Spotlight on Mount Pulaski’s 2nd Annual Community Pride Family ~ The Martin’s

[January 03, 2018] 

MOUNT PULASKI

While Mount Pulaski had to deal with the deaths of several key members of the community in the year 2017, there was one family that was recently recognized for helping others in the community heal.

Doug and Erin Martin, along with their children, Drew, Alec, Luke and Ella were honored before Christmas as Mount Pulaski’s Second Annual Community Pride Family.

Samantha Brown of Community Pride noted that “as tragedy struck the community this year, and especially the youth of our community, the Martin’s really stepped in and helped our children heal by involving them and supplying them with a way to show they care and giving them the opportunity to heal by being involved.” Along with these and other qualities, the Martin family showed the community in 2017 why they were deserving of such an honor.

So who is the Martin family?

Doug and Erin (Cowan) Martin have been married nearly 20 years and make their home in rural Mount Pulaski with their four children. Doug works for Martin Family Farms while Erin is currently a stay-at-home mom. They lead very busy lifestyles in and around the community, but all the while they put an emphasis on family and helping others first.

The Martins are teaching their kids by example. Whether or not they even realize it on a simple daily basis, the Martin children are imitating the same kindness they see in their parents.

Erin, who previously worked at the Logan Correctional Center, is the mom who provides the solid foundation for these kids and along with Doug’s help, she keeps it all together for her family. She is the constant factor at home and an ultra-organizer who keeps the ball in motion, so to speak, all the while teaching her team skills they don’t always realize they are learning. Isn’t that a great teaching technique for all kids?

Learning by example is really what the Martin kids are doing, although mom does instill her beliefs in the children. “My main thing with them, and I tell them this all the time, is treat everyone the same,” said Erin. “Just because someone looks different, don’t treat them any different. I have told them all if I ever see you making fun of someone for something they do have or don’t have, you’re gonna be in a lot of trouble. Be for the underdog and if you see someone being bullied, stand up for them. Don’t let that happen.” Erin tries to teach her kids it isn’t that hard to just be nice. “Be happy for people,” says Erin simply.

Doug, who also serves as the Mount Pulaski District 23 School Board President, says with a smile while taking a deep breath, “I’m just directing the traffic here.”

He laughs and looks around at his four kids gathered in the family living room of their cozy country home. “It’s kind of like being a manager,” says Doug.

“We are always looking at the schedule. Getting things going. But between farming and the kids, it’s pretty much a full-time life. Farming is nice. It’s nice to get in the cab of something once in a while. It’s kinda like my “down time” at a game or something.”

The dad’s good-natured laugh and smile show that he takes it all in stride. But Doug does give credit to his support system. “We wouldn’t be able to do a lot of what we do with the kids if we didn’t have a good family farm operation, too, with the guys who work for us. Chad Radtke and Jerry Tschantz are a big part of that and they help us. That helps me to do a lot more of the stuff that I do.”

Derek Martin, Doug’s brother, is also a part of the family operation and that helps, said Doug. Family first in this operation. “When Derek came on board, if we have to park the corn planter some night because we all have something to go do......well that doesn’t really happen but that’s our philosophy we like to say....at least while the kids are at this age. We’ll get it done somehow.”

Doug adds matter-of-factly, “It goes quick so we want to make sure we don’t miss it or mess it up.”

As evident by the smiles on the faces of the Martin children and measuring the success the kids have already achieved at a young age, mom and dad are not missing out on or messing up a thing. They are truly a busy family making the most of every opportunity.

Ella, the youngest in the family at age seven, is in first grade at Mount Pulaski Grade School and she loves everything from playing with her cats to hanging out with the cheerleaders at Hilltopper games. Ella loves gymnastics and Erin says, “She has taught herself to do a cartwheel with one hand.”

Ella also credits mom and dad for helping her with sports. “I’ve learned a lot from mom and dad with volleyball from mom and softball from dad,” she said. Doug adds, “When the boys are at practice, we are always doing something on the side.”

“We have a batting cage in the shed and dad pitches me balls and we play catch a lot,” said Ella.

Ella has an interest in her dad’s farming operation, too. She rides in the semi with Doug and helps him keep track of grain tickets. When she’s not playing with the new family dog, Ella says she likes doing projects with mom, shopping with mom and hanging out with mom baking cookies. She also lists drawing and writing as her hobbies.

As the youngest in the family who gets drug to every sporting event her older brothers compete in, “Ella is part of a good group of little sisters who hang out at ballgames together and play together,” says Doug.

Drew & Luke

Next in age to Ella is 10-year-old Luke. Luke is in fourth grade at MPGS and he loves baseball and basketball. He is currently on a fourth grade basketball team that plays in a league in Mount Zion and he is the manager on the junior high boys basketball team. Luke also lists agriculture as a hobby.

Luke saw great success last summer on the baseball field when he was chosen to be a member of the 10U Great Lakes USSSA Baseball Team that traveled to Kissimmee, Florida to compete nationally. Luke, who wears number 27 and lists Mike Trout as his favorite baseball player, is a catcher, pitcher and third baseman. Luke is a member of the Springfield Arsenal Maroon and his team boasted a 48-6 record over the summer. Luke got the invite for the Great Lakes tryout through a contact with his summer coach and when he arrived at the Chicago tryouts he was picked immediately.

“They picked two kids right away and called them direct selections,” said Erin. “They only picked two out of Great Lakes and he was one of them.” Very impressive for the young man who has a competitive edge equally as outstanding as his kind heart.

In Kissimmee, Florida, Luke cited some of his best memories. “I was like an inch away from hitting two home runs and one was on my birthday, too,” he said, grinning. Luke also got to meet Carlos Boozer while in Florida. Erin explained that Boozer, the former Chicago Bulls basketball player, has a set of twins who played on a team that Luke played. “They were like Drew’s size,” laughed Erin, with a reminder that the boys were ten years old. Boozer is 6’9 according to Luke.

Luke’s Great Lakes team finished fourth in the tournament while in Florida last summer, losing out to the Boozer twins. Next summer Luke’s Springfield Arsenal Maroon team gets the opportunity to play a tournament in Nebraska.

More miles on the family vehicle and memories in the family scrapbook.

Alec is also helping the family create memories of a different kind. As a sixth grade student at MPGS Alec notes that shooting and basketball are both his passions. Alec is on the Mount Pulaski Bruins Junior High Basketball Team that is coached by Brian Erlenbush with a little help from who else, Alec’s dad Doug. The 12 year old is also an avid shooter, participating in trap, skeet and sporting clays.

As the soft-spoken one of the bunch, Alec says, “Sporting clays is crazy. It’s clay pigeons going everywhere depending on what stations you’re at. Skeet has two houses and there’s eight positions and you walk around a course. Trap is just staying in the five spots behind the thrower and just move from the five spot,” he explains.

Alec participates in a number of competitions and he is very humble about his success. When prompted he hesitates and quietly says, “I am pretty good. I won that regional one, didn’t I?” he asked, looking at his dad. “Yes, you won the AIM State,” said Doug.

Doug went on to explain that Alec is involved in two different shooting organizations - AIM and SCTP. “The AIM one they shoot and report their scores every month. One month he was the best in the state in his division. We travel around and he shoots in the SCTP and he’s done real well in that also. For being as young as they are, they do real well,” said Doug. “We’ve been to Sparta to shoot in the National AIM Shoot. And the State SCTP Shoot was there also. We’ve been to Ohio to do the National SCTP Shoot the last two summers. This was the first year he’s shot the skeet and the sporting clays.”

Alec will also be a member of the school trap team which will shoot at Warrensburg Sportsmans Club. This is the second year for the team, which consists of sixth grade through seniors in high school. The team is school-approved but ran separate from a school-sponsored team, according to Doug. “They shoot once a week at Warrensburg and then record their scores online, that’s how you compete against all the other schools in the state.

At the end of the year they have a state shoot down by Bunker Hill,” said Doug. “It’s amazing to see how many kids are there. It’s really a pretty cool event.” As Doug explains the details of shooting trap, skeet and clay, Alec pulls up video on his phone to illustrate the differences. It’s cool to see the dad share his son’s enthusiasm for the sport. Doug also mentioned Alec shoots out of the Lincoln Gun Club and the Decatur Gun Club.

“You know the baseball and all that other stuff travels, too,” said Doug pointing around the room to Luke and Drew. “But these guys also go to Sparta two or three or four times and Ohio once,” he begins to laugh, “It’s a full-time job. It’s fun, though. It’s a different sport. We are so used to the ball sports and it’s just different and when your kid gets up there to shoot and you’re watching him miss one, it’s like “ah.”

According to mom and dad, Alec doesn’t miss much though. “He got a 25 in a row this year and that’s a big deal,” said Erin.

Doug explained that “you shoot 100 trap, skeet....and if you do shoot your first 25 straight that’s a big deal, then 50, then 75, then 100.” Alec quietly mentioned, “You shoot your hat.” Erin, an avid deer hunter herself, chimed in on this one. “If you shoot 25 in a row you throw your hat up in the air and they all come and shoot it.” Doug added, “At practice.”

Alec has even shot 49 in a row. He is what many would call an excellent marksman but he would never say that. The 12 year old just smiles shyly.

Doug smiles and nods his head saying, “He’s got an eye for it. But a lot of these kids if you’re gonna place in state you’ve gotta hit 98 or 99 out of 100 to even get in the top ten. It’s intense.” Erin added, “He does really well.”

The Martin’s mention several other kids from around the area who do really well shooting along with Alec. Meanwhile, Alec has fetched the practically-shredded hat that got shot up after he hit his first 25 shots. He obviously treasures the hat without saying a word.

The oldest of the kids, who is obviously setting the bar for the rest, is Drew. Drew is a 15-year-old freshman at Mount Pulaski High School.

Drew’s passion is baseball but for now he is starting varsity on the Mount Pulaski Hilltoppers
Basketball Team. He’s had a solid season already for the Hilltoppers and his contributions to the team show no signs of him being a freshman.

After the Hilltopper basketball season is over Drew will transition right back to the baseball diamond, a place where he is seeing tremendous success and drawing national attention.

Last summer Drew played for Team USA on the 15U team for the Great Lakes Region, in Cary, North Carolina. As a 14-year-old pitcher at the time, he threw 85 mph in front of a lot of baseball scouts, he said.

Drew has played five years for his summer team, the Springfield Arsenal. When Drew was in seventh grade he went to a tryout for Under Armour Baseball Factory and got the chance to play baseball in Vero Beach at Historic Dodgertown over the Christmas break. He then went to Pirate City to play baseball the following summer and then he was selected to be a Rookie Preseason All American Top Freshmen.

As an eighth-grader, Drew played baseball last January in Auburndale, Florida. He went to Arizona this past Fall to play baseball as one of the top 40 freshmen in the country. This opportunity was part of the Under Armour Baseball Factory, Drew explained. “I did really good hitting and pitching in Arizona. They were more impressed with my pitching. I had the University of Arizona, Arizona State and a couple other colleges watching me pitch down there.”

Recently Drew learned he was invited by Baseball Factory to be in their exclusive recruiting program. “They only take 20-30 kids out of the entire country in each graduating class and Drew is one of those players,” said Doug. “Drew has done very well with them and they really like him. His attitude and work ethic and stuff....that’s gotta be as much as anything.”

Baseball Factory likes Drew as a two-way player right now, according to Doug. Drew pitches and patrols the outfield in center.

When the 6’1 freshman hit the radar at 85 mph, he got the attention of many. “That was the first time he’s hit that number so that opened some eyes out there,” said Doug. Drew just turned 15 years old in October. “That was a good tournament in Arizona,” said Doug. “It’s basically travel teams from all over the country. Baseball Factory took teams full of freshmen out there and Drew was on one of those teams. Drew didn’t really know who he would be playing with but the coaches were all professional coaches. Anything we’ve done with them has been a really good experience whether you play baseball the rest of your life or not. His head coach coached for the Pirates and it’s just a whole new league of people. Drew has made friends for life. And I’ve made a lot of good friends in the “dad group.”

Erin likes the experience for Drew even more because “it’s just not all baseball,” she says. “It’s picking up your stuff when you’re done with it, it’s waking up on your own in the morning and there are speakers every night.”

“The life lessons are really good,” said Doug. “Through social media, the contacts are all over the place.”

Speaking of all over the place, let’s get back to the mom and dad of this busy bunch.

Erin is the treasurer of the MPGS Booster Club and Doug continues to wear many hats. He is in his fifth year coaching fifth and sixth grade boys basketball at MPGS as well as sitting the bench as an assistant for the junior high teams. “I call that my second shift,” laughed Doug. “From two-thirty on, everyday, we’ve either got practice or a game, this time of year at least. I have really enjoyed that as much as anything. It’s a lot of time, but boy, it’s been very enjoyable. I mean you have your bumps in the road but just seeing the kids get better or what you just go through being around them and having those experiences, it’s worth it.”

Martin admits it can be intense and stressful at times but he’s glad he has done it. He plans to stick around a few more years and noted, “We’re fortunate that we have a lot of people in the community who do that, too, in all the sports, so it’s been a big plus for everything.”

Doug coached Caleb Coogan, the youngest member of the Mount Pulaski community who passed away in 2017. Caleb was one of Alec’s best friends. While Caleb was never going to be the star of the basketball team, Doug never made Caleb feel like he was ever less of a teammate. “I never even realized that, you know,” said Doug. “I came home and told Erin that (after talking to Caleb’s dad JC one day). You don’t realize at the time the effect you’re having on these kids.”

Erin added, “And that’s what I want. You never know how something you said or did could make someone else’s whole day or turn something around.”

“Especially at that age (12 years old),” said Doug. “I just told the other kids the other day, you’re all different levels, everybody can work hard and hustle. I didn’t realize that (about Caleb). That shook me up a little bit because I just wasn’t thinking of me in that situation. I can still see the first day we had tryouts in the old gym and we usually just run like crazy, you know. I said “ok, if you don’t want to come back, you don’t have to come back.”

Erin chimed in, “Raise your hand if you’re not coming back.”

Doug laughed and said, “Yeah, and I didn’t know who was coming back the next day or not. We ran a lot and Caleb was there the next day ready to go. I can still see his reaction after making his first basket last year. I remembered it then and it sticks in my head to this day. He was on the north basket at the grade school and he turned around and put it up. I can still see him turn around. His face lit up. You know, that’s the joys you get from coaching.”

Erin said, “I think his hands even went up.”

Doug said, “Yes, I can see it like it happened five minutes ago.”

Erin was also in charge of designing and selling the Caleb Coogan t-shirts that so many students proudly wear in the community to remember their friend. The two parents recalled that Coach Erlenbush and the basketball team wanted to do something to honor Caleb and it was Erin who simply took the idea and ran with it. To date the community has raised $2,500 in t-shirt sales for the Coogan family.

While the Martin family is extremely modest about any recognition for their efforts, it is obvious they led the way in helping the community heal. Their children showed faith, as did the many resilient children of the community, at a time when the entire community, young and old, was grieving.

The community came together like never before and the Martin family was a big part of that connection. Doug and Erin both remain humble at the honor.

“There are a lot of people that do the same things we do,” said Doug.

[Teena Lowery]