“Of all the things to forget, he forgot his game pants,” he said.
“There’s something that happens every year, but that was the one I’ll never forget. I don’t let him forget it either, because he’s still around town.”
Soule said he had no choice but to get into his truck and make the 45-minute trek back to Monroe to retrieve the pants. He managed to get Grass’ pants back to Dayton before the kickoff of the game.
Soule’s acts of assisting a student athlete in need is one of the reasons he was named the Monroe Area Community Foundation’s 12th recipient of the Cornerstone Award.
The award is presented annually to an individual, people or group who display an unselfish use of time or money.
Soule was nominated by Monroe Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Lolli.
A Middletown native and a Monroe resident, Soule said he was surprised by the award.
“It was a total shock to me. I didn’t have a clue it was coming. It’s a great honor.
Especially to follow some of the people who have had it before me,” he said.
Soule is a 1971 graduate of the old Lemon Monroe High School. He said he loves his job because it has allowed him to touch the lives of more than two generations of Monroe High School students in both athletics and extracurricular activities.
“I enjoy being around the kids. I’ll run into somebody that might have graduated 15 to 20 years ago and just to hear them tell stories about when they were here ... that’s the thing I like most,” he said.
In his job as equipment manager, Soule said he travels to all away games with the varsity boys basketball, baseball and football teams and the girls sports teams.
John Singleton, the executive director of the Monroe Area Community Foundation, said Soule, who he has been friends with since he was 8-years old, is a worthy recipient.
“Everything he’s done for the community and schools over the years, it’s just not a yearly thing, he’s has done it all of his life. ... He’s built up such as body of good will in the community, and how he’s looked upon by the community and the kids, it kind of stands on its own,” he said.
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