Month: March 2011

Above is the photo from the Iron County Reporter the newspaper from my hometown in Michigan. Friends and family of my mother, Yvonne Kralovec, established a scholarship in her name. The award is presented to a West Iron County female athlete each year to be used for university study. Desi, the first award winner, will be playing volleyball in university. It is great to see my Mom’s close friends, Marsha, Bernadette, and Sharon, awarding the scholarship. They worked hard to raise funds for the scholarship and they serve on the selection committee. Thanks to them and everyone who helped out.

I am very happy to see the girls of West Iron still benefiting from my mother. She devoted her life to sports and youth and her 42 years of basketball coaching in West Iron County was quite an accomplishment. Although she is gone, her legacy lives on through the players she coached. Both Bernadette and Sharon are former players of my mother.

That is one of the reasons that I am coaching basketball today. I went to many of her practices while growing up. I thought of this Thursday night, when I brought Oliver and Owen to my team’s practice. When we were leaving the warm gym, heading back to the car, it brought me back 30 some years, to when I was running from the old West Iron Middle School Gym (the former Stambaugh High School) to our Matador.

I don’t think I’ll be going for 42 years, but I hope to make a difference like my mother.

The snow and cold weather continues here in Belgrade. I am pictured outside yesterday afternoon on the grounds of the high school on duty. There is about 6 inches on the ground and yesterday it snowed again. This is unusual for March for Belgrade. Highs are usually in the 50s and it is normal to be above freezing. Right now it is 28F and overcast.

I am liking the cold temperatures, especially for running. The snow makes Belgrade look nice and temperatures around the freezing mark are not really that cold.

The basketball season is finally winding down for me. We completed our regular season this week with a 10 and 5 record. We now leave for the CEESA Tourney in Latvia next week to complete the year. Everyone is doing well. Nadia has report cards this weekend to work on. Owen learned another song on the guitar (When The Saints Go Marching In). Ocean is enjoying “cooking” in her toy kitchen, yesterday she invited the nanny to lunch. She is carrying around her Hello Kitty purse everywhere, even to the bathroom. Oliver is always looking to elicit a laugh from Nadia or I – he is quite the character.

We are all looking forward to a nice quiet weekend at home. I’m hoping the toboggan hill is in good shape for the kids. I am making a cameo appearance in the One Act plays this evening and Saturday at the school.