Urban Meyer’s return to Ashtabula was a cause for celebration Friday night, but there were other persons who were beneficiaries of events at Lakeside High School and Mount Carmel Community Center.
Meyer, head football coach at the University of Florida and a 1982 St. John High School graduate, was the keynote speaker, along with new Eastern Kentucky University head football coach Dean Hood, a 1982 Harbor High School, at the first ESPN 970-AM WFUN Scholar-Athlete Recognition banquet early in the evening. Meyer went from there to an event saluting St. John High School’s 1983 Class A state championship baseball team and its coach, Bill Schmidt.
But the athletic department at SS. John and Paul High School benefited from the latter event and 18 recent graduates from schools throughout Ashtabula County were awarded $6,000 in scholarship money awarded by the radio station at its event.
The community as a whole responded well to both events. Crowds estimates were more than 300 persons at the banquet at Lakeside, while the reunion of St. John graduates ranging as far back as four decades ago attracted nearly 300 persons to Mount Carmel.
To be sure, the message Meyer shared at both venues, and Hood echoed, was a deep appreciation for what Ashtabula has meant in their professional lives and a wish they could come home more frequently.
“It’s great to be back home,” Meyer said. “I wish that I could get back here more often, but the demands of the family and the job don’t make it possible.
“I know this, the people who came up here from Florida (when his Gators played Ohio State for the 2006 national championship) and put Ashtabula down in their stories have been banned from our locker room. I’m proud to say everything I have started here in Ashtabula. I believe your roots lead you to where you’re going.”
Four scholar-athletes — Conneaut’s Christie Church, Lakeside’s Brittany Dell, Pymatuning Valley’s Steve Savel and SJP’s Jamie Kapferer — received $1,000 scholarships from the radio station. Four more — Conneaut’s Amanda Furmage, Geneva’s Jake Depp, PV’s Raymond Holmes and SJP’s Mallory Johnson — earned $500 awards.
Proceeds from a silent auction of various sports memorabilia had not been revealed at the event at Mount Carmel, but SJP figured to be a huge beneficiary of the proceeds.
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