Last week Editor Carol Stark asked me to write something about my dad and the Kaminsky Classic, the annual Joplin High School basketball tournament which ended on Saturday.
Even as I started writing, I began crying, and have had tears in my eyes all day.
Speaking for our family, we all cry, because we love Russ Kaminsky and look forward to seeing him again in Heaven. It is an honor that my father is remembered for his life as an educator and coach with this basketball tournament.
I would like to make a couple of observations. First, I think that it is important to honor individuals who have worked hard and dedicated their lives to making Joplin a better place to live. There are many men and women in Joplin who have accomplished this. They could have gone on to other towns and bigger dreams, but chose to stay in Joplin. Sallie Beard, Jim Frazier, Dewey Combs, Bill Stipp, Wendell Redden, Don Gross and many more.
Second, when great men and women stay, it is my sense that this is an honor to all of the people of Joplin. They probably don’t stay for the money, or for the weather, or for all of the fun things to do in Joplin. Most stay because of their love and devotion to the wonderful men, women and children who live in this area.
I will never forget listening to a radio broadcast replay of the last 20 seconds of the 1955 Missouri Class L championship basketball game. As an 8-year-old boy, I played this over hundreds of times. Not for the replay of the game, but to hear my dad’s interview after the victory.
Don Gross asks for Russ: “Somebody get Russ.”
When my dad arrives, Don blurts out: “Hey, Coach, you give a guy heart failure, what do you say?”
My dad replies: “Well, I’m pretty proud of our Joplin boys, and gosh, I think Joplin is a wonderful town.”
When I was older, I asked Dad many times why he said that. He always replied that he was just really excited and couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Ah, but I know the real reason. In his excitement, he spoke from his heart. And his heart was saying: “I really love living in Joplin, and I really love you, all you folks living in Joplin.”
Jack Kaminsky is the circulation director for The Joplin Globe.
