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Lake and Northwood has traditionally been a rival in sports. However, after last weekend’s events, the Ranger athletic family has stepped in to help their rivals clean up.
Northwood head football coach Ken James said he went with his son to Millbury in the middle of the night after the tornado hit to help a Northwood faculty member who lived on Main Street and had damage to her house.
“It was like a bomb had exploded,” James said of the scene. “It was like being on a movie set.”
James began to have thoughts of helping more, and then some of his players approached him after last Monday’s afternoon weightlifting session and offered to help the Lake community.
So, they went from one property to another helping to move rubble to the side of the road. James had first gone under the cover of darkness to see the damage, but the daylight allowed him to see more of the damage.
“You never expect to find a washer and a dryer in a field,” he said. “We felt bad. The kids were eager to help because if the tornado turns two miles north, we’re in their situation.”
James feels that if the situation were reversed, the Lake community would help them out.
“In a strange way, despite our rivalry, we’re kind of close,” James said after noting numerous people who have graduated from Northwood and now work in the Lake community and vice versa.
James is proud of his players because they came to him first. He estimates around 25-30 people went including the girls track coach and a couple volleyball and softball players, among others. After visiting Main Street, they went out to Genoa near Chippewa to help clean up some downed trees.
“In education, we’re always trying to impress that it’s not important what happens to you, it’s how you respond to it. (The players) are pretty shocked. It makes some of their everyday complaints seem like not such a big deal anymore.”
As far as helping out more, James said they plan to continue to do it as long as it is needed.
“They would do the same thing for us,” he said.
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Sports 
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