50172
By Keith Brake
Turn on the news, and they’ll tell you the sky is falling.
No, don’t turn on the news . . .we already know the sky is falling. The virus, global warming, inflation, politicians.
What can we DO about it?
Pick up our sky. One piece at a time. That means doing something good that’s close to home.
That includes raising cancer awareness, which Montezuma students and other residents, along with many in Sigourney and Williamsburg, did such a wonderful job of just before the holiday break.
When the Braves and Bravettes basketball teams hosted Sigourney and Williamsburg on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 17-19, they were playing in Montezuma’s cancer awareness games for this season.
Cancer impacts just about everyone, in some way.
A bunch of activities helped to raise money for the TaterTough Foundation, named in memory of Tate Schaefer, a 13-year old Williamsburg boy who courageously fought a rare form of brain cancer for more than two years.
Tate passed away on March 29 of 2021. But his memory lives on.
When those teams played here, they wore TaterTough shooting shirts. The girls, including cheerleaders, also had hair ribbons.
Tate loved all sports and any kind of competition.
The Montezuma Blue & White Boosters challenged people in the crowd, young or old, to make a three-point or half-court shot. They donated $1 per attempt.
These shots came during halftime of the varsity games on Friday and during the junior varsity games on Saturday. There were prizes for all made baskets.
TaterTough bracelets were sold, and free will donations were accepted.
Proceeds from the Saturday concession stand were earmarked for the TaterTough Foundation.
Tate Schaefer had DIPG, a rare, fast-growing tumor that forms in part of the brain stem. It is difficult to treat. Victims have a poor prognosis.
Victims generally live two to 10 years post diagnosis. Tate lived two, but made quite an impression around the South Iowa Cedar League and eastern Iowa before and during that time.
Darcy and Brad Schaefer are Tate’s parents. Darcy reached out to the Montezuma community after Saturday’s event with this written piece:
“This community is so close to our hearts and we are so grateful for continuing to support us through events like this Saturday!”
“We know and love so many of the families and Tate had some very special Braves/Bravettes role models. We are so honored that they continue to help us remember Tate and everything he loved about sports and life!”
How do you measure success? It goes way beyond money (and there was plenty of that).
“The scoreboard didn’t show Montezuma as the winners of the basketball games on Saturday night,” said Marie Boulton of the Blue & White Athletic Boosters. “But we definitely won in the game of life this weekend.”
“Montezuma, Sigourney and Williamsburg came together to raise more than $2,400 for the TaterTough Foundation,” Boulton said.
“We hope to present this check to the Schaefers sometime over the Christmas break.”
It’s not events that rule our lives. It’s our response to those events.
We’ll close with another message from Brad and Darcy Schaefer:
“Love every moment and every day you are given. And love those around you like we love Tate and each moment we were blessed to have with him. Live Tater Tough!” – The Schaefer family