Hobart football game to benefit Honor Flight Rochester

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On Saturday, Oct. 5, the Hobart College football team will host Liberty League rival WPI at noon. While the game on Boswell Field will be for first place in the conference, the Statesmen are looking to make a greater impact at the turnstiles.

Hobart will donate all proceeds from parking and ticket sales on Saturday to Honor Flight Rochester, which helps America's veterans travel free of charge to Washington, D.C., to visit those memorials dedicated to honor their service and sacrifices. Additionally, Hobart student-athletes will "pass the hat" for fan donations to Honor Flight Rochester during the second quarter.

Rick and Ed Smaldone at the World War II Memorial

The idea for the fundraiser came from Hobart Head Coach Mike Cragg. Over the summer, his father-in-law, Ed Smaldone, a U.S. Army veteran of World War II with service in the European theatre, went on an Honor Flight and visited the World War II Memorial, the Marine Corps War Memorial, and the Air Force Memorial as well as other Washington landmarks. Smaldone's 69th infantry division met up with the Soviet army at the Elbe river on April 25, 1945, and is credited with hastening the arrival of V-E Day.

"It was a great privilege this past summer to watch my father-in-law with many other World War II vets come back from spending a couple of days in Washington, D.C., on an Honor Flight," Cragg said. "Just to see the smiles on everyone faces as they thanked the greatest generation for everything they have done for us. This is a chance for our fans to give that experience to someone else, to pay it forward."

Representatives of Honor Flight Rochester as well as World War II and Korean War veterans will be Hobart's honored guests during the pregame ceremonies.

In addition to a monetary donation to Honor Flight Rochester, the Statesmen football team will also honor active U.S. military personnel and military veterans by donning special camouflage jerseys.

On the field, Hobart is ranked fifth in the nation in the latest coaches poll and seventh in the D3football.com poll. The Statesmen are 3-0 overall and 1-0 in league play. WPI brings a 2-2 overall record to Geneva and is 1-0 in the conference after defeating Rensselaer 27-14 in the Transit Trophy game last week.

The game will be broadcast by WEOS-FM (89.5/90.3 in Geneva). Fans can also follow the action online with All-Access Video and Live Stats.

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