SPY's Newsletter 1/6/2026

      SPY’s Community Newsletter

#388

(1/6/26)

SPY’s Sportsman’s Night Event Report #1

A message from event host and SPY’s Promotional Director Pete Weller:

As the SPY's prepare for our 30th annual Sportsman's Night Event happening on Saturday February 7^th, 2026, I am reaching out to you with a simple request. I have never done this before but figured I would try asking.  First, if you are wondering what this event is all about or what the SPY's Organization is all about, please go to this link;

https://www.sunfieldareaspys.com/

The Sportsman’s Night (aka The Wild Game Dinner) is one of our major events that provides a significant amount of the funding of local youth academic, school activities, sports programs, and many other community funding projects. Please take a minute to review the year-end reports on our website.

Back to my request, I am looking for door prizes for this event, or even kids drawing prizes. This event has evolved to become a Sportsman's and family event. The goal that we set every year is to make sure every kid that attends wins something from the kids raffle table. This is at no cost to the parent or child.  This table has sponsors and if you would like to be a part of the raffle please feel free to contact me.  Kids are also allowed to participate in the evening’s other raffle items.

If you are new to the Sunfield Community, or know someone who is, please inform them of the SPY’s Organization.  For over fifty years, we have helped many families and the community and that is our continuous goal, so please help me support our kids, they deserve it.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Pete Weller

Your event host and SPY's Promotional Director

Here is my email: peteweller58@gmail.com

SPY’s Sportsman’s Nigh Event Report #2

Tickets are about ready.

Who out there wants tickets?

We are doing something different this year and it seems it's going over quite well.

Tickets are $40

You may also sponsor a table for $500 and get 8 tickets. Your table will have its own drawing, so 1 or 2 of the 8 will win something.

SPY’s Sportsman’s Nigh Event Report #3

I need help from anyone planning on attending.

1. How many military service veterans are at your table both retired and active?

2. I need the names of who will be at your table

3. Do you want tickets or to be a sponsor?

There will be much more information forth-coming.

Thank you!

Your hosts:

Paul, Angie, Jim and Pete

Contributions

·      Oren & Rosie Best made the following memorial donations:

In Memory Of:

Terry Blundy

Bruce Peabody

Ardyth Dow

Earl Cheal

Caleb Klotz

Mary Noeske

Lyle VanHouten

Mary Sandborn

Lin Mater

Priscilla Winters

Joyce Boom

          Announcement #1

·      Please be advised that the Sunfield Area Sponsors of Programs for Youth (the SPY’s) Annual Meeting of the Membership will take place next Tuesday, January 13, 2026.  At this meeting the election of officers for 2026 will be held.  Any SPY member that is interested in serving as an officer in the organization, or would like to nominate someone you think might be interested, please contact either Craig Cappon at 517-331-4005, or Renee Strimback at 269-967-5787.

Attention Seniors

Coming up soon on Saturday, March 15^th.  is the absolute deadline for submitting applications for any of the SPY’s Community Foundation’s scholarship opportunities.  Questions?  Call John Fisher at 517-648-0969.   Applications and detailed information are available at the SPY’s website-----www.sunfieldareaspys.com.

The Sunfield Area Sponsors of Programs for Youth 2025 “Year in Review”

The following are a compilation of what the Sunfield Area Sponsors of Programs for Youth organization have accomplished in 2025.  We are proud to continue to be; along with our corporate and platinum sponsors and supporters; a viable part of the endeavor to make the Sunfield area a better place to live.

In January:

● We held our Annual Meeting and election of officers.

● We donated $250 to Lakewood High School Project Graduation.

● We purchased a full page ad in the Lakewood Theater Production

program.

In February:

● We held the annual Wild Game Dinner and it was another very successful

and profitable event! We thank Pete Weller, event chair, and volunteers

for all the hard work!

In March:

● We held a Euchre Tournament, Showdown on Main, chaired by Shana &

Craig Cappon, which was met with great participation…42 players! Jody

Root was the woman’s winner and Eric Brummette was the man’s.

● We held a 9-Pin No Tap Bowling Tournament chaired by Jeff Gibbs, which

had over 45 bowlers. Thank you Jeff for spearheading this event!

In April:

● We did Adopt-A-Highway cleanup. Thank you to Derek Desgranges for

chairing this initiative, his “secretary” Christina Grosshans and all the

volunteers!

In May:

● We participated in the Lakewood High School Honors Night presenting

our annual scholarships and awards. The 2025 scholarship and award

winners were Ellie Benham, Alana Cappon, Alaina Thomas, Violet Davis

and Scarlette Shettler. We also presented four military honorariums to

Lucas Beard, Grace Riegler, Kerrian Scroeder and Alexis Vansiclen. Thank

you to John Fisher for his leadership of the Scholarship Review

Committee!

● We donated $250 for a sponsor sign at the Picklebowl courts in Lake Odessa.

In June:

● Derek Desgranges & Steve Grosshans co-chaired the annual Centennial

Acres / SPY Shootout golf tournament that helps raise funding for our

youth programs. We had 38 teams! There was also a fine group of

volunteers that make this event possible. Mark your calendars for June

14th, 2026 for this year’s tournament. Thank you to Derek & Steve!

In July:

● Our first Texas Hold 'em event of the year was held. Thank you to Craig Cappon and Rosie Best for heading up this event and for all the volunteers.  This is a profitable event for us throughout the year!

In August:

● We donated $500 to the Sunfield Library Summer Reading program.

● We donated a total of $1,000 to help support the annual Farmer's Picnic Open Class Craft Competition and other areas as needed.

● Craig Cappon chaired as the commissioner of the annual “SPY’s Charities Softball Tournament” held during Farmer’s Picnic weekend. There were a total of 14 teams between men’s and co-ed. The weather raised havoc again for the men’s tournament, but a good time was still had. Thank you, Craig!

● Rosie Best continued her role of running the SPY's annual Celebration Calendar project this year. Thank you, Rosie! The Calendar has been part of the community for over 60 years. The calendar started before the SPY’s

organization.

● The Dime Pitch Booth was again in action at the Farmer’s Picnic. It is a major source of summer activities funding. Thank you Zeke & Samantha Cappon for chairing this event and a special thank you to Oren & Rosie Best

for washing and storing glassware and stuffed animals. A big THANK YOU goes out to all the volunteers from set up to tear down and working the booth! Also we would like to thank the donors of the glassware and stuffed animals…without you this booth would not be possible!

In September; October & November:

● We again participated in the Lakewood Community Council's Christmas Basket program which helps nearly 200 families in the Lakewood area, including a number locally, with food and gifts. This year we contributed $500, as well as provided a crew in December to handle all of the

deliveries in the Sunfield area.

In December:

● With the addition of a girl’s wrestling team at Lakewood High School this year, we upped our sponsorship to four weight classes for a total of $200.

● We held our final Texas Hold 'em right before Christmas. Thank you again to Craig Cappon and Rosie Best for spearheading this event! Also a big thank you to our volunteers.

*Throughout the year, numerous sports reimbursements were paid. Please

remind family and friends of this opportunity available on our website!

*2025 saw the successful continuation of our "Corporate Sponsor" program. This is a specially designed program that allows us to form a more effective partnership with community and youth concerned businesses that provide

benefits for all.

The corporate sponsors are:

A&D Haskin

Advanced Plumbing & Mechanical

APEC

Bee Line Concrete Pumping

Best Tax Service

Brace Financial Services

Brodbeck Seed Sales

Buddy's On The Beach

Campbell & Sons

Centennial Acres

Creative Stay

Hanna - Davis Fine Meats

Downing Well Drilling

Haskin Farms

Hazel Bros Drainage

HSV

Jackson Dirt Works

Klotz Family Farms LLC

Klotz Family Farms Snow Removal

C & H Klotz Family Farms LLC

Mapes Furniture

Mark Woodman Plumbing & Heating

Marko's

Mike Davis Construction

Musgrove Grain

Portland Federal Credit Union

Precision Grade Excavating

Quality Hardwoods

RecLending

Rock Hill Farms

Sabersmith, Inc

Shattuck Great Outdoors

Sunfield Cycle Shop

We are so grateful for the continued support of these organizations.

Our “Platinum Sponsor” program is designed to be like the Corporate Sponsor program, but is set-up for private individuals that wish to contribute annually to help our efforts.

This year’s Platinum Sponsors are:

Anonymous

Conrad Beeler

Oren & Rosie Best

Craig & Shana Cappon

Mark Davis

John & Sandra Fisher

Jack Griffin

Mark & Mary Hanna

Sarah Jones

Ron & Marlene McDiarmid

Jim & Diny Peabody

Jenn Vargas-Rodriguez

Wayne Simmons

Brian & Sue Spitzley

David Taylor

Bill & Patti Weller

Pete & Becky Weller

Mark & Shari Woodman

We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to all these fine community minded

individuals.

COMMENT

The Sunfield Area Sponsors of Programs for Youth (S.P.Y.'s) continue to be an active, vital organization. Our primary purpose is community betterment through helping kids, but as you can see, our efforts go far beyond that.  To all of you S.P.Y.'s---to your helpmates---our Corporate Sponsors---our Platinum Sponsors---and to everyone that supported us in 2025, and in years past--- We thank you for your help, support, contributions of any kind, hard work, dedication, and acceptance. The community, and this area in general, are a better place because of all of us working together!  Respectfully submitted by Renee Strimback, SPY Secretary.

Parting Comments

·      Deep Thought of the Week: I grew up living paycheck to paycheck, but through hard work and perseverance I now live direct deposit to direct deposit.

·      Notable Quote: “Nothing spoils a good story like the arrival of an eyewitness.”-----Mark Twain

·      That's Puny Department:  My sister bet that I couldn’t build a car out of spaghetti. You should’ve seen her face when I drove pasta.

·      Did You Know Section:  One of the greatest gifts America ever received was originally envisioned for another nation. Before creating “Liberty Enlightening the World,” as the Statue of Liberty is officially known, French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi set to work on “Egypt Carrying the Light to Asia,” which was meant to be placed at the entryway of the Suez Canal in Port Said, Egypt. It would have looked fairly similar to Lady Liberty, with an “Upper Egyptian” (Saeid Misr) wearing a robe and holding a torch. Bartholdi was inspired by a trip to Abu Simbel, the site of two iconic temples devoted to Ramesses II, and planned the sculpture to stand 86 feet high on a 48-foot pedestal.

However, the statue was deemed too costly to produce, and the Port Said Lighthouse was erected instead. Bartholdi then repurposed his design after turning his attention to America due to a proposal by Édouard de Laboulaye, a French historian and abolitionist who wanted to honor the century-old alliance between the U.S. and France, as well as America’s successful effort to abolish slavery. The monument, renamed the Statue of Liberty, was constructed in France and presented to Levi Morton, then the U.S. ambassador to France and later vice president under Benjamin Harrison, in a ceremony in Paris on July 4, 1884. Following its completion the next year, it was disassembled and shipped to New York City, where it still stands today.

Final Notices

1.            If there is any organization or business out there that has something they would like to advertise or promote, please feel free to submit it to this Newsletter and we will help publicize it.  There is no charge.  We are glad to provide this means as a public service to help keep the community informed.

2.             If you are looking for further information about the SPY’s events---Corporate or Platinum Sponsorship information---scholarship forms---youth sports reimbursement forms---past SPY newsletters---etc.---just go to the SPY website at www.sunfieldareaspys.com.

3.            NOTE:  If you know of anyone who would like to receive these SPY’s Community Newsletters, just send me an email at john.sandrafisher@gmail.com with their email address and we will add them to the mailing list.