Inaugural Kroger KSR Hometown Classic Experience Highlighted Community

143 miles separate Jackson County and Louisville Shawnee. The two communities came together in Louisville last night for the Inaugural Kroger KSR Hometown Classic. Shawnee won the football game 40-0. 

A celebration of solidarity and a trophy presentation followed the contest. The two teams and two communities became one at the 50-yard line in what evolved into an uplifting harmony from two vastly different programs. The moment was touching, heartwarming, motivating, and a real-life reminder of why we do what we do. The Kroger KSR Game of the Week is about community. This game was the pinnacle of community.

Kroger presented both schools with a check for one thousand dollars. As you can imagine, that gesture was welcomed with gratitude. Both squads received trophies and each player left the field with a medallion. Those are things. The best part of the evening were the unmistakable smiles that accompanied accomplishment for players on two teams that were winless entering the matchup. Shawnee principal Kymberly Rice spoke to the crowd. So did Kroger’s Sharon Welch. Both provided uplifting and motivational remarks that perfectly summed up the focus of the event. Community. 

Kroger and KSR put in countless hours into Friday’s bowl game. All the hard work focused on the contestants in a football game that meant far more than X’s and O’s. The night was beautiful and well worth every minute of coordination. Community. I love that word and what it means. I spent most of the night and morning trying to come up with words that accurately described the game’s environment and story. I struggled. The evening was about emotion and feel. Both are difficult for me to describe on a keyboard. 

Then, I watched the highlight video. I thought that instead of me trying to type up the emotions from last night, I’d ask that you watch the video and see for yourself. I loved my time at Shawnee. 

Football state.