On Nat Night K-W Knights Volleyball Wins

I was so thrilled to see the packed Castle Gym at Kenyon-Wanamingo High School last night.  The Knights defeated Cannon Falls in four sets to remain unbeaten on the season.  It was Nat Night.  Set aside to show support for K-W 16 year old Natalie Hildebrandt who underwent a stem cell transplant this summer in hopes of defeating non-hodgkins lymphoma.  Her smile could light up Kenyon and Wanamingo.  A TV station was there, John Millea from the State High School League was there and we were broadcasting.  It was another testament of why I love small town living.  When a neighbor is hurting or down on their luck, the entire community will rally around that person.  K-W Head Coach Jen Nerison and Cannon Falls Head Coach Melissa Huseth are sisters and were talking this summer about doing something to honor Natalie for her awesome attitude.  For nearly six weeks she was in a hospital in Rochester and her dad Kevin told me the incredible doses of chemotherapy she endured was hard to watch.  He said the doctors took her to within a inch of losing her life and now believe they've licked the cancer.  Natalie lost her hair to the chemo, but it's coming back and she is happy to see it.  She just wants to be a kid again.  The line waited patiently for a burger or hot dog basket just outside the front door where the burgers and dogs were grilled and tasty.  It moved along nicely and I heard they were running out of food.  There were 70 items on a silent auction.  Banks in Cannon Falls , Kenyon and Wanamingo pitched in to sponsor a tug of war before the varsity match between the K-W and Cannon Falls football players.  The Knights won rather quickly.  Between the second and third set the Head Coach sisters took to the stands with pails to see who could get the most cash in their container in 90 seconds.  They put on quite a show.  You could tell they were sisters and very competitive.  Jen Nerison's tally was over 5, 700 dollars and Melissa Huseth raised nearly 900.  The silent auction hadn't been tallied yet and I was told the Nat Night event raised over 15 thousand dollars.  After the silent auction the sum will probably be close to 20 thousand.  There were Natalie T-shirts sold.  They were sold out before I could get one.  Neon green with pink lettering and both the K-W and Cannon Falls team members wore them for their warmups.  Zumbrota-Mazeppa also participated in the fundraiser.  Each year they join Cannon Falls in raising money to fight breast cancer and were also involved with Nat Night.  The Kenyon Veterans Color Guard posted the flags during the Patriot Day rememberence of 9/11 and I did notice a couple people with tears rolling down their cheeks when they announced Natalie showed the same determination scores of people displayed during the tragic day in 2001.  Coach Huseth worked with Natalie during the J.O. season and told us how much she enjoyed her can do attitude.  In the volleyball match K-W won the first incredible see-saw affair 26-24 and smacked a 25-17 victory in set two.  Cannon Falls won the third set 25-19 to continue their volleyball night and K-W won the fourth set 25-16.  An incredible night all the way around for all involved!  Natalie and her parents are pictured below.