John's Journal: Remembering The Famous "Be The Light" Video

In the spring of 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, something special happened at schools all over Minnesota. As I wrote on John’s Journal on April 5, 2020 …

On March 24, an administrator at a high school in the Texas panhandle was driving home from a meeting in Amarillo. In the evening darkness, in the midst of fears about Covid-19, he had a thought: Is there a way to shine some light for all to see?

Dumas High School principal Brett Beesley called football coach Aaron Dunnam, Beesley told local media in Texas. "I asked Aaron what he thought if we turned our football stadium lights on every night from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., to show the students in Dumas we're thinking about them. Aaron loved it and ran to the stadium and flipped them on. I then thought, 'Why not challenge other schools to do the same?' It's a way to show our kids we'll be back, and a sign of hope."

From Dumas to all over Texas and beyond – including here in Minnesota -- #BeTheLight has become a big deal. I learned about it by seeing Tweets from Colorado, where Colorado High School Activities Association assistant commissioner Adam Bright had seen Tweets from Texas schools.

My friend Ryan Casey, the director of digital media at the CHSAA, Tweeted this on Tuesday, March 31: "Stadiums across Colorado lit up on Monday night as schools and districts sought to offer a beacon of hope to their students.”

I retweeted Ryan's message with these words: "This is such a simple and great idea. How many #mshsl schools will flip on their stadium lights every Monday night in support of students?"

From there, everything took off all over our great state. Schools turned their stadium lights on in the evening, lights over tennis courts, baseball and softball fields were lit up, and schools without outdoor lighting turned on gymnasium lights.

School staff and community members began posting photos and videos on social media, and it was really something to see. The message was simple: “We’re still here, we will return to normal, and we are thinking about our kids, teams and communities.”

My good friend Brian Cole, middle school orchestra director in Moorhead and talented promoter of the Spuds and school activities in general, had an idea. He called me, pitched the idea and he got to work. He wanted to put together a video from all those photos and videos, honoring the “Be The Light” movement.

We needed a script and someone to narrate it. Before I even began putting a script together, I contacted Dick Bremer, then in the midst of a historic career as the Minnesota Twins TV voice. I had known Dick since I covered the Twins for the Star Tribune years earlier, and it was no surprise when he immediately said, “I’m in.” Major League Baseball was also shut down, and Dick was sitting around, waiting, just like the rest of us.

I wrote the script, emailed it to Dick and within 24 hours he had sent us audio of him reading the script in his beautiful, distinctive voice. Brian put everything together, he put music behind the video (by Lucas Shogren and Derek Powers) and produced a wonderful video. As he wrote in the credits, “Dedicated to the Class of 2020 and the medical professionals who keep us safe. You will be in our hearts forever.”

There were so many terrible things about those days, but the work of Brian and Dick and others left us with something very positive. I have countless great memories of my 15 years as an employee of the MSHSL, and this is very high on that list.

Coming later this week: John’s farewell column.

--Feel free to contact me via email: [email protected]. You can follow me on Bluesky at @minnesotamillea.bsky.social and on Twitter/X @MinnesotaMillea