July 2007

The laughter and jubilation of finishing third at the PONY Nationals turned to disbelief as one by one the family members of the Classics 10U team came upon a tragic accident involving one of their team members. The Putnam family had been involved in a very serious accident near Dover on I-77. Only two hours removed from their shiniest moment, the team now rose to even higher heights. The two girls were relatively unscathed, however their mother lay critically injured and was life flighted to an Akron hospital. A family stayed with the girls at the scene until rescue workers transported them to a Canton hospital. Two families turned around and went to the hospital to be with the girls until their father could arrive from Columbus . Many other families offered their assistance to the family. In this time of crisis it was shone that we not only have a great bunch of girls, but we have a tremendous group of families that exemplified the word team and personified the Classics organization in the highest degree.

Andrea Putnam has returned home and now faces a long recovery process. The 10U Classics wish to thank all those that sent their well wishes and thoughts to the Putnam family and a special thanks goes to all the team members that offered help to the family during this trying time.

Doug Mix
(10u Ohio Classics Coach)

The Ohio Classics organization was so sorry to learn of this incident. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Andrea Putnam for a speedy recovery.