Highland Park dad, Little League coach is thrilled by show of support by opposing team from Wilmette
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- As Highland Park remains in shock and grief following the massacre a week ago at the July 4th parade, support is pouring in from other communities.
Adam Lasker, a Highland Park father and Little League baseball coach, saw that spirit firsthand when he took his team to play a team in Wilmette.
"We're about to start the actual game. We're the visiting team, so we're at bat first, and the other team goes into the field, and I look across the field and I see that on the fence, over by the other team's bench, there's this poster. And I'm looking at it. It's got blue and white hearts – the color of Highland Park – it's got orange ribbons, and it says that they're standing strong with Highland Park; strong with HP," Lasker said, "and then I realized every kid out there had an orange ribbon on their hat."
Lasker said the kids noticed right away.
"So I turned to the kids, I'm like, 'Hey, you guys, do you see that sign over there?' And they start looking, and they're like, 'Is that for us?' And I said, 'You guys, do you see that they're all wearing orange ribbons? And they said, 'Do you think that's for us?'" he said. "And I started to see it dawning on these kids that what happened in Highland Park means so much to people even outside of Highland Park; that all of our neighbors cared about us. So that was special."
And there was a powerful moment to come after that.
"Both of the teams came together at home plate for a photo together with the poster, and it was full of smiles, and we went and had pizza, and it felt a little normal again," Lasker said. "And that helped a lot. We were all really grateful to Wilmette."
This was a case of would-be competitors coming together in a way Lasker hadn't seen before.
"I've never lived it like that before," Lasker said. "It's exactly what baseball is supposed to be."
Lasker said he is now teaching his kids that while there are bad people in