Looking back to a dark day at B-B-E: October 16, 2012

Coach Rich Vos with Ross Rath at the state wrestling tournament on March 2, 2012.

My column from the Oct. 18, 2012 issue of the Sauk Centre Herald:

In the blink of an eye on Tuesday morning, unimaginable tragedy struck Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa. In a bicycle/semi accident that took the life of Rich Vos, the B-B-E community lost a father, husband, coach, teacher, friend, neighbor and role model.

Coach Vos was more than just the head wrestling coach for the past 11 seasons. He was a church member, community volunteer, a family man and most of all, a well-respected math teacher. As B-B-E Athletic Director and Principal Rick Gossen stated very eloquently in the West Central Tribune, the impact Vos had on the school and community reached far beyond his work with the Jaguar wrestling program.
"Rich was one of those guys, from an educational standpoint, had a lot going for him,” Gossen said in the Tribune. "As a math teacher, his students enjoyed him very much and as a coach there were a lot of kids in the school who were committed to him and the program. Guys who can do it in the classroom and on the court, in the wrestling room or on the field are hard to come by. He will be missed."
Here are a couple noteworthy figures: in only seven hours after it was created, a Facebook tribute page titled "R.I.P. Mr. Vos" accumulated 2,684 "likes" from visitors to the website. At the B-B-E Jaguar Sports blog that I created six years ago, a total of 3,777 visitors clicked by on Tuesday.
The previous one-day record at my blog was 859 visitors set on the opening day of the 2012 state boys' basketball tournament.
As I read through tributes given by B-B-E students about Vos, what really stands out are the comments given about how he got the most out of those in his math classes. The impact he had on those students will yield rewards for the rest of their lives.
From my perspective, Vos was an incredibly good-natured, friendly and hard-working teacher and coach at B-B-E, where he has worked since 1998. Vos was very passionate about the B-B-E wrestling program. He worked tirelessly to build up the youth wrestling program and get parents involved as volunteers in the system. He was also instrumental in leading the school to converting unused classroom space into a badly-needed wrestling practice facility.
B-B-E is a very closely-knit school district and community. We take immense pride in how hard we work, how hard we play and how much we help one another when times are tough.
The downside to living and working in a small community is that when tragedy strikes, it hurts a thousand times worse because everyone is considered like family.
In this difficult time, what is the best way to respond?
In the words of B-B-E English teacher Carol Sanders via Facebook, here's a few things we can do.
"Honor him...Learn your math. Take good care of your body. Love your children. Smile."