Capturing the character of a person in photos and words
Not a loner donor - Fifty-six minutes after the Race for the Ribbon 5K started on Saturday, Sherri Martz walked across the finish line. Not remarkable, you may think, but just a little over a year ago, she had a liver transplant. I know this because her proud husband was telling me all about it as she approached the chute. "Was it a live liver transplant?" I asked and he said, “Oh no, the donor was dead.” You see, that’s what I get for having an education, and really that donor and Sherri walked five kilometers last Saturday. Nurse Bridget Buckaloo sent me this message: “Speaks to a bumper sticker slogan: 'Don't take your organs with you when you die; heaven knows we need them down here!'"
Capturing not composing - I capture people with my camera, rarely compose them. Sometimes they see me and smile or duck - it just depends. This past Sunday I did a quick snap of 9-year-old Olivia Montini from Huntington Valley, Pa., who was helping in the finish chute at the Striders YMCA Five Miler. She had run the Race for the Ribbon on Saturday, winning her age group in 24:58. Her mom, Rebecca, ran 25:41, while dad Paul ran 18:56. Paul ran 32:06 in the YMCA 5 Miler while Rebecca ran 42:49.
Gazette at World Cup Final - I had this photo via email of Coi Evans, Cape class of 2004 and his sister, Novia Watson, 11, both children of former Cape 400-meter runner Kia Evans. They are reading the Cape Gazette in front of Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, prior to the Argentina vs. Germany game. Coi was a soccer player (center forward) at Cape and Olympic Development player who later graduated from Saint Joe’s of Philadelphia, Pa.
Snippets - WBOC celebrated 60 years of broadcasting and even interviewed owner Tom Draper on air. Not part of that interview: Draper was an All-American lacrosse player at Brown in 1964 and an All-Ivy League selection. Tom worked his way up from club player as a freshman to leading scorer in school history when as a rangy midfielder he scored 123 goals. Any local person who played club ball with Tom Draper after his days at Brown has said the same thing, that Tom was a hard-nosed, great player.
Bob Paulen from Dewey participated in the U.S. National Track and Field Masters Championship last weekend along with 1,250 athletes from 40 states. Bob, 74, won his age group in the short hurdles and 4-by-100 relay. Bob captured silver in the long hurdles and triple jump. According to Bob, the highlight of the meet was the world record-breaking performances by the 90-99-year-old men in the 4-by-100, 4-by-400 and 4-by-800. I wonder if they had anyone to run against besides Father Time.
This coming high school basketball season 2014-15 marks the 40th anniversary of the 1974-75 Cape state championship team, considered by many the best team ever in Delaware high school basketball. A ceremony before Cape’s opening game seems appropriate. Cape also won the championship in 1975-76, so both teams and many of the same players could be honored at that time.
Speaking of honoring, now that Legends Stadium has unlocked the vault on the coaches' Ring of Honor, I suggest anyone wishing to nominate a coach put together a biography and walk it into the athletic director's office. Contact me and I will gladly help anyone wishing to nominate with the presentation.
The second Sunday tryout for Bagel Bombers Baseball club age groups U8 through U16 will be 6 to 7:30 p.m., Sunday, July 27. Contact agelof@comcast.net for further information.
The young girl who won the Striders YMCA 5 Miler, Ally Meehan, 13, is one year younger than my Tundra. The Northbeach 5K at 8 a.m., Saturday, July 26 in Dewey is the 100th race of the 10 Sisters Series, and the J-Dogg Trio of Jerry Denny, Jules Woodall and Jerry McNesby will be inducted into the Hall of Fame for running all 100 races in the series. They will receive a plaque and a $100 gift certificate from Highway One and free economic and psychological counseling for having spent $2,000 and run 500 miles for a plaque. I wonder what happened to all the T-shirts?
Some people say grandbaby No. 9 James, still shy of his second birthday, reminds them of me, but really I don’t see it. Go on now, git!
