How did Gaylord get a Blackhawk helicopter to land during its third annual Valor Game?

GAYLORD ― The Gaylord football program's annual Valor Game has gone without a hitch since the yearly tradition started back in 2021.

Still, when it came time to plan the third annual version of the program's military appreciation game, head coach DJ Szymoniak wanted this year's game to be extra special.

"He wanted the Valor Game to be bigger than it had been in the last few years," said Staff Sergeant Ryan Kline, a recruiter at Camp Grayling who helps coach the Gaylord freshman team. "More representation."

Kline and Jenni Caverson, a community relations specialist at Camp Grayling, came up with an idea. And, after sending in a request months in advance, major briefings with the city of Gaylord and coordination with multiple branches of the military, the annual military appreciation night came with a major upgrade; a flyover and landing of a Blackhawk helicopter just before kickoff.

"We're here to honor our military, our first responders for everything they've done to be able to allow us to play this great game," said DJ Szymoniak.

The original plan was to have the landing around noon, but there was a bit of a mishap in the scheduling; the day of the event, Kline learned the helicopter was already scheduled to be a part of a different flyover event that day in Ann Arbor at the Michigan vs. UNLV football game, making it unlikely the flyover/landing would happen at all.

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However, calls were made and the Blackhawk was there with better timing than they could've hoped, with Warrant officers Edward Nadine and Robert Casamatt from the Grand Ledge Charlie Medical 3-238 Aviation division landing in the Gaylord High School parking lot just minutes before kickoff.

The full day came with festivities and fundraising efforts for military-based charities. A pregame tailgate party included a dunk tank, face painting and a raffle for a pellet grill donated by Jay's Sporting Goods held by the Gaylord Quarterback's Club.

The goal of all of it all was to raise money and awareness for two organizations; Mid-Michigan Honor Flight, a group that provides Michigan veterans with a Tour of Honor to Washington, D.C. to visit war memorials dedicated to their service, and 22-2-None, an organization that aims to prevent veteran suicide by giving former service members the physical and mental support they need.

Building awareness for those organizations as well as the Mid-Michigan Honor Flight's first-ever all-female veteran flight planned for 2024 was a major goal of all the organizers involved.

"The goal this year was not only to support the community that my kids and myself work and go to school in, but also bring awareness to the first all-female Honor Flight and the 22-2-None Organization," said Sgt. Kline

In the end, $3,500 was donated to the Mid-Michigan honor flight while $1,500 was raised for 22-2-None.

It was an all-day effort from the Gaylord community to honor the men and women of our military; veterans and active service members received free admission to the varsity game against Marquette while Major General Joseph Marsiglia and veteran Tabitha Pardo were honorary captains for the opening coin toss.

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With the full support of the Gaylord community on display and yet another successful event, the Valor Game seems like a tradition that's here to stay.

For Gaylord football, that's exactly what they want.

"Especially on a night like this, it was awesome to see that we can honor the military in the way we played," said Szymoniak.

Contact Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Gaylord hosts third annual Valor Game, Blackhawk helicopter from Camp Grayling lands