{"id":34879,"date":"2013-02-13T06:58:45","date_gmt":"2013-02-13T11:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/?p=34879"},"modified":"2013-02-14T03:38:19","modified_gmt":"2013-02-14T08:38:19","slug":"cards-comments-show-impact-of-coach-pettijohn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2013\/02\/13\/cards-comments-show-impact-of-coach-pettijohn\/","title":{"rendered":"Cards, comments show ‘Petty’s’ impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

CINDY WOOD\/<\/strong>independent feature writer<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Mike Pettijohn with his team basketball and "Happy Birthday" sign. (Cindy Wood\/Van Wert independent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re looking for Mike Pettijohn, check Cloud 9. He\u2019s been living there for about a month now.<\/p>\n

According to his mother, Alice, he just might stay there awhile. \u201cHe\u2019s definitely been on Cloud 9, and I don\u2019t think he\u2019s coming down anytime soon,\u201d she said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cPetty,\u201d arguably one of Van Wert\u2019s biggest boosters and much-beloved treasures, has amassed a legion of friends and fans during a decades-long coaching career. He\u2019s rarely seen without a genuine smile on his face, and these days, he\u2019s got plenty to smile about.<\/p>\n

Over the past several weeks, nearly 400 of Pettijohn\u2019s friends and family from all over the country have sent cards and well wishes in honor of his recent 65th birthday. Cards, mementoes, gift cards and touching letters arrived daily, with as many as 86 cards arriving in one day leading up to his birthday. Petty was also recognized at a recent Van Wert High School basketball game, which led to a surprise \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d serenade from the Cougar Cat Pack.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a lot of fanfare for one man, but his friends say there\u2019s no one who deserves it more. \u201cRarely do we reserve time or have motivation to reciprocate the joy certain people bring to our lives by simply being who they are,\u201d said Sarah Stemen, a longtime friend.<\/p>\n

About a month ago, Stemen created a Facebook page to help spread the word about Pettijohn\u2019s milestone birthday. Utilizing the \u201csocial\u201d in social media, Stemen\u2019s page allowed friends from all over the country to reminisce and share their \u201cPetty\u201d moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost so many shootouts to the man,\u201d said former player Jeff Dunno, who added that he quickly learned never to challenge Pettijohn to a shootout. \u201cHe had a lethal shot, but not very good aim. But he knew that even if the ball started five feet outside the backboard, he just needed to keep his hand up and take his patent Petty hop to the side and it would curve in!\u201d<\/p>\n

VWHS graduate Brad Foster played for Pettijohn during his days on the Killer Bees youth basketball team. He said he couldn\u2019t have asked for a better coach. \u201cMike was a part of some of my best memories from those days,\u201d Foster said. \u201cHe\u2019s been such a positive influence on so many people in the Van Wert community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Close to 1,000 people kept up daily on the \u201cPetty Card Count,\u201d which is now up to 384. Sitting at his kitchen table with his mother this week, Pettijohn proudly showed off his cards, offering his thoughts on each one. \u201cThis is what Frank (Minnig) sent me,\u201d Pettijohn said, speaking of the former Van Wert High School basketball coach and longtime friend. \u201cIt\u2019s a really nice letter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Somewhere in the midst of the heaping piles of cards Pettijohn has received are a few of his favorites. \u201cI like the card I got from my nephews,\u201d he said. \u201cI really like all of them, but especially that one. And I got about 12 cards from the people my sister works with in the office in Cuyahoga City. That was really nice of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past few weeks, Pettijohn has received a signed basketball from this year\u2019s VWHS basketball team, and personal visits from several former players. The public was invited to leave notes for Pettijohn at last week\u2019s game, and close to 140 people did, including a young Wapakoneta cheerleader who does not know Pettijohn, but wanted to wish him a happy birthday anyway.<\/p>\n

For Stemen, it\u2019s been a bit overwhelming at times, but not at all surprising. \u201cI basically wanted to give Petty a little bit of what he unknowingly gives us,\u201d she said, adding \u201cthings like this tend to restore faith in people, when it\u2019s very easy to lose that these days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Close to 300 people have left comments on Stemen\u2019s page, sharing memories of a man whose impact they\u2019ll never forget.<\/p>\n

\u201cMike is living proof that one life can make a difference.\u201d — Marcia Wise<\/p>\n

\u201cMike is unassuming love in action, grace personified and a real blessing to know.\u201d — Jerry Smith<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Pettijohn looks some of his nearly 400 birthday cards with his mother, Alice. (Cindy Wood\/Van Wert independent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMike always had a smile on his face and an unbelievable memory for people and events. No matter how many years between times we see Mike, he always greets us by name and a big hug.\u201d \u2013 Bunnie (Gilliland) Stewart<\/p>\n

Jim Clay of Van Wert has spent many years coaching alongside Pettijohn, and said there is one thing that differentiates his friend from other area coaches. \u201cMike is the only Cougar coach that never got a paycheck for all the hours he spent helping the kids,\u201d Clay said. \u201cAll the rest of us were paid to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pettijohn\u2019s coaching career began approximately four decades ago and, during that time, he\u2019s touched the hearts of hundreds of players and parents. Known for his gentle demeanor (unless he was screaming at referees), Pettijohn worked with the American Legion baseball team for 27 years, traveling the district extensively with Russ Fisher.<\/p>\n

Despite the dissolution of the team years ago, Pettijohn has remained loyal to the Legion\u2019s cause, and has served on the Sons of the American Legion for the past 40 years. Every Friday, Pettijohn can be found at the local Legion post raising the American flag. \u201cHe does it every week, and he\u2019s been raising the flag every Friday night since his dad died in the \u201890s,\u201d Alice Pettijohn said, adding that her son also works during the Legion meals and parades, as well as serving as District sergeant at arms.<\/p>\n

Whether he\u2019s waving the American flag or the Cougar flag, Pettijohn has been a friendly face known, and loved, by many in the community and those who have moved away. But when they go, they take with them the lessons they\u2019ve learned from a man who asked for nothing, but gave everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, my motivation throughout all of this was very simplistic,\u201d Stemen said. \u201cWe wanted to put that beautiful smile on our buddy\u2019s face. It\u2019s contagious and just makes you feel better. That smile is never forced and never duplicated. We all love it and wanted Petty to have a small glimmer of the bright light he\u2019s brought to all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shine on, Petty. Shine on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CINDY WOOD\/independent feature writer If you\u2019re looking for Mike Pettijohn, check Cloud 9. He\u2019s been living there for about a month now. According to his mother, Alice, he just might stay there awhile. \u201cHe\u2019s definitely been on Cloud 9, and I don\u2019t think he\u2019s coming down anytime soon,\u201d she said with a laugh. \u201cPetty,\u201d arguably […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-12 09:36:01","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34879\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}