Wednesday, September 8, 2021 • Vol. 15 No. 9 • FREE
Cardinal BOE Votes to Make Mask-Wearing Optional By Samuel Hummer editor@geaugamapleleaf.com In a regular Cardinal Schools Board of Education meeting Aug. 25, the board voted 3-2 to make mask wearing optional again, reversing Superintendent Bill Kermavner’s decision last week to mandate masks. Parents will now have the right to decide if their child wears a mask or not while attending school. However, per a federal mandate, students will still need to wear facial coverings on buses and any mode of public transportation. “This is all about parental choice, we should be the deciders if our kid wears a mask or not (while) in class,” said Jeremy Davis, a parent of eight children in Cardinal Schools, during the public comment portion of the meeting. The crowd, almost entirely mask-less, consisted of over 65 parents and community members who See Masks • Page 7
Local Woman Grooms for Olympic Silver Medal Winner By Ann Wishart ann@geaugamapleleaf.com Middlefield area equestrian Morgan Klingensmith had barely graduated from high school in North Bloomfield when she answered an ad for a groom and was hired on to take care of horses at Havensafe Farm in Mesopotamia Township. In July, Klingensmith, now 25, flew to Toyko for the 2021 Olympic Games and watched the U.S. dressage team win the silver medal. Klingensmith was not a spectator, although she was one of the few people in the world to watch the event in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a groom for the Hanovarian stallion Salvino, she was occupied during most of the 10 days of the games with caring for and preparing the star to be ridden by Adrienne Lyle of Washington. Klingensmith is used to the routine. Taking care of the #1 rated dressage horse in the country requires a lot of travel, long hours, good organizational skills and loads of horse sense.
In what felt like a playoff-caliber game, the Huskies and Badgers battled in a 3-0 match, with Cardinal showing a near-perfect game plan. The Huskies also celebrated a milestone for senior setter Haley Domen, who received her 2,000 assist earlier in the week. After a kill from teammate Lindsay Hissa, head coach Karisca Chambers called a timeout to recognize Domen and present her with a game ball in front of a boisterous student section, which the Huskies missed greatly a season ago. “She has aided most of our success these last four years,” said Chambers when asked what the setter has meant to the program. Cardinal jumped out to a 5-2
lead over the Badgers; senior defensive specialist Grace Whitney picked up her first ace of the night, and Hissa started the evening with two kills on two swings. “Our game plan was to come in strong, and we knew Berkshire would be one of our top competitors, and we had to have positive energy as a whole,” Whitney said. A strong serving performance from senior Angie Romano tied things up at six when the Badgers earned three straight points. The first set was knotted up again at 12 before Gabby Nemeth recorded two straight aces, forcing the Badgers to call a timeout. The two teams would trade points, but some costly errors late in the set by the Badgers allowed Cardinal to win the first set 25-19
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Morgan Klingensmith, left, spent 10 days at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics as the groom for Salvino, part of the U.S. silver medal winning dressage team. Also pictured are Salvino’s rider, Adrienne Lyle, and his owner, Betsy Juliano, right, of Havensafe Farm in Mesopotamia Township.
She started working for Salvino’s owner, Betsy Juliano, in 2014 and within a few years, she began accompanying the string of high-level horses to their competitions.
“I’ve kinda been travelling all over the world since 2017,” she said, sitting at a table at Dutch Country Restaurant in Middlefield. See Groomer • Page 9
Haley Domen Honored for 2,000 Career Assists By Haley Adams
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Cardinal celebrates after beating rival Berkshire 3-0 in a close rival contest. From left, Grace Whitney and Gabby Nementh, celebrate after Cardinal beat rival Berkshire 3-0 in a close contests at Cardinal High Scool. The two teams will next play Sept. 23.
and go up 1-0 on the evening. A much different chapter unfolded for the Huskies in the sec-
ond set. The Huskies recorded five aces in the first set, as compared to See Volleyball • Page 4
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