad. Very gradually, the event morphed and by the time that late August rolled around, the weekend would be a celebration of all that the Native Sons had come to mean in the tight-knit Garson community.

The reunion, which had been casually talked about for a few years now, became the vision of Don and Jamie Lewis, the former a member of the squad that enjoyed one of the finest Cinderella playoff runs this area has ever seen.

In the mid 1960's, the NOHA Junior "A" League included the North Bay Trappers, Soo Greyhounds, Espanola Eagles, Garson-Falconbridge Native Sons and Sudbury Wolves. The Native Sons had finished fourth, but caught fire in the post-season, beating the Soo and North Bay to lay claim to the league championship.

Moving along the road to the Memorial Cup, Garson-Falconbridge disposed of Kapuskasing, before losing to the Niagara Falls Flyers, Who went on to win the Memorial Cup that year.

"Last year, my dad (Don Lewis) and I got serious and said that 2010 would be 45 years since the win - we were going to do it", said Jamie Lewis. "We talked about what we wanted and decided on a Friday night “Meet and Greet”, golf on Saturday, with supper and speeches at night." The Cedar Green Golf Club was selected as the venue and plans were set into motion.

The younger Lewis spent hours pouring over Sudbury Star microfiche from that year, printing out all the pictures and articles that appeared in the paper. Contact was made with the members of the '64-'65 team, but it quickly became evident that other players, from other years, were interested as well.

A reunion of the championship team was expanded to incorporate a Native Sons Reunion. One of the highlights for many of the players was the magical "re-appearance" of the NOHA Junior "A" Championship Trophy, which now resides at the Hockey Heritage North Museum in Kirkland Lake.

Unfortunately, the hardware had not made its way to North Bay back in the winter of 1965, when the Native Sons defeated the Trappers, so this 45th anniversary offered the first chance for many of these "kids at heart" to relive the moment they would never forget.

Replicate teams jerseys from that year were produced, along with a 4’x 6’ banner with the winning team photo and an area where all players could sign their autographs. Lewis hopes that someday, a few of these items will make their way into the newly approved Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame.

"I was also lucky enough to get a few scrap books from some of the players and copied some articles and pictures, along with the pictures that I had in my possession," said Jamie Lewis. A wall of memories was displayed, along with the scrap books, pictures, rings, and slide shows.

A tireless worker, Lewis says that plans are being made for another reunion in five years time, representing the 50th anniversary of that magical season. Amazingly, 15 of the 20 original players were in attendance, along with two of the three original members of the coaching staff.

The "Native Sons Reunion", which included players from the '64-'65 team as well as other squads, included Frank Hamill, Germain Ruel, Ron Hindson, Roy Bresnahan, Bob Del Papa, Don Lewis, Doug Kacarevich, Tim Morris, Stan Thomas, Gary Eschuk, Ben Froese, Mark Fields, Brian Crowder, John Monaghan, Robert Whidden, Howard Deyarmond, Charlie Phillips, Stewart Thomas, Dick Proceviat, Joe Protulipac, Pepper Smith, Ike Ikonen, Jim Ferguson, Bob McLellan, Chi Chi Farenzena, Brian McDonald, Erwin McDougall, J.P. Gervais, Garrett Cull, Warren Haggard, Brent Holmes, Colin Brodie and Larry Webster.

The former players travelled from Germany, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, Florida, Michigan, Bermuda, North Carolina and New York to attend the Sudbury-based festivities.