By Jerri Brouse
MIFFLINBURG -- Tyler Lauver may be small, but he's made a big impression on John Griffin.
"You can just tell he's a really good kid," said Mr. Griffin.
The feeling is mutual. That's why Tyler recently presented Mr. Griffin with a 43-page homemade scrapbook that covers the last two seasons of his basketball career at Bucknell. He gave Mr. Griffin the gift recently during dinner at a local restaurant.
"Wow," said Mr. Griffin. "This is amazing. It's incredible. I'm speechless." The scrapbook includes dozens of newspaper clippings, photographs, programs, ticket stubs and much, much more. Tyler worked for months with his aunt, Lisa Hess, who scrapbooks as a hobby.
Tyler and his aunt got together approximately three times a week and worked for more than an hour at a time putting together the special-themed pages.
"This was his idea," said Lori Lauver, Tyler's mom. "He worked on it with his aunt and he asked her to help." The fact that Tyler would put such an effort into a gift for someone else came as no surprise to his parents, who said he's got great character.
"I'm very proud of him," said his dad, Doug. "I think as a 9-year-old it shows his character and that he appreciates friendship." Though he couldn't do some of the more intricate work, Tyler said he did put some of the pages together on his own. He also helped laminate and cut articles and pictures.
"It was kind of hard "¦ it took a lot of time," said Tyler.
The unlikely friendship between Mr. Griffin and Tyler began during the 2005-06 basketball season. Mr. Griffin, a 21-year-old point guard on the Bucknell basketball team, noticed Tyler at a clinic on Bring Your Child to Work Day. Doug Lauver is the captain of the public safety department and brought his son with him specifically to meet some of the players.
Unfortunately, that day, only two players turned up for the clinic; one of them was Mr. Griffin.
"He was the smallest and youngest kid there," said Mr. Griffin. "He was so quiet, polite and seemed so interested in everything. I wanted to see if I could get some smiles out of him."
It didn't take much for that to happen. After his one-on-one time with Mr. Griffin, Tyler started collecting autographs and other memorabilia that had anything to do with his new favorite player -- No. 11. He also attended nearly every game and sat in the same seat, where Griffin would stop by to sign a shirt or hat and ask him about school.
"Tyler just really liked John (Griffin) as a player," said Doug. "We went and got season tickets because of him." Throughout the season, Tyler seized every opportunity he could to collect anything and everything he could that had to do with Mr. Griffin. Most of his collection was taped to his bedroom wall before he got the idea to make the scrapbook.
As he flipped through the scrapbook, Mr. Griffin was impressed.
"My mom is going to love you," he joked. "I really can't thank you enough "¦ you made my day, my week, my month." Mr. Griffin said he was touched that Tyler would spend so much time making such a special gift just for him.
"This is the first time I've ever gotten a present from a fan," said Mr. Griffin. "And never anything like this." As far as Tyler's concerned, Mr. Griffin earned it.
"I really admire John (Griffin) for taking time out for me," he wrote in his letter to Mr. Griffin. "Whenever he sees me he always talks to me and he always makes me feel great."
Tyler said by making the scrapbook he is able to give something special back to Mr. Griffin "to remember me by." Mr. Griffin isn't quick to forget about Tyler anytime soon -- the two get together once a week to play a little one-on-one and Mr. Griffin plans to attend Tyler's 10th birthday party this summer -- a basketball theme, of course. He said finding people like the Lauvers help him cope with being away from home.
"It's extremely rewarding," said Mr. Griffin. "My parents do come up (from Philadelphia) so I do have them here sometimes, but to have someone like Tyler and his family to accept me is special. And I know it wouldn't even be an issue if I wasn't playing basketball."
In addition to basketball, Tyler enjoys Legos, Cub Scouts, baseball and camping. He lives in Mifflinburg with his parents. Mr. Griffin is an economics major and has been named a co-captain of the 2007-08 basketball team at Bucknell. He is the son of John and Marisa Griffin, of Narberth.
n Jerri Brouse is a freelance writer who lives in Lewisburg. E-mail her at scoop@ptd.net.
