Individuals and organizations throughout the Crookston Community raised money to bring former wrestling champion Marc Mero to the community on Wednesday. Mero made three presentations, first Wednesday morning to students at Crookston High School, and again Wednesday night to students and community members at both UMC and Crookston High School.
Mero said if wanted to put one word on his message it would be hope. “I guess if you had to put it one word it’s hope,” said Mero. “You know, we all go through adversity in life. I often say we all go through storms. Some storms you can walk through and some storms you have to run through. But there are some storms that come in our life that we have to hang on with everything we’ve got. And I tell people don’t let up and don’t let go because I’ve got to tell you that after every storm the sun will eventually shine. It will be brighter than you can ever imagine. Don’t ever get up.”
Mero’s presentation covered substance abuse, suicide prevention, bullying, goal setting, and achieving your goals. He said the most important messages are to treat other people with respect and dignity and to not give up on your dreams and goals. “I’ve already gotten it must be 50 letters since I was at the high school (this morning) and the common theme is you changed my life,” said Mero. “But they often think they’re coming into like – uh, here’s another one of those stupid drug seminars or one of those things. And all I do is share my dreams and goals as a little boy and eventually it in wrestling. Then losing it all because of bad choices and then making this amazing comeback by being drug-free and changing my life. So, I give other people hope not to give up on their dreams and goals. The most important thing is, treat other people with respect and dignity, the way you want to be treated.”
The sponsors who raised funds or donated to bring Mero to Crookston were the Miss Tootsie Pageant, RiverView Recovery Center, Glenmore Foundation, Northwest Mental Health Center, Pine to Prairie Drug Task Force and various anonymous donors.
