APRIL
20 2021
Final PA, NY Corporate Cup rosters announced
Photo by Fran De Lancey In front, from left, are Tonia Hartzell, Angie Wright, Deb Wright and Mikele Bay, executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of McKean County. In back are Suzy Meyer-Page, executive director of the Court Appointed Special Advocates of McKean County; Smethport Mayor Wayne Foltz; Fella Wright; and McKean County District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer.
Inaugural ‘Stand Against Child Abuse’ walk a success
File photo Pennsylvania’s Madalene Cowburn (3, Bradford) fights through a tackle attempt from New York’s Sarah Carlton (18, Wellsville) during the 2020 Corporate Cup Soccer Showcase at Bradner Stadium in Olean last August.
BY PATRICK KOTNIK BY FRAN DE LANCEY SMETHPORT — About 100 people participated in the first Stand Against Child Abuse Community Awareness Walk on April 10 in Smethport. After organizing at the Smethport Fire Hall, the walkers, led by Officer Kevin Seipp of the Smethport Police Department, proceeded west on Water Street to State Street and north to the courthouse where walkers and other members of the public planted 131 pinwheels, one for each of the children and families that
received services from the Children’s Advocacy Center of McKean County in 2020. Located in Smethport, this agency is a child-focused facility that serves child victims of abuse and families by providing cooperative services in a child friendly environment to reduce trauma and promote healing. A brief program followed on the courthouse steps. Offering remarks were Mikele Bay, executive director of the CACMC; Suzy Meyer-Page, executive director of the Court
Appointed Special Advocates of McKean County; McKean County District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer; Smethport Mayor Wayne Foltz; and Tonia Hartzell, family advocate at the CACMC. In her opening remarks, Bay said child sexual abuse is a major national problem, citing statistics that show one in ten children will be sexually abused before their eighteenth birthday. “A majority of these victims,” Bay noted, “will not tell for at least a year, while half of the victims will wait more than five years before telling.”
Meanwhile, 90 percent of the cases are never reported with a like number of offenders — family, neighbors, babysitters, community members, coaches and authority figures — familiar with the victims. Bay said a lesson learned from the COVID-10 pandemic and its resulting isolation is the importance of reporting in stopping or preventing child abuse. In remarks directed to the audience, she said, “If you have a suspicion of child abuse, please report it to Childline and to our local
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represented in this showcase. Bradford is represented the most between the Pennsylvania boys and girls rosters with four on the boys and seven on the girls. For New York, Allegany-Limestone has the most players on the boys’ team with six, while Olean is represented with six players on the girls’ team. Warren’s Jereme Bickling will be leading the Pennsylvania girls team. His assistants include Samantha Zimmerman (St. Mary’s), Steve Graeca (DuBois), Warren Shaw
OLEAN, N.Y. — Both the boys’ and girls’ final rosters for the annual New York/Pennsylvania Corporate Cup Soccer Showcase have been announced. The fifth annual Corporate Cup Showcase is set to take place on July 25 at Bradner Stadium in Olean, N.Y. The girls will play at 5 p.m. followed by the boys at 8 p.m. This event pits high school Pennsylvania and New York soccer players against each other and showcases the top players from the two states. Grades 9-12 are also Cup Rosters continued on ....... page 2