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 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.
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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] |
-Lincoln-IL/3068799563)
