Announcement
Schnurr Will Receive The Al Thomas Award
At The Medina County Sports HOF Banquet
6/5/2017 - By RICK NOLAND Gazette Assistant Sports Editor
Bill Schnurr doesn’t just live in Valley City. He’s a big part of Valley City, maybe even Mr. Valley City. From coaching youth baseball and softball to serving on the Buckeye Board of Education to announcing Buckeye High football games — for 33 years running — to being a current member of the Liverpool Township Zoning Board of Appeals and the Valley City Chamber of Commerce, Schnurr is nothing if not active and involved. Those longtime contributions are why the 64-year-old will receive the Al Thomas Award during the Medina County Sports Hall of Fame banquet, to be held June 15 at The Galaxy in Wadsworth.
“If you need anything, he’s there for you,” said 77-year-old Leo Sparr, who retired in 1995 after serving as Buckeye’s athletic director for 27 years. “He does things for organizations that are beyond the call of duty.”
A 1971 Buckeye graduate who earned three letters each in football, basketball and baseball, Schnurr and his wife of 42 years, Chris (Zacharias), also found time to raise four children — Billy, Brian, Laura and Jenny — and currently spend time doting on their six grandchildren, with a seventh on the way. Schnurr also still owns and operates Bill Schnurr Builders, a company that specializes in kitchen and bathroom remodeling and other household repairs.
On Friday nights in the late summer, though, he’s still behind the public address microphone at Edwin Steingass Field for Buckeye varsity football games, where for many years he personally bought the game ball that was raffled off at each home contest.
His motivation? “One person said to me one time in a youth league, ‘This is nothing but a clique,’” Schnurr said. “We were so strapped for people. You have to get involved. If there’s something you don’t like, then get involved and change it. “It’s like anything: ‘You shoulda done this, shoulda done that.’ Come get involved. There’s a lot of people to this day that still don’t do it. When I hear young people in their mid-30s with kids say, ‘I’ve gotta take my kids here, take them there,’ my first comment is, ‘Enjoy it while you can. They grow up quick.’”
Early days Schnurr, who grew up approximately 3 miles from the house he now lives in, attended St. Francis Xavier through the eighth grade, then went to Buckeye for high school. In football, he was a 6-foot, 185-pounder who played safety, wingback, punted and ran back punts and kicks for a team coached by Mike Lewis and led by quarterback/safety Al Kiene. “In my four years (of high school),” Schnurr recalled, “we never beat Highland.” In basketball, Schnurr was a three-year starting point guard for a Bucks team, coached by Sparr, that featured Kiene at shooting guard and Rich Stalnaker at forward.
“He was a hard worker,” Sparr said. “He’d do anything you asked. He was able to get the ball to guys who were inside scorers.” Baseball was Schnurr’s best sport, as he and Vic Feist were Buckeye’s star pitchers, with Schnurr also playing second base or shortstop for coach Bob Kramer, like Sparr a Medina County Sports Hall of Fame inductee. “I had some pretty good stuff,” said Schnurr, who estimated his fastball fell just short of 90 mph. “I could bring it.” In the summers, Schnurr played for a loaded Wadsworth American Legion team and caught the eye of Ohio State coaches, who invited him to try out for the freshman team. He began as a second baseman, but when a coach saw him throw he became a pitcher, only to partially tear his Achilles tendon while sliding into second base. “I thought the world was coming to an end,” Schnurr said. “And there was all this talk about the (Vietnam) draft coming up. I was down, but I figured life had to go on.”
Schnurr served in the army for two years — he was stationed in Germany — before returning to Valley City, where he’s been an active community member ever since. “He’s been valuable for quite a few years,” said current Buckeye AD Glen Reisner, who graduated from the school a year after Schnurr. “When I’ve needed him to fix things at the stadium, he’s donated his time. He’s always been willing to help out whenever he can. “He’s a great guy. I love Bill like a brother. It’s good to have people like that in the Buckeye district.”
Family matters - As much as Schnurr has always been involved in athletic and community endeavors in Valley City, his family has always come first. From oldest son Billy, who will turn 40 in October, to youngest daughter Jenny and now with their grandchildren, Bill and high school sweetheart Chris have always worked as a team. “She’s been with me every step of the way,” Schnurr said. “If I couldn’t get someone to coach in youth league, Chris took over a youth baseball team. She knows how to keep score, about moving a runner over, pitch counts, everything.”
It was an upbringing not lost on their four children. “If he wasn’t able to do it, Mom was right there,” said son Brian, a 1999 Buckeye graduate who lettered in football, basketball and track and now lives in Westlake and serves as the director of finance for The Fremont Company. “Sports-wise, she was the head coach if my dad couldn’t do it. “He’s been a great role model, not only in shaping me as the individual I am today, but through the upbringing and everything else. He instilled core values to be a good person.” It extended to the point that when Brian took up the pole vault in high school, Schnurr made it a mission to learn about the event, all while not becoming pushy or interfering with coaches. “You talk about somebody trying to balance everything,” Brian said. “He did a great job. Four kids, right? He attended every sporting event and was totally committed and involved. On top of that, the community involvement, chamber of commerce, he was committed to family and community. “You learn hard work and those common values. I grew up seeing it, without realizing it at the time, and it shaped me as an individual and put me on the right path.” To Brian, there’s a simple explanation for his dad’s drive, determination and dedication to all things Buckeye and Valley City. “He wants to be the best at everything he takes on, whether it’s work related or personal matters,” the 36-year-old said. “He has that drive for self-improvement. That’s what we learned growing up. Once you commit to something, you see it through and you don’t quit.”
Volunteering If all of Schnurr’s activities, occupations and community endeavors were listed, another page might have to be added to this edition of the newspaper, so here are a few of the highlights: In 1976, he started Bill Schnurr Builders, a company he still owns and operates, though handing it off to oldest son Billy has started being discussed. After attending Kent State to fulfill requirements to be a vocational teacher, Schnurr taught carpentry classes at the Medina County Career Center for 14 years beginning in the late 1990s.
He served as vice president and president of what was then called the Valley City Youth League. He served as vice president and president of the Buckeye Athletic Booster Club. He was part of the Buckeye Board of Education from 1986-98, spent 10 years on the Medina County Career Center board and served as vice president and president of both. He is currently a member of the Liverpool Township Zoning Board of Appeals and Valley City Chamber of Commerce, the latter of which named him its person of the year in 1988.
“I assume he could be taken for granted by other people,” current Buckeye AD Reisner said, “but I don’t take him for granted. I appreciate everything he does. He’s dependable.” Despite all his involvement, Schnurr may be best known as the PA announcer at Buckeye football games, where since 1984 he’s combined the basics of down-distance-yardage with his own dry sense of humor. “I remember one game I got a call on the radio that a black Labrador had been found,” Schnurr said. “I announced it two or three times, then I announced, ‘This will be the last call for the black lab. If no one claims it, Patty Reisner (the AD’s wife) will raffle it off at the next game.’ People were laughing like hell. Everyone wanted that dog, but someone finally claimed it.”
It would be hard to find someone who has laughed longer, louder than Schnurr, who made it a point to share the Al Thomas Award with people like longtime Buckeye volunteers Craig and Janet Haneberg, Jerry Buddie, Greg Berger and Fred Kisiday.
The friendships he’s developed along the way, not to mention an occasional “thank you,” have made it all worth it. His relationship with Sparr, whom Schnurr has known for 50 years, is a classic case in point. When Sparr had a cervical spine injury in 1993, Schnurr stepped in and coached the Buckeye freshman boys basketball team. When Sparr had two hip surgeries shortly after retiring, Schnurr and his wife were on hand to bring him home from the hospital. When Sparr needed his house remodeled in 2003, Schnurr was there — and he’s been there doing minor repairs for free ever since. “He’s there any time you need anything,” Sparr said. “He’s always willing to help. He’s just a class person. He’s the type of citizen that would be considered the ideal community person, the type of person you’d want your daughter to marry. You couldn’t ask for a better friend.
