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Hydro One staff "buy" Florida football team

Sept. 22, 2004 — Hydro One staff assisting with power restoration in Florida have "purchased" a local children's football team in Port St. Lucie.

Recently during a break some Hydro One crew members working near a football field began throwing some balls around with children from a local team. The crew was asked by the team manager Karen Weiss if they could use Hydro One as the team name.

Lines manager Ron Matthews from Clinton took the request one step further and collected over $1,000 from all Hydro One staff in the area as a donation for team jerseys. In return for the sponsorship, the team was named the Hydro One Redskins.

"The team seemed to be the underdogs since all the others had matching jerseys with team names," explained Matthews. "It was great to give these kids a lift with their own team jerseys."

The company will have extra jerseys made to hang in the corporate offices, and will track the "Redskins" performance this year. About 800 children participate in the Port St. Lucie football program.

"We at Port St. Lucie Athletic Association and the Hydro One Redskins youth football team want to thank the men sent down here to rescue us for their generous contribution to our team and to our community," said Weiss. "Our league wanted to honour these men for all the hard work they have done for our neighborhood by naming a football team for them, they have gone far beyond for us and we thank them and those of you who sent them to us. We'll stay in touch and miss them all." The team's progress can be followed through the Web site www.geocities.com/hagerhorst/coachrick.html.

Hydro One owns and operates the province-wide electricity high voltage transmission network and largest low voltage distribution system in Ontario that serves over one million end-use customers. Hydro One is wholly-owned by the provincial government.

To view the jersey and other photos and notes from Florida residents on Hydro One's power restoration efforts, go to:

http://www.hydroonenetworks.com/en/media/florida_hurricane/default.asp.

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For more information, contact Hydro One Media Relations 24 hours a day at 1-877-506-7584 (toll-free in Ontario only) or 416-345-6868. Our web site is www.HydroOne.com.