Winter Pacer Fest, which took place on November 21, was the second event of its kind in the Delaware community, with its predecessor being the Fall Pacer Fest.
Cassie Klumpp, who is a senior at Hayes and is one of the founding members of the Pacer Spirit Committee, plans and executes these events.
“[The Fall Pacer Fest] was awesome,” Klumpp said. “It was even better than I could have ever imagined. We had over 1000 people attend and it was just so exciting to see so many community members, parents, students, athletes, musicians all in one place just to cheer on our student athletes, our Grand Pacer Marching Band and also just to give those athletes that community backing that they deserve going into their seasons. I think it was also just a great opportunity to get some of the younger pacers in the district to the stadium connected, giving them something to look forward to.”
A lot of planning goes into putting on an event of this scale and with the committee recently being formed they had to recruit members to join the group.
“Along with Cassie and Mrs. Brenner, I’m kind of like, the number three man,” said Tracy Cinereski, who is the music teacher at Schultz Elementary. “So when they first dreamed up the idea for the spirit committee … we sort of started putting our brains together and then having some meetings and just finding people in different pockets of the community, at different schools that we thought would, you know, maybe be good for the committee and then we just kind of met up one time and sort of just to see what it was about, and then that just kind of turned into this really fun thing that we’ve been doing.”

The Pacer Spirit Committee wants to bring Pacer spirit back into the schools and community after many traditions were lost due to the pandemic.
“The whole goal of the group is to elevate school spirit, build community, empower student leaders, reinvent or uphold traditions and connect all pieces of the past, present and future,” Klumpp said. “It’s just a community group who all just works together for the greater good of the community and all the district as a whole.”
The Winter Pacer Fest included all of the winter athletic teams from Hayes and Dempsey, as well as the Pep Band and the Hayes Singers and Players groups.

“I’m really hoping just to give these winter athletes, just that sense of community backing that they deserve,” Klumpp said. “I know one thing I’ve reflected on is that all of my time being a pacer at Delaware City Schools, through the school we’ve done so many pep rallies for fall athletes for homecoming, back to school, Hayes versus Buckeye Valley game, but a lot of times the winter athletes don’t really get much. The basketball team gets a lot of support, which is amazing, but I really want to bring that same support to like the girls wrestling team, the boys wrestling team, the bowling team, swimming and diving and gymnastics, all the sports … just so they can feel supported as well because we have such talented athletes, and they deserve that recognition and support from the community.”
Originally the Winter Pacer Fest was to be held in the stadium like the Fall Pacer Fest, but the decision was made to move it indoors due to the cold weather.
“I was very pleased with the decision last minute to move it indoors,” Cinereski said. “The weather turned on us so I’m sure everybody wouldn’t want to be sitting outside tonight. I think it was better for the athletes to be indoors, since they’re entering their games and stuff in the coming weeks.”
The Fest also featured a horse race where elementary students were chosen to race across the floor on an inflatable horse, a few cheers and a dance by the cheerleaders, featuring different athletes and coaches, as well as a raffle.
Many people enjoyed the Winter Pacer Fest, seeing the athletes and getting to learn about local businesses in the community.
“Seeing our community support our winter athletes,” senior Mae Clark said. “… I had a good time with my friends and it was cool to see peers of mine at the event.”
There were over 1,000 people at the event which was comparable to the Fall Pacer Fest.
“I thought the turnout was great,” Cinereski said. “I mean, we just about filled the gym between the athletes and families. I love that we included elementary students this time, I was really excited about that part. So that was something a little bit new and different that we did with this.”
Cinereski said she was very thankful for all the efforts and help that went into putting on this event.
“Our focus was just bringing this positive event that focused on our students,” Cinereski said. “…Thank you so much to all of the people who helped who came out to pay service to the community members, the students, the families, the spirit committee, everybody involved who helped plan it, there are a lot of moving parts and pieces, thank you to all the music organizations, the PTOs, the booths, everybody who sat out here. It was a big collective group effort and it was just a fun evening and a great way to highlight and celebrate.”