Volleyball tourney, lantern launch a successful cancer fundraiser
High school and middle school volleyball players from the Prairie du Chien shined a light on not only their growing program but also a local woman battling cancer by way of their recent volleyball tournament.
Over 220 biodegradable bamboo lanterns were lit and let go into the night sky July 17 on St. Feriole Island in memory of many. (Submitted photos)
By Correne Martin
A brand new event literally lit up St. Feriole Island, July 17-18. The first ever Rally on the River volleyball tournament and Lighted Lantern Launch also enhanced the ideals of togetherness and community for Prairie du Chien area families.
The ball really got rolling last fall.
Coach Josh Smelzer took over the Blackhawk volleyball program last fall, after co-coaching with Linda Redman for a season, and acting as assistant coach for six years prior. Since, he’s wanted to build up the youth portion of the Prairie du Chien Schools’ program.
One avenue of improving the sport for local volleyball players was the formation of Pursuit Volleyball Club.
Since the Prairie du Chien High School volleyball team’s October Pink Night fundraiser was canceled due to COVID-19, the girls and their coach started thinking of ways they could still raise money to help a community member battling cancer. Eventually, they settled on the idea to have something off campus—on beautiful St. Feriole Island.
And, what better way is there to raise funds through the program than to actually play volleyball?
So, the tournament was set up. Then the lantern launch was added in memory of Josh’s aunt who also battled cancer. It was a well-supported enterprise by local businesses, Smelzer shared.
“The Prairie du Chien Tourism Council also got behind me to advertise for this,” he said, appreciative of all the community assistance.
Saturday was the adult tournament including six teams from as far as La Crosse, Madison and Wilton. On Sunday, six mixed high school and middle school teams took the grassy field.
“I split my girls into three teams and then added others in who wanted to participate,” Smelzer said.
“As things got going, and the power teams showed up, the atmosphere was really cool,” he said. “There was a lot of cheering going on. It was a healthy atmosphere.”
In addition, T-shirts were sold, a silent auction was held and local artist Lynda Coon came to the grounds to offer face painting toward the cause. Parents of the athletes also offered concessions on site, and a bean bag tournament happened as well.
The Lighted Lantern Launch took place Saturday night. A total of 220 lanterns—prepurchased by individuals in honor or in memory of a loved one—were lit and set off into the night sky over the course of about an hour.
“People really showed up,” Smelzer said proudly.
Overall, he said the launch was serene. They were all biodegradable, bamboo lanterns, leaving an open field in coordinated fashion.
All proceeds from this event went to Tammy Nolan, of rural Prairie du Chien, who is battling cancer.
For more information, find the event on Facebook. There is also a link there to the GoFundMe page set up for the cancer benefit portion of the event.
