Zanesville pays tribute to Mark Dantonio at Bicentennial celebration

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — Zanesville City Schools are celebrating 200 years of offering public education to the youth of the city. Friday night they joined that celebration with a tribute to Michigan State head football coach, and former Zanesville High School graduate, Mark Dantonio.

The event Friday, hosted by the Zanesville Alumni Associated, raised proceeds for the Justin & Maryann Dantonio Family Scholarship Fund. The fund has already donated 54 scholarships totaling over $44,000 since 1996.

The fundraiser was attended by plenty of former Blue Devils, family, and friends of Dantonio’s, including former Zanesville head coach Ron Apperson, John Glenn graduate, former player under Dantonio, and current West Muskingum Athletic Director Aaron Bates, and former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel.

“I’ve just been so proud to watch what he’s done, and he does it the right way. And he’s done such a great job at Michigan State and the fact that he’s willing to come back to his high school, celebrating 200 years, it’s pretty special,” said Tressel when talking about why it was important to be with Dantonio tonight.

And while the night was to pay tribute to Mark Dantonio, the scholarship fund is actually in the name of his parents, and he talked about being thankful for having the opportunity to be a part of it.

“I’m thankful for them creating the scholarship in my dad’s name, my dad was a long-time administrator here– so Justin & Maryan Dantonio. It’s just an opportunity to help others, and help young people going to college and things of that nature. I think we may do something relative to a military member as well. So those things will happen in the future but just a great community event and wanted to a part of it.”

Looking around the Zanesville gymnasium filled with community members, Dantonio reflected on the change in the school and city since his time as a Blue Devil.

“It’s a beautiful facility, you know, much different. A brand new high school, and you can see Zanesville’s dollars at work. And I know this city has changed, the dynamics of this city have changed over the years, but I can’t tell you how many people that I run into across this country with Zanesville, Ohio connections. I get a little twinkle in my eye every time I hear somebody from there. So it’s good to come back,” Dantonio smiled.

“We have a lot of great cities like this. Zanesville, Youngstown…Canton, Akron, you know they built this country; these cities built this country. And to come back and have the chance to recognize their 200 years of excellence is a lot of fun,” Tressel echoed when talking about the city of Zanesville.

As for the scholarships, Dantonio and Tressel both talked about the importance of providing students in the area with the opportunity for further education. Tressel, the current President of Youngstown State University, says there are a lot of issues surrounding Ohio, including the opioid epidemic, but whatever the crisis may be, he believes further education can help be a solution.

“Education can give you a chance to believe in yourself; to give you the hope. So any time there’s an opportunity to raise money for scholarships, gives kids opportunities– they’ve got to do their part– but I’m an education guy, and I think a lot of the discussions around the state are along a lot of lines, but most of it can be solved with education,” explained Tressel.

And Dantonio’s message to the youth of Zanesville: “perseverance and dream big.” He says that is his message to all his players.

“Set your sights on something, have a passion…but dream big, make it special, and you can get there. But you’re not going to get there without hard work. There’s no sense of entitlement [ in Zanesville ], it’s a good place, there’s good people here, they’ve got a good foundation for you to grow and you can be somebody special.”

To find out more about the Zanesville Alumni Association, you visit their website www.zanesvillealumi.org.