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Columbia Missourian

Every medal has its place

By DON FEITEL
August 1, 2003 | 12:00 a.m. CDT

Some cherished, some others given away

With more than 15,000 medals ordered, competitors in the Show-Me State Games have to do something with the hardware they have won. Here is what some of them did.

  • Richard Lynch, 30, of Columbia, gave his silver medal that he won in doubles handball to his youngest daughter, Emily, 2.

  • Erin Alewine, 12, of Jefferson City, has carried her gold medal around since she won the gymnastics all-around Junior Open division Saturday.

    “She’s been showing them off to the neighbors,” said Suzanne Alewine, Erin’s mother.

  • Gene Bauer, 44, of Eldon, hangs his power lifting medal from his rearview mirror. He said he does that because his rearview mirror is just a place to hang things.

    “If (the medal) is stolen,” he said, “it’s not worth anything.”

    The medal doesn’t mean much to Bauer, but it serves as a reminder of what he has accomplished.

    “It’s just a thing of achievement,” Bauer said. “It lets you know all the work you’ve done means something.”

  • The Lady Storm won their fifth straight Show-Me State Games title Sunday. By Sunday night, assistant coach Fred McCabe’s medal was framed right along side the medal his daughter Megan won on the team.

  • Doug Harl, 39, of Columbia, displays his five Show-Me State Games swimming medals in his son’s room next to the three medals his son won in the sport.

    “My son displays them down in his room,” Harl said. “He hangs them up or puts them on either on a shelf or on a wall.”

  • Nancy Fritsch, 64, of Columbia, gives her medals to her first-grade class, her Sunday school class and her 12 grandchildren. Fritsch has won 11 Show-Me State Games medals; two gold, six silver and three bronze.

    Fritsch awarded the medals to her students if they did outstanding work or had a good week she said. She gives them to her grandchildren when they come and spend time with her.

    “I found out kids are motivated by medals,” Fritsch said.

    The medals she hasn’t given away are in a box that her grandchildren can go through whenever they want.

    “They are all in a box and nobody sees them,” Fritsch said.

    She keeps them in the box because it is the experience of competing that is important to her, not the medals she said.

    “It is in my heart,” Fritsch said. “I don’t even need a medal.”