Keeping score of Casey Stork...
 FEATURED STORY · September 10, 2009
FROM THE COON RAPIDS ENTERPRISE FRONT PAGE ARCHIVES
Unexpected tragedies like last July’s death of 16-year-old Casey Stork of Coon Rapids in a one-car accident south of Glidden can be overwhelming and take a serious emotional toll on everyone in the community and the CRB school.
 Casey was a popular teenager who was active in school athletics--especially baseball and football--and his loss has been difficult on his teammates. This fall, Casey would have been a junior on the Crusader football team where Coach Dan Spooner was expecting him to have a ‘break out’ season.
Two teammates in particular--Michael Schwenk and Daniel Kult--were Casey’s best friends. Michael’s older sister, Brianna Schwenk, a ‘05 CRB grad, confirmed that Daniel and Casey practically lived in the Schwenk basement.
”They were like brothers to me, too,” she noted.
Realizing the need to do something positive to help with the grieving process, Brianna struck on an idea that will now go a long way in honoring Casey’s memory. She remembered a promotion that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) in Des Moines jointly sponsored with KCCI-TV and Fairplay Scoreboards in providing electronic scoreboards to area high schools. Called “SCORE!”, the program benefited at least two area school districts including Glidden-Ralston and West Central Valley.
The fact that the “SCORE!” program was discontinued at the end of 2008 didn’t discourage Brianna. She contacted Gerry Granberg at the IBEW and asked if there was a chance they’d give one scoreboard to a very deserving community.
“He said, ‘you know, the economy is tough but go ahead and write a proposal and send it,’” related Brianna.
Brianna and her brother sat down and wrote that letter. Last week they learned that a new $12,000 scoreboard for the football field would indeed be given by IBEW to the school in Casey’s honor.
Here’s an excerpt from their letter:
“Our CRB family needs a way to memorialize our friend, son, and teammate. Casey deserves to somehow be a part of every game we win next season. We loved him and our town will never be the same without his charming smile, funny jokes, and heart of a champion. We ask that you seriously consider helping this grieving community remember Casey. Please consider giving Coon Rapids-Bayard CSD a scoreboard in Casey Stork’s honor.”
Brianna said it didn’t hurt for the school to be a successful participant in eight man football.
“Some of the electrical workers and union members have kids in the big schools in Des Moines but they follow eight man football,” she related. “They just think it’s the neatest thing--anytime you can score 68 points in a half, it’s pretty amazing to them.”
From there, a call was made to FairPlay Scoreboards so that a mock up of the Crusader scoreboard could begin. Coach Spooner was instrumental in making the final designs for the scoreboard. On the top is a header board that says, “Home of the Crusaders”, and there’s a footer board along the bottom that says “In Memory of Casey Stork, #85”.
The 575-pound scoreboard is good sized--18’x7.5’, uses energy-efficient LED bulbs and is wireless--meaning there won’t have be any trenches dug up for buried wires. It will also have the IBEW logo prominently displayed.
One of the stipulations made by IBEW was that CRB would pay for the installation of the new scoreboard utilizing a IBEW member firm. That requirement might have been a deal killer since the CRB school district is not flush with extra cash--but thanks to the Coon Rapids Municipal Utilities, the project will be concluded. A Des Moines firm, Commonwealth Electric Company, will be in charge of scoreboard installation but much of the machinery, equipment and labor will come from CRMU.
Brianna’s father, Larry Schwenk of Coon Rapids, said the school district would likely have had to pass on the free scoreboard it were not for CRMU’s willingness to be involved in the project and Commonwealth’s generous bid for services.
“The community owns the utilities and its assets (i.e. bucket truck, digger derrick, etc.) and this is a perfect way to share or utilize these assets to save our community money,” said CRMU General Manager Brad Honold who met with Schwenk and Commonwealth officials Tuesday to iron out the details.
Initially, it was thought that Terry Garnes, a IBEW worker from Coon Rapids and also a close personal friend of the Stork family, might be able to do the installation but he’s currently in Utah on another job that’s expected to last two more months. Another former Coon Rapids graduate--Cris Coffman (CRHS ‘77) who is also a member of the Union, was considered but he too, is out of the area on another job and could not be made available.
“Our staff, administrative team and our Board of Directors, are extremely pleased about what the Schwenk family, IBEW and our local businesses have been able to accomplish in getting this scoreboard project off the ground. And to do so in honor of Casey Stork shows the caring nature of this community. Deep down, I don’t believe as a school we would have ever passed on this project, regardless of the cost of installation. Somehow, some way we would have found the funds to ensure that this project was completed,” said CRB School Superintendent Rich Stoffers.
The scoreboard is in production now and is set to be delivered on the week of September 21st. Installation will begin as soon as the new board arrives and will be ready for CR-B’s Homecoming on October 2nd. Casey’s classmates and the football team are planning a dedication ceremony during the Homecoming festivities. They are thinking the Thursday of Homecoming Week, according to Brianna.
“Part of the healing process includes the opportunity to feel like they have been involved in helping to honor that person,” added Brianna. “Michael’s class needs to be able to honor Casey in their own way- one that is as unique as he was”.
Score one for Casey.
For more stories from the Coon Rapids Enterprise, learn about subscribing to our print or electronic editions. |
|
