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| Written by Gene Morris | |||
| Wednesday, 18 November 2009 09:00 | |||
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I like to use this space to highlight our local athletes and talk about their successes, their disappointments and most of all, the sportsmanship and character in which they handle both. This week, I was wondering just what I should write about.  There were plenty of topics. I could write about how the Paola Panther football team avenged its regular season loss at home against the Eudora Cardinals with a 35-14 victory on the road in the Class 4A sectional playoffs, setting up a substate playoff game against Bishop Miege this Friday. Paola made a statement against Eudora — simply dominating the game defensively and leaving no doubt. Now, they get to play one more week, and even though the odds are against them against the highly favored Bishop Miege Stags, the Paola Panther program has done well throughout the years as the underdogs you know. It goes back to that first state title when Wichita Kapuan-Mount Carmel was supposed to whip Paola in the Class 5A state championship game. Don’t forget how Scott City was supposed to demolish the Panthers in 1994. Seeing players from Paola, Spring Hill and Louisburg represent the Frontier League in the Kansas all-star volleyball match against Missouri on Sunday evening, I thought about writing about them. Briana Mueller, Allison Wood and Kayla Offutt from the Panthers, Kelsey Carbajo and McKenzie Schick from the Broncos, and the Wildcats’ Jordan Shearer got to play a match in which they were not trying to beat each other, quite a change from the regular season when the programs battled for tournament titles and the substate championship. I could also write a few sentences about Paola Panther volleyball coach Michelle Abshire, who was named the Kansas small class division coach of the year by the Greater Kansas City Volleyball Association. There is a lot to write about coach Abshire. Few people really appreciate how much she loves the game of volleyball, the time she has sacrificed to coach the program the last 14 years and the pride she takes in each and every one of the girls who has played for her. To average 24 wins a season over a 14-year period is quite an accomplishment. In the end, I wanted to talk about the students at Paola High School. Now, some of them are also great athletes. Others are not. Some are great in their own thing, like art, music, theatre, science and all sorts of other gifts. The last two weeks, I have seen many of them do great things. Meaningful things. The type of things we remember forever, that teach us one person really can make a difference, the sort of actions that inspire others to get involved. I am talking about the powder puff football game and Camp Out for Cash. Sure, the powder puff football game is a good time for everyone — the girls representing the junior and senior classes, the boys cheering on the sideline and performing at halftime and, of course, the fans. What should not get lost in all of that fun is just how important this game was for our local food pantry and Harvesters. It is a game many families in the county will be grateful for on Thanksgiving Day. In addition to collecting canned goods and non-perishable food items, which took four car loads to deliver to Crosspoint Assembly of God Church in Paola, the powder puff game raised about $500. That money this year was in great need. Harvesters in Kansas City has sent money to the local food pantry in the past to buy turkeys for Thanksgiving dinners. This year, with the economy and budget cuts, there was no money to send here. The money raised at the powder puff game will buy the turkeys to feed families this Thanksgiving. You hear something like that, it has to warm your heart, knowing our kids right here in Paola did that. They also made us proud Saturday evening, camping out at Panther Stadium with nothing but cardboard boxes duct taped together and some plastic material to protect them from the elements. While many of us were sleeping in warm, dry beds, Developmental Leadership students from Paola and student council members from Osawatomie High School were camping out to raise money and awareness for the homeless right here in Miami County. Students raised more than $2,500 with the camp out, which benefits My Father’s House, a homeless shelter for the county located in Paola.
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