We go back a long way

Special to the Daily Mail

Sometimes I am a candy. I have to admit I am sometimes touched by meaningful scenes and it shows. These meaningful moments seem to attack my vocal cords and affect my eyes. Thursday afternoon was no different. One of the most touching scenes I have witnessed of late was the honoring of my friend Wade Wooley by an overflow crowd at the City Hall council chambers. Among the guests were his co-workers, school teachers and coaches, council members, a former police chief, a state representative and many, many fiends.

Many folks took the podium to speak on Wade's behalf. There were some funny stories shared and many accolades directed toward Wade. When the speaker would finish, Wade simply would say, "We go back along way."

Wade and Nevada High School go back a long way. Wade in his youth was a basketball manager for his classmates and throughout high school he was a loyal supporter of many of the athletic teams. I distinctly remember Wade being a fixture in the old NHS Gym dating back before my coaching days to the time when I was a Nevada High School athlete 23 years ago. Wade was known for his ability to get the crowd going with his enthusiastic clapping. It is something that continues to this day as there is no bigger local fan of the Nevada Tigers and Lady Tigers than Wade E. Wooley.

Wade was also a fixture in NHS athletics as a loyal and trusted worker. Wade served as the NHS football officials' liaison and also took care of basketball officials during the Nevada Tiger Classic. There is not a football official in Southwest Missouri that doesn't know Wade, and I can't tell you the number of compliments I have received regarding Wade's professionalism in the handling of his duties during my tenure as the athletic director at Nevada High School. One of those officials, John Buck and his wife, were there to honor Wade Thursday afternoon. Therein lies the lesson for us all.

When I took the podium to speak I could not help but get a little choked up. In our society, sometimes we look for role models in all the wrong places. For instance, we look to the area of athletics. Our children wear jerseys of their favorite players -- Dante Hall, Eric Warfield, and Terrell Owens. Sometimes those athletes are worthy of our admiration, and sometimes they are not.

Among the qualities that lend themselves to helping a young person to be successful in life are a positive work ethic and an enthusiastic attitude, qualities much more important than your 40-yard-dash time. Who better for all of us to look toward than Wade Wooley? Respect among those you come in contact every day can make you richer than the millions Terrell Owens is paid. By what I evidenced Thursday afternoon, Wade Wooley is a rich man.

Wade will be honored before Friday's Silver Tiger football game with Lamar for his many contributions to Nevada Athletics. We will wish him well as he heads off to the Kansas City area for new challenges and greener pastures. I am looking for another one of those tough moments for me personally as we honor someone who went about his job the right way -- with effort, integrity and enthusiasm. My two sons will be at the game tonight and will get to see one of Nevada's finest role models. He won't be wearing an athletic uniform. While presenting Wade with his plaque, I will more than likely be a little choked up. Honoring meaningful people and friends tends to do that to me.

You see, Wade and I go back a long way.