Our Neighbors in Menasha Competed for $250,000! 🏈

Our neighbors up in Menasha went through something awful this summer, and this week they got a shot at something big. Back on July 27, an EF-3 tornado tore through their town and destroyed Calder Stadium, the home field of the Menasha Bluejays. Think about what Friday nights mean in a town like that: the kids under the lights, the band in the stands, families and generations all in one place. They lost that this summer.

But here’s the good news. Menasha High School was one of just 10 Midwest finalists in T-Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights competition, chosen from schools all across the country. They’d already won $25,000 for their football program, but the real prize was in reach. Winning the Midwest division vote meant $250,000, a brand new Gronk fitness gym, and a shot at the $1 million national grand prize to rebuild their stadium. As of Friday morning they were leading the Midwest with over 246,000 votes, up more than 35,000 on a school in Ohio. The whole state got behind them.

I love stories like this because it shows what a community is really made of. Coach Jeramie Korth said it best: it’s not just where they play, it’s where their community unites. Even Charlie Berens jumped in with a video asking all of Wisconsin to get behind the Bluejays. And get this, the team is 7-2 this season and a No. 4 seed in the state playoffs, doing all of that while playing their home games away from home.

Voting closed Sunday night, October 25, so as this paper goes out we don’t know the final results yet. Division champions get announced October 29. You can check how it all shook out at the T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights site (fn5gl.t-mobile.com). Whatever happens, Menasha showed up, and Wisconsin showed up for them.