Lakewood City School District: Alumni Event Celebrates Ranger Bonds

Press release from Lakewood City School District:

July 30, 2021

The middle school years. Most say they never want to relive those precious few years where everything seems to change in a young person’s life.

However, on a recent Sunday afternoon a group of about 75 Lakewood City Schools alumni celebrated the bonds and memories created as middle schoolers with a fun day of games, food and friendship they dubbed “Revenge of the Rangers.”

Rangers primarily from classes from the 1980s-2000s gathered in the Metroparks for an afternoon of friendly competitions between Emerson, Harding and Horace Mann alumni. Some private school alumni or “Saints” participated as well. The teams tried to best each other in tug-of-war, egg toss and sack races. From talking to participants and comments online, the event was a great success and a blast for all.

Class of ‘93 grad Terry Alexander imagined the event as a kind of take off on the movie “Revenge of the Nerds,” and when he threw the idea out on Facebook, many alums jumped on board for the event. Jennifer Kunes (‘91) joined as the master organizer and put in tons of hours finalizing the logistics and details while Alexander served as the grillmaster, cooking up 15 slabs of ribs, 40 chicken legs and 8 pork shoulders. Jessica Clayburg (‘97) was the official event photographer and Marc Reimer donated handmade Rangers and Browns cornhole boards as prizes.

Alexander said he came up with the idea as a way to “bring people together and connect them.” “Lakewood was a really cool place to grow up and I am blessed to have grown up with the people I did,” he said.

The highlight of the day for Kunes was seeing everyone come together in the Ranger Spirit and share a day of fun and laughter that left people walking away with some new Ranger connections. The energy and enthusiasm surrounding the event “speaks so highly of our time growing up in Lakewood,” Kunes said.

Photos by Jessica Clayburg

This press release was produced by Lakewood City School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.