Mount Pulaski and Delavan join forces to raise money for Volley for the Cure on the court

[October 05, 2016]  This year’s event raised $5,175 and will be split among three families. The recipients of this year’s event are Landon Watkins, Emmaleigh Call and Ellen Shawgo.

The evening featured a meal, a 50-50 raffle, a silent auction, a serving contest, a cookie walk, face painting, a jail and even a live auction conducted by Mike Maske at the end of the night.

There was also a moment where the families were recognized and those in the crowd who had battled cancer were also asked to stand.

A very moving moment came when the video for Rachel Platten’s song “Fight Song” was played on a big screen while the crowd was invited to make a big circle around the gym with all the players prior to the varsity contest. The gym went dark for this moment and several of the players and family members were holding pink glow sticks.

Ellen Shawgo is the great-aunt of Mount Pulaski’s Abigail Fitzpatrick, while Landon and Emmaleigh are cousins. Their moms are Abby Ayers Winebrinner and Brooke Ayers Call, respectively. Both girls are graduates of MPHS.

Landon was unable to be in attendance Tuesday night as he is still in the Chicago area, but out of the hospital and staying at the Ronald McDonald House.] photo by Teena Lowery

Mount Pulaski and Delavan Volleyball

Switching over quickly to the volleyball match, it was Mount Pulaski defeating Delavan in two sets, 25-13 and 25-19.

In the first set Mount Pulaski had no trouble jumping out to a 10-3 lead on a kill by Skylar Hayes, her fourth kill of the set. Abigail Fitzpatrick slammed one past the Delavan defenders to widen the lead to 22-7.

It was that wicked lefty, Alexandra Beckers, with the final kill of set one to slam the door on Delavan 25-13.

Set two was a little bit closer. Paige Stewart gave Mount Pulaski a 6-4 lead on a tip from the middle. The score was then knotted back and forth until Mount Pulaski started to pull away at the 16-14 mark. Hayes had the final kill of the night to seal the deal in this one, 25-19.

In the junior varsity contest, Delavan won in three sets, 25-21, 9-25 and 15-10.

The crowd was invited to stay following the varsity match as Mike Maske took over the microphone from emcee Gale Clark at this time. Maske has a way of coercing the crowd into reaching into their pocketbooks and once again he was very successful at it. The live auction raised about $1,575 alone. Some of the items auctioned included a Lou Henson gift basket full of Illini memorabilia, autographed volleyballs from both teams, a Cubs shirt and hat (purchased by baseball fan Shawn Lock), a tablet donated by Corey Leonard, a pet cage that included a bed, bowl and supplies for your pet, a Chicago Bears crockpot and many more items.

The donated items bringing in the most dollars were: “A Collection of Florence’s Corner” ($200), two gallons of paint and a room painted by Shawn Lock ($180), a bouquet of chocolate covered strawberries bid on and won by little Jolie Grisham ($160) and various gift cards that brought in $100.

On Tuesday, October 4, 2016 the Mount Pulaski and Delavan volleyball teams added a lot of pink to the purple and gold gym, all for a good cause. The teams joined forces to raise money for the annual Volley for the Cure match.

It’s not a Volley for the Cure unless you have a Donna Vaughan cake, purchased by John Stewart, whose wife Dede is in Florida, so John and the kids will be eating cake for a few days ($80), and of course, the famous Helen Schmidt cookies. Helen donated three generous heaping plates of decorated sugar cookies. Those cookies went for $50 (Donna Dulle), $40 (Kevin Knauer) and $60 (Angela Ford). A very successful evening indeed, all for a good cause.

One more note, Ellen Shawgo was not feeling well and because the evening ran pretty late, she went home before the group picture was taken. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the individuals and their families at the difficult time.

Ending on a positive note, Angela Ford reported that Landon Watkins should be coming home next Wednesday or Thursday. Whatever day he does come home there will definitely be a firetruck to escort him into town. #TeamLandon will be ready and waiting for that moment.

Mount Pulaski stats

Kenzie Lock 12 digs
Abigail Fitzpatrick 5 kills 19 digs 1 ace
Alex Clemons 4 kills 4 digs
Alexandra Beckers 7 kills 12 assists 8 digs 2 aces
Morgan May 2 kills 11digs
Paige Stewart 1 kill
Skylar Hayes 8 kills 12 digs 1 ace
Isabella Wade 5 assists 10 digs 1 ace

Delavan stats

Megan Teal 5 kills 8 digs
Gabby Mutchler 4 kills 2 digs
Isabella Classen 3 kills 2 digs
Katlyn Arrenholz 13 assists 5 digs
Emily Hall 1 kill

Run/Walk fundraiser

Proceeds from a 5K run/1 mile walk on September 24, 2016 also benefited the Volley for the Cure.

Crystal Thomas organized the race and the winners were awarded medals at the volleyball game.

Dean Mileham was the overall winner of the walk. Other walkers who won in their age divisions were: Jade Stewart (under 20), Bethany Dulle (age 30-39), Chrissy Fitzpatrick (40-49) and Anna Beckers (50-59). Jacob Mileham won the 5K in the under 20 age division. Jennifer Wilham was the winner in the 30-39 age division. Debby Aylesworth won the 50-59 age division. The 5K raised approximately $555 for the worthy cause.

[Teena Lowery]