Freedom Fest 5k on Tap Soon

The 16th annual Jackson County Freedom Fest 5K Run and Walk will begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Manpower Park on East Main Street in Jackson.

Entry fee for the run through the business district and western residential section of Jackson is $15, with proceeds going toward sponsorship of community events by the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce.

Plaques will be awarded to the top three male and female finishers, and medals will be given to the top three finishers in all age divisions outside of those winning plaques.

No pre-registration is required, and participants may sign up the morning of the race. For more information on the run, call (740) 286-2722.

There also will be a one-mile walk starting simultaneously with the run. There is no charge to take part in the walk.

Two Trophies, Two Sets of Medals ... but Premier League has Only One Winner

The Premier League has ordered winners’ medals for both Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson – but only one boss will ever see theirs.

 As part of the preparations for Sunday’s finale, when either City or United will be crowned champions, the Premier League have commissioned two sets of nine-carat gold custom medals, only one of which will ever be used. They are also planning ticker-tape presentation ceremonies at the Etihad Stadium, where City play QPR, and the Stadium of Light, where United face Sunderland.

Identical podiums and firework displays will be dispatched to Manchester and Sunderland in an operation the Premier League have revealed will take ‘military precision’ to pull off. But they are keeping the rest of their plans top secret.

There will a trophy at the Etihad Stadium and the Stadium of Light – either the Champions Trophy, currently in the care of United, or a replica owned by sponsors Barclays – but the league are remaining tight-lipped over where the real trophy will be.

They are also keeping the identity of the two presentations parties, which will include a representative from the Premier League and Barclays, under wraps until the weekend.

 “The presentations parties are to be confirmed and the plans are always subject to change,” said a spokesman. “We’ve been planning for this for a while and we will have teams at both stadiums on Sunday. It has been planned with military precision.”

City head into the final-day fixtures as the bookies’ favorites to lift the title. They need only to match United’s result against Sunderland when they host relegation-threatened QPR, thanks to their superior goal difference of +8. The destination of the Premier League has been decided on the last day five times since its inception in 1992.

United have been involved on each occasion, winning three times and losing out twice. If City match United’s result on Sunday, it will be the first time the Premier League has been decided on goal difference.

Archery Club Scores Bulls Eye Wins

So much for first time jitters. Some of the younger members of the Moose Jaw Thunder Creek Archery club competed in their first provincial competition over the weekend.
“It was a really good weekend,” said Tyler Moore, President of the club. “The kids did really good and they all had fun.”

With over 192 athletes competing in the Junior Olympic Program on Saturday in Prince Albert, the local club did particularly well as three members won trophies for their achievements.

Meaghan Cleave won second place in the 10 m distance, Grace Geradts finished in fourth place in the 15 m distance and Chris Geradts won third place in the 15 m distance.

“They didn’t know how to compare themselves to because it was their first time and you are competed with others from all over the province in your level,” stated Moore. “With the Junior Olympic Program, it is based on a score, not based on age.”

With 142 athletes on Sunday, some of the club members participated in the provincial target competition and five custom medals were brought home. Tyler Moore won the gold medal in the male unlimited class and Jason Cleave won bronze in the male unlimited class. In the female unlimited class, Karlie Cleave brought home the bronze medal, Hailey Cleave won the gold medal in pre-cub and Meaghan Cleave won a silver medal in the pee-wee category.

Peshtigo Slates Youth Wrestling Tourney Jan. 21

The annual Peshtigo Youth Wrestling Tournament will be held on Saturday, January 21 in the high school gym. Weigh-ins are from 7am-8:30am for the folkstyle mat classic and cost is $10 for pre-registration and $12 walk-in. 

Pre-registration is due by Tuesday, January 17. All checks should be made payable to the Bulldog Booster Club.

Divisions are kindergarten, grades 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8. Divisions may be subject to change due to number of registrants and weight variations.

 Custom medals will be awarded for first through 4th place and ribbons for all pins. The 10 member team tourney is $15 with trophies for the top 4 places. For more information contact Joni Bednar 715-923-5697, Lisa Drees 715-923-4282 or email justlikejoni@gmail.com.

Singapore Athletes Score Well in ASEAN Para Games

Singapore athletes continued their winning form at the 6th ASEAN Para Games in Solo, Indonesia. They clinched three more gold medals on Sunday.

Swimmer Benson Tan, delivered his second gold, and set yet another ASEAN Para Games record. The 20-year-old shaved four seconds in the 50 meters butterfly ID event, with his time of 30.82 seconds.

Another gold came from veteran athlete Theresa Goh, in the S5 100 meters freestyle event, in a time of one minute, 42.84 seconds.

Bowlers Thomas Yong and Mohamed Ismail B. Hussain teamed up in the Doubles TPB1+TPB2/B3 - Mixed event, to capture the third gold medal. The Singapore duo had an average score of 130.6 points, and finished with a total of 1567 pin falls.

Sunday's medals brings Singapore's tally to seven gold, three silver and seven bronze medals at the Games so far.

Arunachal Bag 16 Medals in National Youth Weightlifting

Takio Yana clinched three more gold medals to help Arunachal Pradesh top the medal tally with 16 medals including six gold, seven silver and three bronze, on the final day of the seventh National Youth Weightlifting championship held at Nirjuli near.

Yana won the gold in 58 kg (girls) category by lifting 64 kg in snatch, 85 kg in clean & jerk and 149 kg in total.

Orissa finished second with six gold, six silver and three bronze followed by Uttarakhand with six gold, Andhra Pradesh (five gold, four silver and five bronze), West Bengal (5 gold and a silver), Manipur (4 gold, 9 silver and 9 bronze), Madhya Pradesh (4 gold and 2 silver), Delhi (3 gold) and Bihar with a gold medal.

In 63 kg (girls) category, Subhasmita Mohanty of Orissa won three medals by lifting 61 kg (silver) in snatch, 78 kg (gold) in clean and jerk and 139 kg (gold) in total.

Putul Sarkar from Bihar also won three medals by lifting 62 kg (gold) in snatch, 76 kg (silver) in clean & jerk and 138 kg (silver) in total in the same category while Pompi Sarkar of Assam won a bronze medal in snatch by lifting 58 kg and P S Hringtun Anal (Manipur) also won a bronze in clean and jerk by lifting 65 kg along with Muneera MS from Kerala clinching a bronze medal in total by lifting 111 kg. medal.

Illinois Tries to Reunite Heroes With Their Medals

Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford has more than 200 unclaimed military medals, records and even dog tags, dating as far back as the Spanish-American War, and he’d like to find their rightful owners.

Rutherford on Friday announced Operation Reunite, a program aimed at finding the owners of the medals and other military artifacts. “I think it’s appropriate to try to reunite such an important part of our military record to the individual recipients if possible — if not, to their families,” Rutherford said.

One of the artifacts belongs to a William White of Joliet. Rutherford did not have specific information on White or what belonged to him on Friday, but said his office would provide more information later.

Preliminary efforts to locate the medal owners have been unsuccessful. Rutherford hopes that by announcing Operation Reunite he can bring more attention to the fact that his office has these medals. Hopefully, he said, that could lead to finding the owners.

The owners are not necessarily military veterans. They rented bank safety deposit boxes where the medals were found. Banks turned in the medals to the state after being unable to locate the box owners. Among the medals being held are 15 Purple Hearts, five Bronze Stars, one Silver Star and a Navy Cross. Of historical note are a Spanish American War medal and a World War I Service medal.

“The one that touched me the most is the Purple Heart,” Rutherford said. “A Purple Heart is given because someone was wounded or killed in action.” There are also a few foreign medals, including the German Iron Cross and the Order of Vasco Nunez Balboa medal awarded by Panama.

The property is included in the state treasurer’s Cash Dash program, which attempts to locate owners of unclaimed property turned over to the state by banks and other corporations. Operation Reunite is a first attempt to put special focus on the military medals.

The Cash Dash data base has 10 million entries (Some names are in more than once.), and the private property being held is worth $1.5 million. The military artifacts account for 72 of those names and very little of the cash value. But given the importance of the medals, Rutherford said he believed it was worth trying to bring attention to them.

Rutherford announced the program after a Veterans Day ceremony in Chicago. Veterans were very interested to learn that the state held so many unclaimed medals, he said. Rutherford plans to approach veterans’ organizations to help bring attention to Operation Reunite. Those interested in learning more about the medals can go to the treasurer’s Web site at www.treasurer.il.gov and click onto Operation Reunite. Or, people can call the treasurer’s Unclaimed Property Division at 217-785-6998.

Cardiff Brothers’ War Plaques to be Auctioned

Poignant plaques commissioned to honor the lives of two Cardiff brothers killed during the Great War are set to go under the hammer. The plaques will be part of a large sale of militaria – including custom medals, uniforms, guns and swords. The memorial plaques, which are made of bronze, remember siblings Private Arthur Jenkins and Walter John Jenkins, who came from Grangetown and gave their lives for their country.

Arthur, of the 2nd Battalion Welsh Regiment, was killed in action on August 23, 1916, while Walter, of the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry, was killed on March 21, 1918. The plaques were sent to their parents John and Hanna Jenkins, of Stoughton Street, Grangetown, as a token of recognition for their sons’ service. Now they are due to go to auction at a Bristol auction house on Tuesday, November 29, where they are expected to fetch between £400 to £600.

Malcolm Claridge, a military specialist from Dreweatts auction house, said the fact the plaques were together implied they have always been kept as a pair. He said they came to auction from a local dealer after originally being consigned to an antiques market in 1994.

“It’s quite an interesting story – they were found in a flea market a few years ago,” Mr Claridge said. “It was very common. Memorial plaques were given if you were killed in action and sent to your mother or wife. During the 1920s, there would have been thousands of them around – that is what you got for serving your country.”

Ghana Picks Up Two More Medals

Ghana's standings on the medal table has been boosted with two more medals from the Paralympic team in the Men’s 1500 meter race at the Zimpeto National Stadium on Monday.

Patrick Obeng and Felix Acheampong won silver and bronze medals respectively in their races.
On their way to the finals, Obeng won the heats, whilst Acheampong placed fourth with Botyso Nkegbe placing third.

Ghana's best bet Botyso Nkegbe, however, failed in his attempt to win the gold medal and improve on his Africa record of 3 minutes and 24 seconds as he failed in the tracks after the second round.

Ghana's total medal haul now stands at seven, but the disabled athletes have vowed to win more laurels in the 400 meters events to make a case for themselves.

Many of the disabled athletes have expressed worry over the little attention given them by authorities and have vowed to make an impact in the competition as a way of justifying their demand for much attention and recognition to participate in future events.
GNA

Incoming Tracksters Win Three Medals at Pan Am Games

Two incoming Iowa freshmen helped the United States earn 59 custom medals at the Pan American Junior Championships from July 22 through Sunday, according to a release.

Kayla Beattie won gold medals in both the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters at the championships, which were held in Miramar, Fla. She won the 3K with a time of 9:30.63 on July 23 and dominated the competition in the 5K with a 16:48.44 time on Sunday — a full six seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

Gabe Hull took home the silver medal in the discus with a toss of 189-7, and he was only beaten by a Pan Am Junior meet-record 218-5 mark from a Jamaican thrower. Hull was an Indiana state champion in the event while in high school, and he told USA Track & Field his previous successes served as motivation during the Pan Am games.

"At the beginning, I was just thinking I would settle for whatever I could get," he said after his medal-winning throw in the final round. "Then I [remembered] I had done well before, so I could do well again. I almost reproduced the good things I had done before, so it ended up well."

Titles, Trophies and Straight A’s

They don’t give out an Academy Award for acting in martial arts, but if they did, you can bet Taralyn Wilmer would have one stuffed in among all the other trophies she’s accumulated over the past nine years. The 14-year-old Beloit Turner High School freshman has placed in 76 martial arts contests and is already a member of the American Karate Association Hall of Fame. She has an entire wall in her family’s home devoted to her success, with trophies on shelves from floor to ceiling. Another wall displays the myriad of custom medals she has received.


Her most recent hardware came June 25 in the American Open Martial Arts competition held in Atlanta, Ga. She finished first in both Tae Kwon Do Form and Okinawan Karate Form as well as second in Team Form and third in Creative Form. Karate competitors compete in two disciplines —sparring (kumite) and forms (kata), which also has its own divisions, including one for “extreme” forms. “That’s basically forms with a lot of flashy gymnastics moves thrown in,” said Taralyn.

While she has competed in board-breaking, her specialty is traditional forms, an orchestrated series of both offensive and defensive techniques. While judges are experts at scrutinizing competitors’ grace, power and technical precision, they are also influenced by attitude.

That’s where Taralyn’s acting ability comes in. Quiet and reserved off the mat, she appears to channel Bruce Lee on it. “I have to show intensity in front of the judges,” she said. “I have to show it in my eyes. When I’m competing in forms I have to go into character. I’ve learned how to be a different person and that has helped my acting in school.”

Ohio Veteran Receives Medals After 43 Years

An Ohio man critically wounded in the Vietnam War has received a Purple Heart and other medals after 43 years. Republican Congressman Steven LaTourette of Ohio presented the medals Thursday to 71-year-old Retired Army Sgt. David Hack of Hudson in northeast Ohio.

Hack was wounded on September 13, 1968, in Vietnam and never received his military medals. LaTourette says a carrier Hack was traveling in was ambushed by the North Vietnamese Army. He was shot several times and suffered shrapnel and bayonet wounds. Hack spent about a year in the hospital at Fort Knox, Ky., and then served as an Army recruiter. He was honorably discharged in 1973 and later was a police officer in Hudson and police chief in Sebring near Youngstown.

Ruppel Academy Students Enjoy Academic Awards

Those kids at Ruppel Academy are real winners, evident by the number of custom medals and awards given out at the school’s annual awards day program.

Seventh-grader Elizabeth Nguyen accepted the award for Highest Scholastic Average in her grade at Ruppel Academy's Award Day ceremony, where a large number of academic awards were presented to students.

Proof in the pudding, the school received a 5-star rating when the School Performance Scores came out last fall, and had 75 members in the National Junior Honor Society in this year alone. As an advanced studies school, good grades are expected. With a total enrollment of 346 students, 330 students received the superintendent’s award for a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

Trophies for highest class average in their respective grades went to eighth-grader Ashraf Farhoud, seventh-grader Elizabeth Nguyen and sixth-graders Julienne St. Louis, Trang Vu and Maryann Yacoub. Ruppel’s Student of the Year was eighth-grader Sydnie McClinton.

“Teacher of the Year was Kristen Mason, who teaches sixth-grade math and moderates student council” and the positive behavior program, Principal Debra Cooper said. “She is an amazing teacher and gives back 200 percent to the school.”

Rawlins High Grad Leads Team to 20 Medals

Twenty-four medals were handed out following the shooting competition at the Wounded Warrior Games in Colorado Springs in May. Roger Withrow's fingerprints, at least metaphorically, were on 20 of them. Withrow, a 1976 graduate of Rawlins High School, coached a team of 18 injured Marines to all eight gold medals, six silver medals and six bronze medals.

For Withrow, a paraplegic with a storied shooting history - including a gold medal at the 1984 Paralympic Games - the accomplishment went beyond acquiring precious metals.
"I was dumbfounded, I was totally dumbfounded," he said. "This had to have been the best I've felt on the shooting range since I won my gold medal, anyway. Easily. It was so overwhelming I never thought I'd be a part of this."

Withrow spent part of his youth in Hanna before his family moved to Rawlins for the last five years of his schooling. While at RHS, he shot with the junior rifle club. "I ended up winning a scholarship to Murray State University," in Murray, Ky., Withrow said.
Success followed him to the Bluegrass State where the Murray State Racers shooting team won the collegiate championship and Withrow won the high-powered championship in 1978. "I was wanting to try to get on the 1979 Pan-Am Games. With me shooting real well in 1978 in high-power I decided to go for it," he said.

In the summer of 1978 he suffered an injury that caused three herniated discs in his back. He decided to leave college to move back to Rawlins where he rehabilitated his back at Memorial Hospital of Carbon County in the morning and then worked the rest of the day. "(While working) in the spring of 1979, I ended up being smashed by a truckload of pipe," Withrow recalls. "The pipe was 36-inches in diameter and 20-foot long."

He was flown to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and spent the next 18 months in rehab.
"I pretty much knew at that time I was a paraplegic," he said. "It was a heartbreaker. What else can I say? I was at the top of my life at that time and all the sudden someone knocks the blocks out from underneath me."

Withrow recalled watching the 1979 Pan American Games from a hospital bed.
Through his disappointment, he decided to get back to shooting and started the Wheelchair Shooting Federation in 1980. "We did not have wheelchair shooting in the United States," he said, adding there was no Paralympic team.

He said he was the first shooter on the U.S. Paralympic team and competed in the 1984 Paralympics in the United Kingdom. "That's where I picked up the first and only gold medal USA Paralympic shooting has today," he said.

Top Grad Students Earn Gold Medals

Ken Valyear is quick to say he isn’t a scientific whiz kid or boy wonder. But his curiosity, determination and strong work ethic have paid off, earning him the Governor General’s Gold Medal.

Valyear, who completed his PhD in Neuroscience in the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, and Chris Bundock, who completed his PhD in the Department of English, were selected as the two Governor General’s Gold Medal recipients as graduate students with the highest academic standing. The pair will be presented the medals during The University of Western Ontario’s convocation week, June 13-17.

“This kind of recognition means a great deal to me. I am truly honored. It makes me appreciate just how fortunate I am, for many things in my life,” Valyear says. “Many aspects of the process do not come easily for me. Each day is a real grind, and steps forward are often numbly slow.

“But, I seem to have a genuine driving interest deep down, my inner nerdy self I guess, and this is what keeps me at it,” he continues. “I suppose the constant challenges of research are also what makes this career choice great – as scientists we are always challenged and always learning, and there will never be a stop to that.”

Each faculty submits a nomination to the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and these are evaluated based on: graduating with a grade of 85 per cent or higher; academic performance in degree courses; seminar performance; evaluation of the thesis and thesis defense; originality and significance of research; and appraisal of other requirements for the degree.

While the program is nationwide, Western distributes two medals each year on behalf of the Governor General. The medals are not associated with any monetary award.
Lord Dufferin, Canada’s third Governor General after Confederation, created the academic medals in 1873 to recognize outstanding scholastic achievements.

Chesterton Boys Win State Track and Field Medals

The Chesterton boys track team brought back three medals from the IHSAA State Final at Indiana University on Friday night.

“We didn’t have as many guys competing in a lot of events this year, but I really felt like everyone had a chance to place,” Chesterton coach John Snyder said. “For the most part, we either were just in the medals or just barely out.”

The Trojans’ most success came in the field events where Kody Galloway finished as the State runner-up in the high jump and was 10th in the long jump. “Kody Galloway finishing as the State runner-up and you can’t finish your senior year with a much better showing than that,” Snyder said. “It’s too bad he was still in both events and had to pass some jumps with a chance to medal in the long jump.”

In the pole vault, Justin Zosso finished seventh by clearing 15-3, while Peter Fouts was 21st clearing 13-6. “Justin Zosso matching a PR and getting seventh puts him as one of the best in the State with another year to get even better,” Snyder said.

On the track, senior Ryan Cutter finished ninth overall in the 800 and knocked out Tim Bagby’s school record by .3 by finishing in 1:55.07. “Ryan Cutter breaking a school record and getting ninth for a medal is a great finish to his career,” Snyder said.
Cutter also teamed with Austin Palombizio, Manny Orlich and Tyler Rusboldt to finish 10th in the 4x800 Relay.

“I was really excited with the 4x8 running the second fastest time in school history,” Snyder said. “Unfortunately they just missed a State medal. Overall, it was a pretty good day. “They gave everything they had all year and you can’t ask for more than that.”

　

Volta Region Going for Medals

The Volta Region is targeting medals in the long distance race, Taekwan-do and Judo in this year’s National Unity Games scheduled for next month.

“These are our strong areas and we hope to excel in them” Mr Gabriel Missodey, Regional Sports Development Officer said in an interview with GNA Sports at Ho on Monday.

He said the Region was likely to win a number of medals as well in other events at the Games with a little push and commitment.

Mr Missodey said currently, the various Districts were preparing their contingents for the Regional Unity Games scheduled for August 10 to August 14 at Anloga and assured that “best materials” would be selected at the Regional Games to represent the Region at the national event.

He said the Region already has some of the best athletes in the country and only needed some brushing up to do.

“Volta Region is noted for her exploits in athletes and surely, we will be the toast for all at the Games,” Mr Missodey added.

He said the Region needed about 20,345 Ghana citizens to prepare all contingents for the Games and called for support from individuals and corporate institutions to finance the team.

Mr Missodey also appealed to Members of Parliament from the Region to support the contingents with sports equipment and other facilities to improve on their performance.
GNA

Hodges Award Honors Fallen Serviceman, CHS Senior

Members of the Chief Petty Officers Association of the Navy Operational Support Center in Springfield who have ties to the local area made an impressive occasion out of reviving the Duane Hodges Leadership Award during a Creswell High School awards ceremony on May 26.

Cecil Arient, a 1987 CHS graduate and Chief Petty Officers Association member, bestowed the Duane Hodges Award upon graduating senior Ryan Dodson during a special surprise presentation at the conclusion of the awards ceremony.

Operations Specialist Chief Petty Officer Arient and his fellow presenters, Ensign Eric Hingley, a Pleasant Hill graduate, and Religious Program Specialist Chief Petty Officer Mark McGuire, a Siuslaw graduate, wore Full Dress Medals while making the presentation. "We don't wear those very often, so to go out in town in Full Dress Medals is a pretty big deal," Arient explained.

The Duane Hodges Leadership Award is given in memory of Hodges, a 1965 CHS graduate who enlisted in the Eugene Navy Reserve Unit on June 1, 1966, was called to active duty on Oct. 29 of that year and was killed in action aboard the U.S.S. Pueblo on Jan. 23, 1968. Hodges was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the third-highest U.S. military decoration, which is awarded exclusively for combat valor.

Originally presented to an outstanding graduating wrestler, because Hodges has been at CHS wrestler, the Duane Hodges Award eventually ceased to be given out. "No one seems to know the history of how that happened over the years," said Arient, noting that the Chief Petty Officers Association intends to continue sponsoring the award in years to come.

The revived Duane Hodges Leadership Award is open to all graduating seniors, with the CHS faculty making the final determination based on a student's demonstrated character and leadership qualities. "We would like to recognize a student who has displayed the characteristics of courage, initiative and inspiring dedication which honors the memory and reflects Petty Officer Hodges' bravery," Arient indicated.

As the recipient of the award in its first reactivated year, Dodson, who was also named the 2011 Junior Citizen of the Year by the Creswell Chamber of Commerce, was presented with an acrylic award...a handsome, 12-inch, diamond-shaped trophy.

His name will also be inscribed on a permanent wall plaque at CHS containing information about Hodges and the award, along with the names of student winners.