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thedrifter
03-14-09, 08:26 AM
By MAUREEN LYNCH - mlynch@nwherald.com
McHenry Marine a man of his word

McHENRY – When Kevin Meyer left last July for Iraq, the Marine corporal told his father, Joe, not to worry.

He wouldn’t miss the annual basketball tournament Kevin’s grandfather, Fred Meyer, started decades earlier.

“At first, I thought, ‘Well, OK,’ ”
Joe Meyer said. “I thought that was a good thing to key in on. It was what kept me going, knowing that he’d be back during the second week in March.”

Kevin Meyer, on combat leave for 10 days, was back at McHenry Middle School on Friday night, competing for the 13th time in the Fred Meyer Basketball Tournament sponsored by the Catholic Order of Foresters. The tournament is a five-on-five format that Fred Meyer started 63 years ago.

It is important to Kevin Meyer that he play in it, not just as a way to escape from Iraq for a few days, but also as a tribute to the grandfather who began the tournament, and his father, Joe Meyer, and his uncle, Randy, who run it now. It began last weekend and will end tonight.

“I like being able to come home and see my friends, get a chance to play with them again and see them,” Kevin Meyer said.

“At the same time, there are always new people who play in it and people who have been doing it for years now,” Meyer said.

The single-elimination tournament welcomes teams with players of all ages, starting at third grade through 50-plus. A game is two 15-minute halves and 42 teams are enrolled, Randy Meyer said.

The Catholic Order of Foresters sponsored a bowling and softball tournament before Fred Meyer started the basketball version in 1946, Kevin Meyer said.

“It’s just a fun tournament,” he said. “There’s not any shame if you lose or anything. Everyone is just out there to have a good time.”

Meyer, a 2006 graduate of McHenry West, was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California during his first two years with the Marines.

He always was able to return for the tournament then, and when he received word he would go to Iraq last summer, Meyer decided to use some of his combat leave for the trip.

A few weddings this summer and assorted other obligations will bring Meyer back to McHenry again in a few months, he said.

Meyer’s high school friends and former McHenry basketball teammates, Michael Zasado, John Lunkenheimer, John Adams and Jordan Riley are his teammates this year.

The 21-year-old Marine will spend the weekend at the tournament after enjoying a little fanfare since his arrival home early last week. Meyer had a police escort from Lake Zurich to the McHenry VFW Hall on Monday night, where his family had arranged for about 70 people to meet him and share their appreciation for all he and his fellow soldiers are doing overseas.

“Just to hear people say they appreciate what you’re doing is special,” Meyer said. “That makes everything worth it.”

Ellie