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Ansonia grabs back
“Grudge Match” blood drive trophy
ANSONIA, Ohio – The 6.6 mile stretch of Ohio State Route 47 between
Ansonia High School and rival Mississinawa Valley High School is the
asphalt rope in a community tug-of-war. The schools battle down the
road and back, trading Ansonia football victories against Mississinawa
revenge in basketball. It’s a balance of power that makes the rivalry
great, and they expect no less from their FFA teams in the Grudge Match
Blood Drive.
Ansonia upheld the tradition of “home team” advantage by winning the
7th annual Community Blood Center FFA Grudge Match Blood Drive Monday,
June 27 in the AHS gym. Everyone who registered to donate could
cast a “vote” for their school. Ansonia reclaimed the Grudge
Match trophy with a winning margin of 30-17. The trophy will be
on display with a new inscription when students return in the fall.
The challenge blood drive is a way of supporting the blood supply
during the summer months when there are no high school blood
drives. The combined support for the Grudge Match resulted in 48
registrations and 37 blood donations.
“I like the way it gets the kids involved at a young age,” said Cheryl
Warrell, a former secretary at Ansonia who made her 53rd lifetime
donation Monday. “It gets them started in life donating.”
Both schools are past winners of $1,000 CBC High School Leadership
Grants for percentage of enrollment supporting blood drives. Both
schools are also extremely proud of their FFA programs.
Ansonia FFA students operate the Ansonia FFA Greenhouse, a fall and
spring retail garden center that sells 400 different kinds of plants
and does more than $50,000 worth of business a year.
“It’s really busy in the winter, getting everything ready,” said FFA
member and blood drive volunteer Sarah Rhoades, who took the class
offered in greenhouse management. “We plant thousands of seeds, grow
them in our lab in the class and take them out to the greenhouse when
they sprout.”
FFA students from both schools see the value in being hard workers and
blood donors. Megan Bergan, a former FFA student who graduated
from Ansonia in May, worked a full early shift at her summer job before
coming to the Grudge Match to make her fourth lifetime donation.
Mississinawa FFA graduate Kasey Hummel made her 9th lifetime donation
at the Grudge Match before going to her summer job at Fort Recovery
Industries. She works the third shift six nights a week, saving money
for the fall when she will be studying agronomy and ag-business at
Wilmington College.
“I did public speaking in FFA,” she said. “I was really shy when I
started. But we had to write a speech and talk in front of people and I
did it. My topic was soy beans!”
Mississinawa Valley senior and FFA member Shainan Livingston made her
5th lifetime donation Tuesday. Her team won the Grudge Match last
year, and she admits it’s easier to recruit when you’re the home
team. But that didn’t stop her from making the drive down Ohio 47
to Ansonia.
“I like donating,” she said. “I got a call one time about how they had
to rush my blood to a different blood bank that needed it for someone.”
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