LIMA — For Warren Pughsley, this is his first Christmas without his wife, Monica.
They had been married 28 1/2 years until she died May 4. The couple started a tradition several years ago that continues to this day, where they and sports teams in the Lima City Schools adopted families for the holidays, providing them with a meal and gifts.
On Saturday, the event was held at the Bradfield Community Center.
“About 10 years ago, Ryan’s Steakhouse was closing, and myself and my wife, Monica, and Chris Jackson and his wife were out eating, and our waitress got emotional,” Pughsley recalled. “She said she just found out that they were closing down on Dec. 18th, and she didn’t know what she was going to do for Christmas.
“When she said that, my wife felt like, ‘We’ve got to get involved.’ The family was from Ada, and so after we did that we talked to our teams — we were coaching middle school girls at the time — and their families got involved and helped out. It was a successful event, but then everybody wanted to help somebody in Lima.”
That led to a different tradition.
“The following year, that’s when we first did it in Lima, and then when I was the head coach for girls in Spencerville, we did it two years over in Spencerville, and I came back to Lima my brother was the varsity coach, so we got involved with the high school,” Pughsley said.
Pughsley didn’t want the tradition to die.
“Since she passed away in May, we wanted to make sure that we continued her legacy and didn’t just drop it off and forget about it,” he said. “We also think it’s a benefit for our players to make sure they see Christmastime is not just about giving, and it’s not just about the commercialized aspect of it, but it is also about making sure you look out for someone that you empathize and understand,” he said.
Five families were helped this year. The varsity boys and the cheerleaders have one family, and the junior varsity boys and the freshmen have one family. The three eighth-grade teams have a family, and the three seventh grade teams have a family. Then the Team Monica committee also adopted a family.
“Different people on the committee know different people who might be struggling, so they’ll bring it up or Empty Stocking Fund had contacted Bradfield, so that’s how Keisha, the director at Bradfield who worked with my wife, that’s how she selected a couple of families. Then I had one contact me, once they heard what we were doing,” Pughsley said.
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