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AUGUST 28, 2024
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
Down but not out BY CATHY MOLITORIS
Two-day auction will benefit MCCS BY CATHY MOLITORIS
She decided to pursue hockey as a career and began playing for a team in the English league before coming home after one season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the spring of 2021, she was
“This event is a social gathering for MCCS families to get to know each other as well as a fun community event for all ages,” said Lindsay Norris, director of development and community relations, describing the Mount Calvary Christian School (MCCS) benefit auction. The event will take place on Friday, Sept. 27, and Saturday, Sept. 28, at the school, 629 Holly St., Elizabethtown. Friday’s festivities will begin with dinner at 4:30 p.m. “We will have meals available for dine-in or takeout,” Norris said, noting that the dinners will feature Harvey’s Main Street BBQ pulled pork, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, a roll and a drink. Both adult and child portions will be offered. Dine-in meals will be served at the school. Takeout meals will be available for drive-through pick up at the school’s west campus, 35 Elm Ave., Elizabethtown. Friday evening will also feature a variety of live and silent auctions. Hess Auctioneers will oversee the live auction portion. “Our main auction time is on Friday,” said Eric Stone, incoming auction chair and a memb er o f the auction committee. “We have auctions
See Field hockey pg 4
See Auction pg 2
Photo courtesy of WorldSportPics
Jillian Wolgemuth
college, she tried out for the U.S. team but wasn’t chosen, so she faced a decision: work to become a professional athlete after graduation or pursue a job in her major, political science.
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t takes years of hard work to become an Olympic athlete, but just seconds for that dream to come crashing down. Mount Joy native and Manheim Central alumna Jillian Wolgemuth knows all about that. In her team’s second-to-last match before the Paris Olympics, Jillian, a member of USA Field Hockey, received the ball and took off running. “I was running and cut left and felt a pop in my knee,” recalled the defensive player. “My first thought as I fell to the ground was, ‘I just tore my ACL.’” Injuring the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which stabilizes the knee, is devastating for athletes, Jillian shared, noting that it requires surgery and a long rehab - sometimes up to a year before resuming play. “I’m a very logical person,” Jillian said. “I knew right when it happened that I had a decision to make. No matter what, I was not going to the Olympics. I had to change course.” The experience of missing the Paris Olympics tested her confidence, impacted her self-esteem and, ultimately, underscored her faith. “I decided, ‘Do I want to wake up every day, be miserable and feel sorry for myself?’” she said by phone from Charlotte, N.C., where she lives as a member of USA Field Hockey. “Don’t get me
wrong - I do feel sorry for myself. But I decided to attack rehab with all of the energy I have, to stay positive and to focus on the things I can control.” As she continues her recovery, Jillian is leaning on friends, family and her church community. “I have a very tight group of women who have helped me realize there’s a bigger picture. It’s not all about Jillian gaining the title of ‘Olympian,’” she shared. “God has a plan, and I am going to focus on the positives.” Growing up in Mount Joy, the daughter of Randy Wolgemuth and Betsy Ebersole played field hockey for the first time in middle school while attending Kraybill Mennonite School. “I grew up playing every sport,” she said. “I loved anything that involved a ball. At the time, I was looking for a fall season sport to play, because soccer was a spring sport at Kraybill, and my mom suggested I try field hockey.” She soon realized she loved the sport. “It’s a very fun, very fast-moving sport, which I really enjoy. It’s very dynamic,” she commented. “It’s a nice mix between skillful and technical and having to be quite athletic.” Jillian continued to play field hockey at Manheim Central High School, graduating in 2016. She played for four years at Duke University before graduating in 2020. In January of her senior year in
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