Jefferson honors football team
Dec. 1—JEFFERSON — Officials from the village of Jefferson, the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, and first responders from the area gathered on Wednesday morning to host a breakfast for the Jefferson High School football team, band, and cheerleaders, after the football team reached the Division IV state semifinals.
Jefferson Mayor Brian Diehl presented the team with a proclamation praising the team for their efforts.
"Great job this year," Diehl said. "When you see people lining the bridges, you know the whole community is really behind you, so you did a nice job of bringing the community together."
Coach Brandon Hanna thanked everyone in the community for the support.
"These kids have worked extremely hard for the last several years to get to this point," Hanna said.
He said the community's response to the Falcons' playoff success had a movie-like feeling.
"These kids deserve it," Hanna said. "The community has been phenomenal this whole season, especially this playoff ride. Every single overpass, for 20 miles down the road, there's been somebody from this community and this county showing love and honoring these kids."
He said he is blessed to serve in the community and experience that kind of love.
"The escort, coming back, win or lose, has been phenomenal," Hanna said. "When we leave, it's just, fire department, police department, rescue department, all throughout the county, the community for sure, but even throughout the county, has been nothing short of amazing.
"For those men and women to take time out of their day and volunteer, we've seen flags hanging from fire trucks, we've seen flags hanging over the overpass," Hanna said. "Like I said, it's just a movie-type of feeling."
Students then received breakfast provided by the Jefferson Diner.
Area first responders served the food to the students.
Patricia Fisher, president of the Jefferson Chamber and clerk/treasurer for the village, thanked the Jefferson Diner for providing the food for the event at cost.
Village Administrator Pasquale Martuccio said the idea for Wednesday's event was sparked by a conversation that took place after a recent council meeting.
"When there's something that is positive that brings the community together, we should do something to celebrate it," Martuccio said.
The village and the chamber worked together on the event to unite the community, Fisher said.
