Community remembers through volleyball – Gazette News

ROAMING SHORES – Jason Scribben and his friends loved volleyball and spending time on the lake in Roaming Shores.
After Scribben, 18, died in a Fourth of July accident on the lake in 1998, his friends took it upon themselves to try and keep their favorite holiday as positive as possible in creating the Jason Scribben Memorial Volleyball Tournament at the Roaming Shores Main Clubhouse.
“I started this in 1999,” Maureen O’Keefe, a friend of Jason Scribben, said. “Jason died in 1998 and he loved playing volleyball. He would show up at the clubhouse. He’d be sitting there with the ball, wanting somebody to play. We just knew the Fourth of July would be hard for all of us, so in ’99 we started this.
The tournament, held on July 5, is hosted on the Jason Scribben Memorial Court.
“As a group of kids who were growing up with Jason and coming here, all we did was play volleyball all the time,” O’Keefe continued. “We hung out on the lake. That’s what we loved to do, and so the Fourth of July was our favorite holiday just to come and hang out. (The holiday) is going to be scarred every year. It’s hard to put it in words, but it’s cool to see that after all these years, it’s still going. It was my senior year when everything happened, and then I was in college when I started this, but then I moved away. It’s just cool to come back and see that it’s still going and now my 16-year-old son is playing in it.”
Josh Scribben was just 13 years old when his brother passed away. The volleyball court was built near the pavilion and dedicated to Jason Scribben and a large rock with a plaque also serves as a memorial.
“This is why we have the tournament,” Josh Scribben said. “He died just right out here. He got killed on the lake. I came all the way from North Carolina to be here on my brother’s death anniversary.”
The tournament has been a good way to remember Jason Scribben.
“We used to have the volleyball court on the beach and there was a group of them that all played, and they ended up having a tournament for one of our anniversaries,” Rosemary Scribben, Jason’s mom, said. “They were volleyball all the time because we moved here when Jason was 2, so the kids were always on the volleyball court.”
The tournament serves as a reunion every bit as much as a memorial.
“For me, it’s the camaraderie,” Limestoll said. “John (Snyder, Josh Scribben’s brother-in-law) comes from North Carolina. Josh comes from North Carolina. There’s people who come from all over that I only get to see one time a year. I’ve been here, this is 26 straight years here. I’m actually the longest-tenured player here. This year was the first I’ve ever missed in 25 years. I’ve been a staple here. (I love) seeing everyone.”
There were 29 teams entered in the 2025 edition of the tournament.
“We used to have 10 or 11 teams,” Rosemary Scribben said. “There’s 29 teams here today. It’s awesome. My family supports all of this. We buy all the trophies through Fairway Plumbing and do everything, and we just love to have everybody come.”
The children of people who have participated in the tournament for years are now participating in it.
“(Jason’s) friends come back, now they’ve got their children, and there’s all these young people, I don’t even know half of these kids, and they’re here and they’re having fun, and it soothes me on this weekend,” Rosemary Scribben said. I know Jason, he would love this. He’s probably looking down at us right now and saying, ‘Awesome!’”