Every Day is Game Day: “Community Service” Excerpt

To extend the concept of “FAMILY” beyond the playing fields to the rest of the community, athletes/cheerleaders/other students have assisted in many ways:

• Moving families from one place to another
• Moving furniture, such as a dresser, from one room to another or moving exercise equipment.
• Raised funds for AEDs (heart defibrillators) for the school by hosting and serving a pancake breakfast at the Fire Hall. 
• Friends of the Library – Each October, the library has a sale of excess books. This occurs in a conference room at the hospital. The books are boxed at the library, carried out to vehicles, and transported to and from the hospital. Anyone who has moved books knows this is hard work.  The kids do this.
• It’s a longstanding tradition for the Masonic Lodge to make, bake, and sell pasties. Cheerleaders spend the entire day in the kitchen at THHS to assist in the making of thousands of them. For every person who grew up in Two Harbors, the day our parents and grandparents brought those home for dinner was one of the greatest days of the year.  For the record, the pasties with rutabaga in addition to potatoes are the best. 
• Serving meals for Veteran’s Day—and other events at the American Legion Post
• Serving meals for various events at the local Moose Lodge.
• Shoveling snow for local senior citizens
• Supporting the event when “Thomas The Train” rolled into town 
• Assisting annually with crowd management for Grandma’s Marathon, an event from Two Harbors to Duluth, with 8,000 runners in 2023.
• It’s not just the athletes:  The high school choir visited with—and sang to, seniors at the Barross Cottage Senior Living Community.
• As they’ve done since 2014, the THHS Trap Team placed United States flags beside the graves of veterans at Lakeview Cemetery on Memorial Day, 2024.
• In June of 2024, organizers of “Grandma’s Marathon”—a race with nearly 7,000 humans willing to run—not drive—but run 26.2 miles from Two Harbors to Duluth needed volunteers to install hundreds of feet of snow fence for race security.  The work involves pounding fence posts into the ground.  It’s hard work. Ten volunteers stepped up and got the job done.  The volunteers were cheerleaders.

Chase Pierce said, “I like seeing the recognition people get on the Facebook page. It makes me feel good that I could help someone get something done to improve their life.”

Amir Ali:

“I’d have to believe it makes the people we helped feel pretty good.  Maybe we get a few more fans of our football team.  It extends our bond from our locker room and our coaches out to the community, and then they feel closer to us, so we have more support. It just creates a better overall vibe for the town.” 

Mike Pierce, Chase’s father:

“It’s great to see them volunteering. I know people appreciate it. I know how hard it is to just move across town.  

Troy Carlson:

“It’s scary when you mis-maneuver something, and it bumps into their wall! We moved an elliptical from a garage to a basement. We made sure there was nothing on the walls.  We had to take paintings down to ensure that if we did hit the wall, it wouldn’t break anything.  There were five or six of us, but only three of us could carry it at any one time because there were some tight turns in the stairway.”

Staying true to his much-appreciated comedic form, Troy Carlson said, “It was difficult, but I think we’d all volunteer to move another elliptical machine again. We know how hard it is for us younger guys to do this.“ Then, while looking at the far end of the table at Do North, directly at his Athletic Director—Scott Ross, Carlson added, “We can imagine how hard it would be for someone as old as Mr. Ross to do this.“  

Hoping to capitalize on his one-on-one time with his AD, Carlson asked, “Mr. Ross, when can we get a real playlist for basketball games?  I don’t want songs from the 1940s.  I want modern music.“ 

After overcoming his laughter, Ross cited a situation where he’d received a voicemail from a local resident requesting help. Less than two hours later, when he called the resident back for additional information, they already had a crew of guys who’d volunteered for the job.  The resident’s daughter had contacted one of the coaches directly.  The call went out.  The volunteers signed up. 

While pointing to the football players at the table, Ross said, “These guys are amazing.“ 

Even Troy Carlson.

It’s impossible to watch college football games without noticing that most colleges have their team logo and smaller helmet stickers indicative of the athletes’ achievements.  

If you grew up in the Midwest in the 60s and 70s, one of your earliest exposures to helmet stickers occurred while watching the Woody Hayes-led Ohio State Buckeyes.  Stars like Archie Griffin, Cornelius Greene, Jack Tatum, Jim Stillwagon, and Pete Johnson wore helmets covered with those flowery-looking stickers. Multiple sources—including the ultimate insider—Two Harbors native Jerry Emig, “Associate AD- Football Communications,”  indicate that helmet stickers are currently awarded to Ohio State football players based on the following criteria:

• If Ohio State wins a conference game, each player is awarded two stickers.
• If Ohio State beats its biggest conference rival, the Michigan Wolverines, each player gets three helmet stickers.
• Each player also receives stickers based on achieving individual performance objectives.

That’s all good.  The Two Harbors Agates award helmet stickers, too.  The criteria are a bit different—none related to individual on-field performance. 

• Community Service Hours
• Honor Roll
• Merit Roll
• Weight Room Participation
• Team Wins

The message the school administrator sends while requesting assistance from the student-athletes seems effective. Perhaps it’s a text message, something like: 

“Is anyone available to help a resident move to an apartment on Saturday?”

If it isn’t already, perhaps the message should be:

“Is anyone available to make this town a better place to live?“ 

“Is anyone available to remind a resident they aren’t alone?“

“Is anyone available to make a difference in someone’s life?“

“Is anyone available to do something you’ll probably never forget?“

“Is anyone available to do something for a local resident that they will surely never forget?”

One family, who asked not to be identified, shared their thoughts:

“We hope the kids and coaches understand how much they are appreciated and how meaningful this is. It’s been years since they helped our family.  Our appreciation hasn’t faded. We don’t take what they did for granted.

Like all of us, these kids will have ups and downs—some bad days. When they do, we hope they remember when they helped our family. We hope they remind themselves of the kindness they’ve offered others. We hope they know their kindness will forever be remembered and appreciated. Maybe it will serve as a boost for them.  It sure has inspired us.

They moved our family member’s furniture from one apartment to another–the bed, dresser, clothes, desk, couch, and more.  But this wasn’t about that couch. With each act of assistance, they unite this community. They are more than football players–they are good kids–learning important life lessons. Maybe even teaching adults some life lessons–like compassion and unselfishness. I wish we had done the same when we were their age. If one of the goals of their work is to illustrate the value of belonging to something bigger than themselves, then their mission was most certainly accomplished.

This town has something to be very proud of.”