Fan Bases Come Together to Honor Ryder

The Monmouth-Roseville Titan boys basketball team was defeated Tuesday night at home by the Farmington Farmers by a score of 60-28. But the game was miniscule in the grand scheme of things. The night belonged to Ryder Armstrong, a 2-year-old boy from Monmouth who has been battling acute myeloid leukemia since Dec. 2016.

Ryder’s father Ryan is a firefighter for the Monmouth Fire Department, while his mother Caylin is a teacher at Monmouth-Roseville High School and a Farmington High School graduate. Fans and teams from both Farmington and M-R took part in an orange out night to help raise leukemia awareness. Farmington fans were able to raise $1,250 to help support the Armstrong family, and more money was raised through a 50/50 raffle and donation bucket Tuesday night. After the contest, Prairie Communications’s Craig Anderson gave out his Player of the Game Award:

“I’m going to nominate the Farmington school district – their team, their cheerleaders, their coaches. They came and supported the orange out night. They donated the $1,250. I say, the Farmington school district,” he said.

The money raised will help the Armstrong family with various expenses such as traveling back and forth from Memphis, Tennessee, where Ryder is being treated at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Thanks to both the Monmouth-Roseville and Farmington school districts for this great gesture!

written by Jackson Kane