Penguin News
Big Turnout, Great Youngstown Pride Theme of Scholarship/Ring Banquet
by YSU
Friday, Feb 13, 2015 1:37 pm
Almost 900 were in attendance on a very special night for all Penguins. The annual event helps raise money for Athletic Department scholarships and to purchase rings for YSU Championship teams. On Tuesday night, an impressive six were honored.
Members of the baseball, women's tennis, men's track and field and women's track and field/cross country teams were saluted for their Horizon League title accomplishments. Each sport Head Coach thanked the audience in a short video message.
President Tressel spoke to the group about how special things are happening in Youngstown and at Youngstown State. He said he was in a meeting with the Governor earlier in the day and in front of every school president from the state of Ohio, the Governor singled YSU out as one heading in the right direction.
Penguin Club President Ray Briya encouraged those in attendance who were not members of the Penguin Club to join the organization. He said that the Penguin Club is thriving and now is a great time to be a member as membership in the football Gridiron Club is already moving at a record pace.
Coach Pelini said he is excited to be a part of the Youngstown community once again and it marks the first time since 1986 he has been a full-time resident of the Mahoning Valley. He joked with the audience that then Coach Tressel thought he wasn't talented enough to play at YSU back then so he played his college football at Ohio State. He said his staff has been working hard and now is the time that the current group of Penguins will be preparing for the 2015 campaign.
Speaking on behalf of all YSU female student-athletes was sophomore volleyball player Val Jeffery. Jeffery, a sophomore from Pickerington, told the crowd about her she transferred to YSU from High Point. Since coming to Youngstown State, she has been part of a big family that includes her teammates, other student-athletes, her coaches and members of the YSU Athletics support staff. Jeffery said because of the support structure in place at YSU, she was invited to compete for a sport on the U.S. National team next week in Colorado Springs at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.
Austin McLean, a member of the 2014 Horizon League Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship team, represented the male student-athletes. McLean spoke about overcoming injuries in high school and how much it meant to him that Head Coach Brian Gorby stayed supportive at that time. Then once at YSU, he battled more injuries early in his career only to have the support of his teammates allow him to have the success that he has achieved. He said he takes great satisication in putting on a YSU uniform every time he competes and is proud to represent his home away from home.
YSU Foundation President Paul McFadden talked about the history of how the Gasser Chair Company was created and discussed the family's journey to Youngstown and what was behind the move. He said the family has always had a special passion for helping the university in all kinds of generous ways. McFadden joked that he was a member of the upside-down chair club for peeling a label off the bottom of a chair and sending it back to the Gassers.
Mark Gasser was very appreciative that this was a great time for his family to be honored. He said they had been asked about being a Penguin of the Year in the past, but had declined. Now was the right time for the founders of the company - Louis, Roger and George - to receive their due. Mark spoke about the hard work and successful lives of the companies founders and how proud he is to be part of the family business. He talked about how everyone competes every day in their in their lives whether its at their job, in the classroom or on the playing field.
He said his uncle Lou was always encouraging and full of wisdom and had a very successful medical practice and when he retired he returned to the company. His uncle Roger could create value out of anything. Roger was a talented machinist who Mark joked may have coined the phrase "One man's trash is another man's treasure." He concluded his remarks talking about his father, George. He taught Mark the importance of meeting with customers face to face and the right way to make a lasting first impression.
Nearly 35 family members and numerous Gasser Chair Company employees were in attendance at the event. Gasser Chair employess 185 people in three businesses and will celebrate its 70th anniversary next year.
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