On August 19th, the Japanese public had just seen their former icon, Dick Beyer, known as “The Destroyer”, on national television. He once again had made his way to the nation that cherished him as a professional athlete. For three decades, starting in 1963, he wrestled Japan’s best and was known as the only unbeatable American. When he arrived in the tsunami-damaged Kesennuma and Minami Sanriku area, locals could not believe their eyes as their beloved icon stepped out to see the progress they were making and to encourage them nearly six months after the March 11th disaster.
The Destroyer and his home town friends have been strong supporters of the Friends of MeySen, donating funds through Kids Without Borders for three major projects. These projects included supplying funds to be used for transportation of students at the Kessenuma Junior High Schools’ annual sports meet, donating funds for a machine which recycles cement rubble into gravel for rebuilding roads, and funds to be used for children who came to Camp Kiramaki on Auguast 27, 28.
On August 27th -28th, MeySen hosted Camp Kiramaki, ( Kiramaki means to shine, or to sparkle). Third through sixth grade children from the Minam-Kesennuma and Shishiori Elementary Schools were invited to MeySen for a 2-day camp packed with fun which included a barbeque, water play, a Major League baseball game, a sleep over, and horse and wagon rides at the MeySen campuses. These students survived the tsunami as a result of their principal’s last-minute, split second decision, to take them back to the third story classroom building from the gymnasium which is where they are suppose to gather when there is a tsunami warning. These children spent the night on the third floor, wrapped in curtains trying to keep warm, as the teachers worked to keep them away from witnessing the disaster that continued to unfold right outside the windows. All of the children from this school, except for the one child that went home early that day, survived. Now, five months later, these children found themselves on MeySen buses, headed for MeySen, to be paired up with MeySen students who were there to show them a great time. By the end of camp, the children were exchanging addresses and “high-fives”, all changed by the experience, forever.
