Annual Celebrity Golf Tournament – May 15, 2009
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February 2009 Alumni – Booster Club Celebrity Golf Tournament Announced New for this year! The Susquehannock Alumni Association, in cooperation • Reduction in registration fee with the SHS All-sports Boosters Club, is sponsoring its to $85 per person! third annual celebrity golf tournament to be held on May • Change in course location 15 at the Hickory Heights Golf Course in Spring Grove. • Later start time (9:30 am) Highlighting the event will be a host of celebrities, • Additional awards awards, and door prizes, and an opportunity to play one • Plaque and trophy for winners of York County’s most challenging and well maintained • Continental breakfast courses. • Hot luncheon (will continue) • Streamlined door prize system All proceeds will be used to help fund continued work on the Susquehannock Alumni Field House and a scholarship for one senior athlete for each varsity sport at Susquehannock High School (twenty four scholarships in all). Event organizers are accepting business sponsors and foursome registrations; applications for both are included with this newsletter. Registration is limited to 128 total (32 foursomes). Register early to become part of this great tradition. For additional information, contact: Chuck Abbott, Athletic Director For Hole Sponsorship and Susquehannock High School Registration Forms – See Page 6 P.O. Box 128 Glen Rock, PA 17327 717-235-4811 X4240 [email protected] The Celebrity Committee is still in the process of finalizing this year’s guests, but last year’s list included: Duke Edsall, NCAA Division I basketball referee; Rick Volk, former Pro-Bowl safety for the Baltimore Colts and another Colt great from “the glory days,” Bruce Laird; York County’s own Scott Fitzkee, once with the Eagles and Chargers; Maxie Baughn, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and 10-year veteran of the Philadelphia Eagles; Stanley Rote, the “dean” of NCAA basketball referees, Matt O’Brien, General Manager of the York Revolution, and many more, including many York County sports legends. This guest list is expected to repeat, with several prominent additions in the works. Gofers will have an opportunity to play, dine, and socialize with all celebrities. ANNUAL CELEBRITY GOLF TOURNAMENT – MAY 15, 2009 Alumni Pride – Duke Edsall ‘74 If you’re even a casual fan of college basketball, there’s a very good chance you’ve seen Susquehannock’s Duke Edsall as a key “player” in some of that sport’s biggest games over the past quarter century. As an NCAA Division I referee, he has been associated with the ACC, CAA, Big South, Big 12, Southern, SEC, Atlantic 10, MEAC, CAA and C-USA conferences. He has had the honor or working in over 20 NCAA tournaments, eight regional tournaments, one NCAA Final Four, and four NIT championships. He loves his work but acknowledges that he stumbled into it by accident – literally. It goes back to his first year at York College, where he expected to play basketball after his SHS graduation in 1974. To get in shape for his freshman season – a season that was not to be – he ran pass patterns in the evening for his younger brother Randy, still in high school and then the Warrior’s quarterback. On one fateful evening, Duke’s post-route was a little too close to the post and he collided with it at full-speed, seriously injuring his knee. During his recuperation, he was asked to referee some York County youth league games. From there he went on to Junior High, Junior Varsity, and eventually Varsity High school games. All this while a college student, having given up playing for a life in the zebra-shirt. In 1981 he was selected to officiate the York County Championship, the youngest ever to achieve that honor. His aptitude for the craft was noticed by collegiate officiating scouts, and he was given the opportunity to referee in the ACC at the astonishingly early age of 24. And from there he embarked on what is a major part of his life’s work. For his career accomplishments, Duke was elected to the York County Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. While his career path was chosen by accident, his connection with sports seems pre-ordained. He was a standout athlete at Susquehannock in the early seventies, lettering in basketball, golf, and baseball. He was a member of a divisional championship baseball squad and led the golf team to a county championship in 1974. And Duke played on the second basketball team in school history to qualify for Districts. He admits that the high school classroom was not an area where he starred, but he made up for it at York College, consistently earning Dean’s List recognition. When he graduated with a bachelor’s degree and honors in 1978 – first in the class of finance majors – his former guidance counselor, Sid Earhart called it a “miracle of modern academics.” But Duke credits the drilled work ethic and self discipline from Susquehannock’s athletic program and his parents, Richard and Barbara, for this eventual success with the books. “It finally sunk in," he says. His credentials earned him a starting position at Commonwealth Bank and successive career advancements with the likes of Citicorp and Mid-West Financial. Accompanying these promotions was a succession of relocations across the United States. But he couldn’t shake his passion for refereeing basketball, and continued to do so in the evenings and weekends, gaining additional exposure and adding to his already impressive credentials. But after 14 years, he realized his calling was not to be behind a desk and he took a job with Hensley Racing as a team manager on the NASCAR circuit. He even led A.J. Foyt’s crew in the first Brickyard 400, experiencing what he calls “the greatest 20 seconds of my life,” a reference to the time allocated for changing tires and filling a gas tank during a NASCAR race. But, after four years, basketball officiating eventually emerged as his primary career path. Known for his colorful style on (and off) the court, Duke now ranks among the most popular figures in his field, nationally recognized for his fairness, knowledge of the game, and the ability to control contentious situations. He travels full-time during basketball season, refereeing games in multiple Division I conferences. But the off-season is no time to relax for an overachiever. He is also employed by the Roanoke County Virginia Public Schools where has worked for the past ten years assisting with the education of special needs children. If there is one stabilizing influence in his flamboyant life, the center of his exciting universe, it is his devotion to his wife Jody, a York Suburban graduate (we forgive him) to whom he has been married for 22 years. His “home court” is in Roanoke where he and Jody are parents to two beautiful daughters, Kacy (15) and Kali (13). Thanks Duke Edsall ’74 for making us Warrior Proud. Susquehannock Updates Graduation Requirements Graduation requirements will change for Susquehannock High School students, beginning with the class of 2013. The total number of required credits will increase from 24.5 to 25 resulting from the addition of a half-credit Career Seminar. The seminar will support a new approach to the “senior project,” which will be re-designed with an emphasis on career exploration in preparation for postsecondary education and work experiences. Within the graduation project, students will research various options for potential careers. During their sophomore year, students will take the Career Seminar class. Through career exploration, students develop individual career and education plans, create initial resumes, complete job applications, and learn to conduct interviews. In conjunction with the Career Seminar, students must also complete two field experiences, develop a career plan and present their research. Activity examples include students attending career fairs or shadowing professionals in specific careers. The project may be completed any time beginning in grade 10 (with Career Seminar) but no later than by the end of the first semester of grade 12. Athletes, Teams Receive Shipley Awards Several Susquehannock High School athletes, including teams and coaches were recently recognized with 2009 Shipley Distinguished Achievement Awards at the York Sports Night, which was held January 21 at the old Central York High School. The Boys Soccer Team – 2008 PIAA AA State Champion Boys Soccer Team Coach, Ben Kettlewell – Class AA Boys Soccer Coach of the Year Joe Ferraracci – All State Soccer, East Coast Region All American Jess Franz, Dylan Keil, and Kaylyn Knapke – Girls Volleyball All State Billy Kerr ‘08 – U.S. Lacrosse All-American 2008 Softball Team – PIAA AAA State Champion, - 2009 Shipley Special Achievement Award. Southern Students Create Mural of the Golden Rule Road Southern Elementary School unveiled a wall mural created by students, staff, and parent volunteers on January 27 in a festival celebration held in the school’s lobby. The work spans an entire wall and features the character traits: honesty, perseverance, diversity, responsibility and courage, which are all part of the school’s core values. For the past few weeks, featured artist, Justin Ayala, has led students, staff and parent volunteers through a journey on the Golden Rule Road of mosaic tile. Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and the Cultural Alliance of York County, the Artist in Residence Program focuses on visual and folk arts, music, and literature. The school’s PTO raised money to help fund the program. Six graders drew pictures of what the school’s core values meant to them. From these drawings, Ayala created the mural’s design, Putnam said. Crafted from different tiles and held together with mortar, the mural also features Farmer Bob, who holds a key to the school, along with characters that represent leadership, respect, responsibility, and courage “The mural is about being honest with yourself and others,” parent volunteer and site coordinator Brenda Putnam said.