CHARLESTON — The West Virginia First Foundation has announced the latest recipients of funding through its Momentum Initiative Grant program, awarding nearly $18 million to support programs aimed at addressing substance use disorder, prevention, recovery and related workforce programs in the state.

“The Momentum Initiative Grant reflects a new way of responding to the substance use crisis; one grounded in evidence, shaped by local expertise, and guided by accountability,” said Jonathan Board, WVFF executive director. “We traveled the state, listened to those holding the line in their communities, and answered the call to honor the lives lost by putting these resources into the hands of those ready to create real, lasting impact for West Virginia.”

Funding for 76 projects was approved by the West Virginia First Foundation Board of Directors earlier this month, with an eye toward supporting programs which include foster care, non-parental caregiver initiatives, youth prevention, recovery housing, behavioral health and workforce development, and reentry and diversion programs.

Eight grants were awarded for programs in Region 1, which includes Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, and Wetzel counties.

Those grants include $125,000 to Youth Services System for its Afterschool Youth Prevention Program; $249,397 to West Liberty University for its Hilltopper Pathways: Out-of-School Reentry and Support Program; $216,065 to Northwood Health Systems for its Workforce for Wellness program; $125,000 for HoH-Share Inc. for The Mother Jones Center for Resilient Community Youth Prevention Program; and $250,000 to the Greater Wheeling Coalition for the Homeless for its Recovery First Reentry Initiative Program.

The Young Women’s Christian Association of Wheeling received three grants, including $124,744 for YWCA Wheeling – Youth Prevention; $380,000 for WYCA Wheeling – Cathy’s Haven; and $186,450 for its Women Inspired in New Directions program.

“We were intentional in building a structure that reflects both feedback and best practices,” said Greg Duckworth, WVFF Board chairman. “What emerged is a landmark opioid abatement model, distinct from any other foundation of its kind, made possible by volunteer Board Members and Expert Panelists dedicated to serving West Virginia.”

Statewide awards include $954,469.45 for National Youth Advocate Program for its Foster RISE project; $974,751 to Pressley Ridge for its Pressley Ridge Treatment Kinship Care Statewide Services; $975,000 to West Virginia CASA Association Inc. for its Continuum of Care for Children and Families Impacted by the Opioid Crisis; and $947,916 to West Virginia Wesleyan College for its WVWC and WV CASA Capacity Building Initiative.

• BOWLING

Sunset Bowling Center 

Week 12

Bumpers

High Scratch Game Boys: Simon Mueller – 53

High Scratch Game Girls: Charlie McClellan – 54

Bantams

High Scratch Game Boys:  Andrew Mueller – 58; Monte Strohl – 54; Karter Plowman – 48

High Scratch Game Girls:  Lylah Baheza – 35

Preps

High Scratch Game Boys: Joe Ovendale – 134; Cato Cox – 124; Ben Mueller – 123

High Scratch Game Girls:  Erin Dougherty – 131; Stasi Jepson – 130; Daylynn Quinn-McClellan – 84

Juniors

High Scratch Game Boys:  Matthew Chavez – 268; Jonathan Frith – 254; Jackson Hopper – 245

High Scratch Game Girls:  Rosy Gallegos – 244; Katie Dewey – 212; Abby Kuespert – 180

Other 200+ Games:  Isaiah Pennock – 243 & 237; Carter Hilliard – 233 & 225; Rosy Gallegos – 230; Matthew Chavez – 229 & 221; Kenton Still – 226; Jackson Hopper – 205; Mason Pennock – 204; Christopher Smith – 202

600+ Series:  Matthew Chavez – 741; Rosy Gallegos – 656; Isaiah Pennock – 648; Carter Hilliard – 610; Jackson Hopper – 608; Jonathan Frith – 606

• SPIRIT LAKE PARKS AND RECREATION

Basketball

K-2nd Grades 

Dec 20

Super 1 Foods: Layla Heyden 2-points, Logan Neil 3-points, Mavrik Hester 1-point, Emmit Slack 1-point

Northern Lights Family Counseling: Gabe Merrill 2-points, Wyatt Pring 1-point, River Langlitz 1-point, Jace Elliott 2-points, Lillee Dippolito 1-point.

Zs Enterprises: Addilynn Gurnard 11-points, Alexander Spalding 1-points

Lash Savy: Luke Jones 5-points, Carson Cooper 3-points, Bailey Johnson 1-points, Ella Allen 3-points, Pierce Delamarian 2-points 

3rd/4th Grade

Dec 17 

John Brown Transport: Hawken Chidiac 2-points, Ridge Powers 6-points. Zackaree Hester 2-point, Noah Davis 4-points, William Hagg 6-points, Jameson Brown 4-points.

Bayview Marina: Henry Richter 2-points, Charlie Salie 10-points

Dec 20 

Jitterz Espresso: Railey Howe 2-points, Avery Davis 2-points, Quinn Davis 4-points.

• RATHDRUM PARKS AND RECREATION

Basketball

3rd – 4th Grade Boys Basketball

Alpha Anglers vs. NextHome Cornerstone Realty (12/20/25)

Alpha Anglers: Connor Nelson (2)

NextHome Cornerstone Realty: Easton Moody (2), Gabriel Knehans (2), Thomas Keough (2), Cayben Bird (4), Abel Sapp (2), Sebastian Henningsgaard (2), Hunter Goebel (6)

CW Construction vs. Les Schwab (12/20/25)

CW Construction: Cole Mayfield (12), Malachi Wilhelm (12), Colton Prutsman (6), Chase Hallas (4)

Les Schwab: Jotham Raiche (4), Tayvin Sims (6), Wyatt Drake (4)

3rd – 4th Grade Girls Basketball

NextHome Cornerstone Realty vs. OutReach Eats (12/20/25)

NextHome Cornerstone Realty: Addison Prather (8), Daisy Ash (6)

OutReach Eats: Adeline Losee (2), Ella Hambleton (2), Grace Howell (8), Adalynn Briles (2)

• GYMNASTICS

GEMS Athletic Center gymnasts competed in the Winter Flurry gymnastics competition Dec. 19-21 at Technique Gymnastics in Hayden.

Bronze Team placed 1st overall

Olivia Reichenberg 1st AA with 38 and 1st on vault, bars, beam and floor with 9.8, 9.45, 9.3, 9.45

Harlee Wynand 1st AA with 37.65 and 1st on vault, bars and beam with 9.6, 9.5 and 9.375 and 3rd on beam with 9.175

Ava Puyleart 1st AA with 37.65 and 1st on vault, bars and floor with 9.525, 9.475, 9.55 and 2nd on beam with 9.1

Olivia Schelin 1st AA with 36.875 and 1st on vault, beam and floor with 9.325, 8.95, 9.45 and 2nd on bars with 9.15

Chloe Foreman 1st AA with 36.775 and 2nd on vault and beam with 9.525, 9.175 and 3rd on floor with 9.225

Heidi Gillard 2nd AA with 36.625 and 2nd on vault and beam with 9.3 and 9.1

Astrid McCullagh 3rd AA with 1st on vault and floor with 9.575 and 9.25 and 3rd on beam with 8.85

Charlotte Wallace 4th AA with 36.025 and 3rd on bars, beam and floor with 9.05, 9.15, 9.1

Abigail Denisyuk 2nd AA with 35.925 and 2nd on beam and floor with 8.85 and 9.175

Paisley King 4th AA with 35.75

Kaylene Bilesky 5th AA with 35.7 and 2nd on bars and floor with 9.2 and 9.35

Keeley Moody 1st AA with 35.55 and 1st on vault with 9.25 and 2nd on beam with 8.85 and 3rd on bars and floor with 8.7 and 8.75

Payslee Haulet 5th AA with 35.55 and 2nd on floor with 9.175 and 3rd on vault with 9.2

Amelia Ferguson 6th AA with 35.3 and 2nd on vault with 9.275

Brynlee Smith 8th AA with 34.75 and 3rd on vault with 9.15

Jocelyn Kirk 6th AA with 34.675 and 3rd on bars with 9.05

Hannah Ohlenkamp 5th AA with 34.15 and 2nd on vault with 9.225 and 3rd on floor with 8.75

Silver Team placed 1st overall

Alexis Boren 1st AA with 36.65 and 1st on beam with 9.025 and 2nd on floor with 9.25 and 3rd on vault and bars with 9.125 and 9.25

Olivia Butcher 1st AA with 36.65 and 1st on bars and beam with 9.45 and 9.1 and 2nd on floor with 9.2 and 3rd on vault with 8.9

Maren Rauscher 2nd AA with 36.425 and 1st on bars with 9.375 and 2nd on vault and beam with 9.15 and 8.8

Tenlee Harsch 3rd AA with 36.225 and 2nd on beam with 8.8 and 3rd on floor with 9.15

Violet Tessendorf 2nd AA with 36.15 and 1st on vault and bars with 9.275 and 9.475 and 2nd on floor with 9.15

Maci Schirado 4th AA with 35.85 and 1st on floor with 9.3

Cassidy Brown 4th AA with 35.575 and 1st on bars with 9.375

Gwyneth Ragan 6th AA with 35.425

Lindy Gilmore 2nd AA with 35.325 and 1st on bars with 9.35 and floor with 8.9

Ohrya Rivera 3rd AA with 35.275 and 1st on floor with 9.1 and 2nd on vault with 9.175 and 3rd on beam with 8.2

Kinsley Spurway 5th AA with 35.1

Ariana Dockins 4th AA with 35.05 and 2nd on beam with 8.875 and 3rd on floor with 9.125

Cora Ragan 5th AA with 34.975 and 3rd on vault and bars with 9.025 and 9.25

Isabelle Boren 6th AA with 34.85

Mikayla Richardson 8th AA with 34.7 and 1st on floor with 9.15 and 3rd on vault with 9.15

Elliana Matthews 6th AA with 34.7

Layla Randolph 7th AA with 33.975 and 3rd on beam with 8.8

Absydee Adams 8th AA with 33.925

Samantha Dirks 8th AA with 33.725

Gold Team placed 3rd overall

Faith Robertson 1st AA with 36.325 and 1st on bars with 9.15 and 2nd on beam with 8.875 and 3rd on vault and floor with 9.2 and 9.1

Kalea Pham 2nd AA with 35.225 and 2nd on bars and beam with 8.925 and 8.475

Myla South 3rd AA with 34.95 and 1st on floor with 9.175 and 2nd on beam with 8.375 and 3rd on bars with 8.625

Lauren Inglehart 5th AA with 34.9 and 2nd on bars with 9.075 and 3rd on beam with 8.55

Kristyn Frank 3rd AA with 34.75 and 3rd on bars and beam 8.725 and 8.5

Grace Squires 3rd AA with 34.725 and 2nd on beam with 8.725 and 3rd on bars with 8.825

Felicity Hammer 2nd AA with 34.65 and 2nd on beam with 8.675 and 3rd on vault and bars 8.75 and 8.825

Jocelynn Howard 4th AA with 34.425 and 3rd on beam with 8.325

Finley Rauscher 6th AA with 34.225 and 3rd on beam with 8.525

Skylar Bingham 3rd AA with 34.175 and 1st on floor with 9.225 and 3rd on vault and bars with 8.75 and 8.7

Kinley Simpson 4th AA with 33.975 and 2nd on beam with 8.15 and 3rd on floor 8.875

Lily Fulton 4th AA with 33.75 and 2nd on floor with 9.15

Aspen Barker 5th AA with 33.625 and 1st on vault with 9.2 and 3rd on bars with 8.825

Samantha Willis 7th AA with 33.575

Stella Cahoon 5th AA with 33.375

Emma Ward 7th AA with 33.275

Olive Buttars 4th AA with 33.25 and 1st on floor with 8.875 and 3rd on vault with 8.875

Grace Ohlenkamp 7th AA with 33.2

Isabel Lunneborg 6th AA with 33.125

Evie Bowman 7th AA with 33.1 and 2nd on floor with 9.05

Ellie Hill 6th AA with 33.025

Jenna Tanner 7th AA with 30.75

Platinum Team placed 1st overall

Katelynn Clark 1st AA with 36.425 and 1st on bars and floor with 9.325 and 9.2 and 2nd on beam with 9.15

Keeley Howard 1st AA with 36.3 and 1st on bars and floor with 9.55 and 9.225 and 2nd on beam with 8.9

Hunter Bangs 2nd AA with 35.725 and 1st on beam with 9.175 and 3rd on floor with 9.125

Ensley Vucinich 1st AA with 35.625 and 1st on vault, bars and floor with 9.0, 9.175 and 9.4

Ani Hall 3rd AA with 34.475 and 2nd on floor with 9.1 and 3rd on vault and beam with 8.85 and 8.65

Arie Ferguson 2nd AA with 33.625 and 1st on vault with 8.9 and 2nd on beam with 8.6

Raya Batchelder 6th AA with 33.4 and 3rd on floor with 9.125

Elliot Tuntland 4th AA with 32.9 and 2nd on bars with 8.55

Nora Maddox 5th AA with 32.7

Stella Brooks 7th AA with 32.4

Fynlie Reynolds 6th AA with 32.275 and 2nd on floor with 8.9 and 3rd on vault and bars with 8.825 and 8.5

Mackenzie Richardson 6th AA with 32.225

Sydney Thompson 7th AA with 32.2 and 3rd on bars with 8.225

Diamond Team placed 1st overall

Olivia Kiser 1st AA with a 36.2 and 1st on bars and beam with 9.35 and 9.025 and 3rd on vault and floor with 8.8 and 9.025

Macee Caudle 1st AA with 35.625 and 1st on beam with 8.85 and 2nd on vault and floor with 8.875 and 9.3

Evelyn Oswell 2nd AA with 35.2 and 1st on vault and floor with 9.025 and 9.475

Evyn Lyon 1st AA with 34.7 and 1st on bars with 9.375 and 3rd on vault with 8.9

Saydee Mathews 4th AA with 34.325 and 2nd on bars with 8.95 and 3rd on vault and floor with 8.825 and 8.95

Submit items for youth and non-varsity high school sports by noon Tuesday for publication Wednesday. Email stories and photos (in .jpg format) to [email protected]. 

Information: 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205 

    Courtesy photo The GEMS Athletic Center Bronze team placed first overall at the Winter Flurry gymnastics competition Dec. 19-21 at Technique Gymnastics in Hayden. From left are Keeley Moody, Astrid McCullagh, Millie Ferguson, Abigail Denisyuk, Harlee Wynand, Payslee Haulet, Olivia Reichenberg, Jocelyn Kirk and Chloe Foreman.

    Courtesy photo The GEMS Athletic Center Bronze team placed first overall at the Winter Flurry gymnastics competition Dec. 19-21 at Technique Gymnastics in Hayden. From top to bottom are Charlotte Wallace, Kaylene Bilesky, coach Sarah Robertson, Heidi Gillard, Ava Puyleart, Olivia Schelin, Paisley King, Brynlee Smith and Hannah Ohlenkamp.

    Courtesy photo The GEMS Athletic Center Silver team placed first overall at the Winter Flurry gymnastics competition Dec. 19-21 at Technique Gymnastics in Hayden. From left are Tenlee Harsch, Gwyneth Ragan, Cassidy Brown, Olivia Butcher, Arianna Dockins, Maren Rauscher, Maci Schirado, Cora Ragan and Alexis Boren.
  

    Courtesy photo The GEMS Athletic Center Silver team placed first overall at the Winter Flurry gymnastics competition Dec. 19-21 at Technique Gymnastics in Hayden. In the front row from left are Mikayla Richardson, Samantha Dirks, Ohrya Rivera and Violet Tessendorf; and back row from left, Isabelle Boren, Kinsley Spurway, Absydee Adams, Elliana Matthews and Lindy Gilmore. Not pictured is Layla Randolph.

    Courtesy photo The GEMS Athletic Center Gold team placed third overall at the Winter Flurry gymnastics competition Dec. 19-21 at Technique Gymnastics in Hayden. From left are Raelyn Hazen, Olive Buttars, Aspen Barker, Kristyn Frank, Grace Squires, Jenna Tanner, Finley Rauscher, Ellie Hill, Jocelyn Howard, Kalea Pham and Lily Fulton.

    Courtesy photo The GEMS Athletic Center Gold team placed third overall at the Winter Flurry gymnastics competition Dec. 19-21 at Technique Gymnastics in Hayden. In the front row from left are Evelyn Bowman, Myla South, Stella Cahoon and Faith Robertson; and back row from left, Isabel Lunneborg, Emma Ward, Lauren Inglehart, Felicity Hammer, Skylar Bingham, Grace Ohlenkamp and Samantha Willis.

    Courtesy photo The GEMS Athletic Center Platinum team placed first overall at the Winter Flurry gymnastics competition Dec. 19-21 at Technique Gymnastics in Hayden. In the front row from left are Sydney Thompson, Ani Hall, Katelynn Clark and Keeley Howard; and back row from left, Mackenzie Richardson, Nora Maddox, Elliot Tuntland, Stella Brooks, Fynlie Reynolds, Hunter Bangs, Ensley Vucinich, Arie Ferguson, Rata Batchelder and Ashley Gwin.

    Courtesy photo The third grade Coeur d’Alene SuperSonics won the championship in the 2025 Santa Slammer basketball tournament at the HoopTown Warehouse in Spokane, beating Sandpoint Future 34-31 in overtime in the championship game. From left are coach Todd Nelson, Ellio Estes, Connor Gregg, Camas Bennett, Cameron Nelson, Henry Mandel, Harry Noel and coach Scott Estes. Not pictured are Kohen Marjes and Archer Toronto.
  

    Courtesy photo The 2031 Hooptown Blazers went 4-0 this past weekend en route to winning the championship in the Santa Slammer in Spokane. The Blazers defeated Frenchtown (Mont.) in the championship. From left are Quinn Martin, Kyal Carlson, Regan Posthumus, Addi Salas, Brylee Brown, Paxtyn Oestreich and Jemma DePell.
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

When the thunderstorm rolled across Orlando’s Lake Fairview on Thursday afternoon Sept. 15, 2022, 11-year-old Langston Rodriguez-Sane was still in his trial period with a local rowing club. It was only his second week out on the water.

Langston was looking forward to his birthday on Sunday. As soon as they dropped him off to practice his new sport, his mom, Doreen Sane, and his big sister, Reese, headed out to shop for his birthday dinner.

“I will forever go back to that day when we were shopping at Walmart about how terrible the storm sounded,” Doreen Sane said. “My God, it sounded so terrible.”

On their way back to pick up Langston, Reese’s phone buzzed with a text.

“Are you okay? Yeah. Or, like, ‘Is your brother okay’ or something?” Reese Sane remembered. “And then you start to get information that something had happened, but we were told it wasn’t Langston.”

That wasn’t true. Langston’s boat, with five children rowing in open water during the storm, had been struck by lightning. He was rescued from the water and rushed to the boat house and then to a local hospital. He died there three days later, on his 12th birthday. “He had so much coming up for him and so much left to live,” said his sister, who is now 19.

“Langston was an 11-year-old, incredibly loving young man. He was a son. He was a brother. He was a friend. You know, he was an important part of our lives,” Reese said. “And he was taken from us because of negligence, because people aren’t aware of lightning safety.”

Florida, the nation’s lightning capital

Florida, the lightning capital of the United States, leads the nation in both the density of lightning strikes and deaths by lightning. Nearly all 53 victims killed by lightning in the state in the past decade were either recreating or working outdoors. Yet while Florida Statutes protect young athletes from allergy attacks, head injuries, heat illness and cardiac arrest among other threats, state laws do not govern lightning safety.

U.S. Rowing, the national governing body for the sport, offers lightning-safety procedures as a resource for coaches and administrators. The guidelines include constant weather monitoring, clear evacuation points and rules for getting boats off the water quickly when storms approach. They are meant to be adapted to each local rowing venue.

None of that, the family says, was followed by the North Orlando Rowing Club, which has since changed its name to the Orlando City Boat Club, on the day Langston and the other children were caught in the storm. A second child in the boat, 13-year-old Gavin Christman, was also killed; Orange County Sheriff’s Office marine deputies did not find his body until the following evening.

“You assume because you’re in this (organized-sport club) that things are being maintained,” Doreen Sane said. “You’re paying a premium. It’s got to be better.”

The Orlando City Boat Club did not respond to requests to comment or share its lighting-safety protocols.

When it comes to schools, Florida Statutes require Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) member schools to have emergency action plans. Orange County Public Schools passed one of the strongest lightning safety plans in the nation after a 10-year-old girl died after getting off her school bus in a storm in 2004.

However, an informal survey of school plans by WUFT indicated that many of them do not address lightning, or even storms. The FHSAA’s Emergency Action Plan Template includes blizzards but not lightning. The Florida Department of Health’s Emergency Guidelines for Schools addresses frostbite but not lightning or storms in general.

The Dallas-based software company Perry Weather, a weather-technology company that provides real-time lightning detection, automated alerts, radar tools, and countdown timers to help schools make safer decisions during storms, helps stress lightning safety policies for Florida schools in its online guide in partnership with the FHSAA. The FHSAA’s own policies focus more on heat stress given Florida lawmakers’ passage of the Zachary Martin Act in 2020 in response to a football player’s death from heatstroke.

Perry Weather posts lightning guidance from the National Federation of State High School Associations. It includes continuous weather monitoring; stopping outdoor activity as soon as thunder or lightning is detected, moving athletes to safe shelter and waiting 30 minutes after the last observed lightning or thunder before resuming activity.

The national guidelines serve as a good common framework. But in Florida, they can be applied inconsistently depending on the school, district or club.

Trouble on the water

Langston’s mom said she assumed the club her children joined—Reese rowed with the same club—followed strict safety standards. What she learned later, she said, left her stunned.

“They had no lightning detectors or anything, so there was a big problem,” Sane said. “There was no one on the water with them either.”

Reese said it wasn’t the first time young rowers were unsafe.

“You learn in elementary school when your hair sticks up, like that’s dangerous,” Reese said. “We would go out in the water and our hair would be sticking up and they would say, this is normal.”

Lightning-safety experts said the risks in Florida are relatively high — and too-often underestimated. John Jensenius, a meteorologist who spent more than 40 years with the National Weather Service and now works with the National Lightning Safety Council, described lightning danger as a combination of “the amount of lightning, and where you are.”

He said youth sports programs may fail to take the necessary precautions—and emphasized that waiting for obvious signs of danger is too late.

“If you notice something, don’t wait. Keep an eye on the sky. Listen for any thunder,” he said. “If you see any signs of a developing or approaching storm, or if you hear thunder, you really need to get inside right away.”

Florida’s storms can be especially deceptive. According to Jensenius, a bright blue Florida sky could make it difficult for people to recognize they are in danger. Activities on water, such as boating or fishing, complicate matters further because background noise such as boat motors — or water, itself — can mask the sound of approaching thunder.

When lightning struck Langston’s boat, he was the coxswain sitting at one end. He and the boy at the opposite end, 13-year-old Gavin, both fell into the water. The three children sitting in the middle of the shell were rescued and survived without serious injuries.

Jensenius said water-based leisure activities make up the nation’s three highest lightning risks: Fishing, with 9% of deaths; the beach, with 7% of deaths; and boating, with 5%.

“All of those take extra time to get to a safe place,” he said.

Experts also stress that sports organizations must get actively involved in lightning safety education. The National Lightning Safety Council partners with programs like Little League Baseball to teach players and coaches about the risks.

Lessons never taught, now learned

According to Reese, she and Langston were never introduced to any lightning-safety resources.

“I never was taught that safety class,” she said. “Langston was never taught that safety class.”

Langston’s death underscores a gap between awareness, assumptions and action. Liability concerns have helped drive improvements, Jensenius said, but challenges remain.

Doreen Sane filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the rowing club, the property owner and the U.S. Rowing Association, alleging North Orlando Rowing Club did not have weather-alert devices or a working defibrillator on the day of the tragedy. Although the case was settled, she said no money can bring her son back.

For the family, lightning safety is no longer abstract.

“Now I have such respect for lightning warnings,” Sane said. “You just think it could never happen to you. Especially as Floridians — you just see lightning all the time, and it never strikes you.”

Her daughter stressed the importance of telling Langston’s and other victims’ stories.

“You think they’ll be fine because you’ve seen survival stories,” Reese said. “But you don’t hear enough death stories to understand the full gravity of this. Somebody you love can be taken like that by something you can’t control — and you could have controlled it by not being outside.”

According to Bobbi Gearheart, leader of the Williamsburg Horse Show Club, the move to end the club by its parent organization, the Williamsburg Community Farm Show, “was an absolute shock.”

The club, which has been in operation for more than 30 years, is a “place where kids can make mistakes and learn, and judges will talk to them and prepare them for 4-H shows,” said Julia Saintz, a horse show club volunteer.

News about the club’s end came in an email from the Farm Show president to club organizers, received at 7 a.m. on Dec. 18. The email stated that the horse committee “no longer exists nor will the area be available for horse shows in the future.”

“A group of board members presented a proposal to reimagine the area that is currently being used for the horse show,” Farm Show Board President Jeff Walason wrote in the email, apparently referencing a Dec. 12 Farm Show board meeting.

The Williamsburg Horse Show Club ring sits north of the Williamsburg Community varsity softball field which lies between the ring and the Williamsburg Farm Show building.
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Multiple calls to Walason by the Mirror and by horse club members have not been returned.

Despite Walason urging recipients of the letter not to share the message on social media, horse club members created a Facebook page — Saving the Williamsburg Horse Activities! — which has garnered over 150 members and multiple posts urging the Farm Show to reconsider their decision.

“Williamsburg has long been one of my favorite venues to show at,” Stefanie Swindell Strayer commented on the page. “Having competed there for many years, it’s so disappointing to see an opportunity like this taken away from those who enjoy showing, especially the next generation of young riders.”

A post by Mark O’Neill notes that “everybody starts somewhere like Williamsburg. With fewer and fewer Williamsburgs, the future is not bright for the industry. The local show must be preserved.”

Another post takes aim at the Farm Show board.

“This is a very short-sighted decision by people that have ‘community’ in their name,” stated Norma Horton, who said she has been attending the shows for 20 years.

“People complain about kids getting in trouble, yet they want to take away a place that gives them something to enjoy and spend time,” she wrote.

A change.org petition received 500 signatures in less than 24 hours, and by Tuesday afternoon, more than 700 had signed onto the petition to Reinstate the Williamsburg Horse Show.

The board’s decision “not only impacts the long-standing tradition of our families but also denies future generations the chance to experience the extraordinary benefits that these shows provide,” the petition states.

“To me, Williamsburg has never been just a horse show,” Swindell Strayer told the Mirror. “It’s a community. … It’s where memories are made, families are supported, and generations of horsemen and women are given the chance to learn, grow and succeed together.”

“It’s very generational, and it’s sad to see 30 years dismissed without a word and a warning,” Saintz said.

Locked out

In the email, Walason said “all keys are expected to be returned to the buildings or a fee will be charged to the group for rekeying the main building should the key not be returned.”

According to Gearhart, the club has already been locked out, something she discovered when she went to collect club belongings.

Many “No Trespassing” signs were placed around the horse ring and nearby trees, she said.

As a “self-sufficient” club, their riding equipment, speakers, announcing equipment and jumps were fully funded by community fundraisers, Gearhart said, but the farm show believes otherwise.

“We worked really hard to buy that stuff,” she said.

Gearhart also found that the club’s Facebook profile disappeared after the farm show became a Facebook business page in early December, thus negating Gearhart’s Facebook administration rights.

Walason’s email stated that the club’s Facebook page “will remain until a determination is made concerning the banquet, at that point an announcement will be made and the page will be taken down.”

The page stored more than 20 years’ worth of memories from dedicated riders, Gearhart said.

“It’s a labor of love,” she said, “and to see it ripped out from under you is devastating.”

Future plans

According to Gearhart, the farm show plans on replacing the horse ring with a tractor pull area, which would allegedly bring in more money to help support the farm show. She said a tractor pull lane has already been built behind the softball field, which is between the farm show buildings and the horse ring. This year was the farm show’s second year using the tractor pull area, she said.

Gearhart said she is not against the farm show adding a larger tractor pull area, and believes there is room for both events on the farm show grounds, which are leased from Catharine Township.

“I would like for us to come to an agreement,” she said, hoping that the horse show club can continue while expanding on the original tractor pull area behind the softball field.

In the club’s defense, Gearhart said it is not “falling apart. … It’s growing and thriving.”

Other than spreading the word, Gearhart said club volunteers and members are participating in a lot of “ground stomping” by calling local politicians and encouraging the public to attend the farm show board meeting slated for 7 p.m. Jan 2 at the Williamsburg Farm Show building, 1019 Recreation Drive, Williamsburg.

Saintz wants people to support the horse show, as young riders learn work ethic, sportsmanship and stress management from the club and their competitions.

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414

Detroit Edison alumna Rickea Jackson remembered a conversation she had with her school superintendent, Ralph Bland, in 2017.

“This is something that before we won our first state championship, I talked to Mr. Bland, like, ‘you know if we win a state championship, we need to retire my jersey,'” Jackson said. “And then we went on to win two more.”

BRAD HARRISON/Staff An exciting season of Jones County Parks & Recreation youth basketball is off and rolling with ongoing play in a total of five divisions with fundamentals and more being mixed in with the fun of the game. The season for all leagues runs into February with games being played at the Jones County Government Center Gym….