Paulding native Dr. John DeWitt spoke at this year’s Van Wert/ Paulding OSU Alumni Club
Spring Banquet. Dave Mosier/Van Wert independent
While Ohio State Buckeye fans have plenty of opportunities to support the
university they love, the OSU Alumni Club of Paulding and Van
Wert Counties is happy to provide two more during the year: in
the fall and the spring.
On Tuesday, April 8, the club held its spring banquet at JEHMMS
Banquet Center, with approximately 100 people coming to eat,
hear a guest speaker and raise money to provide scholarships to
deserving local students who want to attend The Ohio State
University.
This year’s speaker was John DeWitt, a 1992 Paulding High School
graduate who is team leader for Clinical Development and
director of both the sports and orthopedic physical therapy
residencies at Ohio State.
Dr. DeWitt talked about his experiences as a high school athlete
and also had stories from his tenure as a seasonal assistant
athletic trainer with the New England Patriots professional
football team.
Although he admits not thinking much of current Patriots’
quarterback Tom Brady when he first saw him on the sidelines,
Dr. DeWitt said the thing he has seen in highly successful
athletes, including Olympics and Special Olympics athletes, is
the passion they bring to their sport. It’s a quality he said
everyone needs to have for the things they do in their lives.
The spring
banquet is also the time when a new Buckaholic is anointed, and
this year’s super-fan was actually a couple, Dave and Pam
Herminghuysen.
CONGRATULATIONS HERMS!!!
Pam Herminguysen
signs the Buckeye hat and also puts on the Buckeye hat to
signify she and husband Dave were the new Buckaholics for the
coming year.
Dave Mosier/Van
Wert independent
It was announced that the
Van Wert/Paulding
OSU Alumni Club
is awarding $9,000
in grants to 47
local students
this year.
Two high school
seniors, one from each county, will be receiving $650
scholarships from the Ohio State University to attend OSU.
Recipients receiving recognition were Rob Pond of Wayne Trace
and Ethan Enyart of Van Wert.
Kimberly Lowe, director of alumni clubs for the
OSU Alumni Association, and Assistant Dean Mike Cunningham of
the OSU Branch in Lima spoke briefly during the banquet.
Cunningham said he was especially excited about the future of
the branch campuses with the tightening of admissions guidelines
on the main campus in Columbus.
Cunningham said that, because it is a Land Grant college, OSU
must provide open enrollment opportunities, and that will now be
done at the branch campuses, which should result in a more
diverse student population at campuses like OSU-Lima. Students
who spend a year at a branch campus and fulfill academic
requirements can then move to the main campus.
In addition to the meal and speakers, club members also had the
chance to win a variety of prizes and a 50/50 drawing.
