On a clear, blue Thursday at Stayton High, a large crowd of students, athletes, cheerleaders, teachers, parents, administrators, boosters, community members and individuals who are good with projects and heavy equipment, gathered at Stayton High.
The Oct. 3 event marked the opening of the Ty Hart Memorial Fitness Center, a project inspired by a former Eagles athlete and inspiringly put together by all of the folks mentioned above starting, well, the groundbreaking was in November 2023, but the dream has been out there for years.
Ty Hart was a three-sport Eagles athlete and cheerleader who died in a helicopter crash in 2016 off of Hawaii while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.
His mother, Trina Hart, spoke last at the ceremony. She noted Ty’s passion for fitness and service, and her own experience as a Stayton student with the old, away-off-in-the-corner, way-too- tiny weight room the school had when she attended and participated on the school’s vaunted Stayton Highlights dance and drill team.
Trina also noted that arch-rival Cascade was coming to town later in the day for the football game that matters most to Stayton and Turner residents, who are divided by about seven miles of prime agricultural land (depending on whether you take the Stayton Road/Marion Road approach or use Shaff Road). But despite the color of their jerseys, service to country – such as that practiced by Ty – is what matters the most, she said, adding that we are all Americans.
I’ve seen Trina speak before and she’s fantastic. That’s why she goes last. Earlier, athletic director Darren Shryock and football coach Randy Nyquist emphasized how the new center will make Stayton students healthier. North Santiam School District Superintendent Lee Loving praised the organizers for raising the money privately for the project and preserving district funds needed elsewhere.
And then there was Randy Forrette, the Stayton Boosters Club President, who kept persuading new companies (a total of 37 participated) and community members to contribute to the $1.5 million project.
Here’s the list of major labor/materials/equipment donors: Emery and Sons Construction, the Joe Wolf family, Mike Adams Construction, Salem Concrete, Marion Construction, Santiam Heating and Sheet Metal, Stayton Builders Mart, Freres Building Supply and Green Acres Landscape.
More than 100 companies, individuals and families contributed cash, Forrette said. Major cash donors included: the Hart family, Diane R. Freres, Julie Moran, Bill and Sherma Gardner, Larry and Michelle Gescher, Freres Engineered Wood, Jim and Sandee Reed, Dan and Tiffany Vannoy, Frank Lumber Company, Adam and Beth Anundi, and Cory and Debbie Callsen.
Quite a project. Stayton should be proud.
Football: The meat-grinder that was the Class 4A Special District 3 season is one game away from a conclusion.
As of this writing the league contains four of the top seven teams, No. 1 Marist Catholic, No. 2 Cascade, No. 5 Philomath and No. 7 Stayton. Marist Catholic has the hammer, with the Spartans the lone unbeaten team at 4-0 after drubbing injury-riddled Cascade 47-0 on Oct. 25. Marist visits Philomath, 3-1, Nov. 1 and an upset by the Warriors could throw the league into a three-way tie. The Cougars are also 3-1 and finish at home vs. 1-3 Sweet Home. Stayton, probably the best team in the state to open its league season 0-3, hopes to end up 2-3 with a win at 0-4 Junction City.
Volleyball: Cascade (12-7 overall, 8-2 Oregon West) enters the postseason with the No. 2 seed from the conference. The Cougars, who won the 4A title in 2021 and runner-up in 2022), tied with Philomath for the league title, but Warriors took the No. 1 seed from the league. Stayton, meanwhile, finished 7-3 in league and won its play-in game on Oct. 28 in four sets vs. Junction City. The playoffs start Nov. 2, with the Eagles and Cougars still awaiting their opponents at presstime. A win Saturday advances the team to the state tournament in North Bend.
Meanwhile, Stayton coach Ruth Daniels was named coach of the year by conference coaches and Kamryn Sande of Cascade earned player of the year honors. Stayton’s Kathryn Samek, Kenzi Hollenbeck and Laina Atiyeh were named to the first team, as were Irene Rocha Ibarra and Emma Kirschenmann of Cascade. Hailey Abundiz of Cascade was named to the second team, while Aubrey Hall and Kayla Neal Welke of Stayton and Amyah Miranda and Macie Theis of Cascade received honorable mention.
