JOHNSTON CITY -- When my former co-workers Kim Grant and Beth Roberts sat down with me to eat dinner at the Johnston City Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony just over two weeks ago, we immediately missed the presence of Ross Babington.
Babington, a former player, teacher, coach, and administrator at Johnston City, and a member of the JCS Hall of Fame, was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, being treated for a serious infection, the result of a ruptured gall bladder nearly a year ago.
"I miss Ross," said Roberts. "It's just not the same without him here."
Grant agreed.
As we discussed what we had heard about Babington's condition, we decided to host a spaghetti dinner on the football senior night, only 13 days away.
High school principal Richard Ozment quickly agreed to the plan and ran it up the chain of command.
We spoke to Mike Intravaia, owner of Michael's Ristorante in Johnston City, who agreed to prepare the meal for the event.
I emailed my boss, Southern Illinois LOCAL Media Group General Manager Stefanie Anderson, asking for sponsorship support for the event.
"Go for it," she wrote.
Grant and Johnston City Superintendent Kathy Clark decided to host it though the Hall of Fame, easing the paperwork burden and need for insurance coverage.
I contacted Jason Powell, the operations manager at Pepsi MidAmerica, asking for their help. Again, the answer was a quick "yes."
From there, the event just started growing.
We initially hoped to feed around 300 accompanied by a silent auction with a dozen or so items.
"That's all we thought we would have time to do in only 12 days," said Roberts.
We were very wrong.
Within seconds of posting the event on Facebook, our phones and computers "blew up." Not only were people promising attendance, everyone wanted to help.
The days that followed were nothing short of miraculous.
A few days before the event, local DJ Terry Brooks, offered to bring his Music in Motion show to the event. "Requests for Ross," a tip jar where guests could request a tune for Ross, brought in nearly $100.
"Terry made it fun," said Roberts. "I loved when some of our former football players sitting with former Sesser-Valier players requested "Bad to the Bone."
That song was the JC football mantra when Babington was coaching at Sesser.
"It's hard to play at JC when 'Bad to the Bone' is blasting at 9 million decibels," Babington used to joke.
Friday, Oct. 12, the day of the #TEAMROSS Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser, dawned cold and rainy, but that didn't matter.
Nearly 30 volunteers from several area communities -- Babington also coached at Sesser-Valier and his wife, Kathy, works for Wilson Realty in Marion -- showed up to help.
The silent auction boasted 83 items from handmade crafts to jewelry to a hunting basket and even a guided hunting tour.
We started serving at 4 p.m. with enough food to serve about 250, figuring on making another run for more about halfway through the dinner.
At 4:30 p.m., the Lincoln School cook, one of several Chartwell employees manning the kitchen, grabbed me.
"We're out of spaghetti," she said.
Teresa Walter, owner of Pollock's Corner in The Pub, made the first of seven runs to Michael's for more food.
Walter also baked over 500 cupcakes for the event.
Seating was at a premium as the original 400 tickets we printed were recycled at the doors while people continued to file in.
Kaitie Done, a friend of Babington's daughter, Brooke, who came down from Belleville to help, manned the T-shirt table, filling orders and selling extra shirts, another facet of the event.
Rene Hightower, owner of Black Widow T's, had offered her services to help Babington.
"I just wanted to give back to someone who did so much for the community," she said.
We figured on around 50 orders. That, too, was far from the total.
"I think I slept about three hours in two days," laughed Hightower, who completed over 200 shirts for the event.
Two of those shirts found their way to Saturday's football game at Vienna. Eagles coach Mike Rude and Sesser-Valier coach, John Shadowens, both sported the shirts as their teams battled on the field.
The last pan of pasta came through the door at 6:45 p.m., as the silent auction ended and Babington's grandson, Brady, drew the winning ticket in the 50/50 raffle.
Sesser's Jason Sales, nicknamed "Soupy" by Babington, known for giving everyone a nickname, held the winning ticket worth $300.
"Give it back," he said, with no hesitation.
When the event ended, Adam Davies, who worked an admission table, said that his door saw at least 500 people come through during the last two hours of the event.
We estimated that over 800 guests were served.
"We have an amazing turnout," said Grant. "Ross is loved by so many people. It showed just how much he has impacted the people and communities where he's lived and worked."
As the volunteers cleaned up, it took three of us nearly an hour to count the donations.
We sat looking at a desk piled with cash and checks that totaled just under $15,000.
"You guys hit it out of the park," said Johnston City Athletic Director Josh Pietrantoni.
While there are a couple of bills to pay, donations are still coming in.
"I just don't know what to say," said Babington on Sunday afternoon at this home, his eyes filling with tears. "I just don't know how to thank everyone."
Babington and his wife will travel to M.D. Anderson Medical Center in Houston today, hoping to secure a treatment -- a cure -- for his cancer, a rare form of bile duct liver cancer.
"We are just so humbled by this," said Babington's wife, Kathy. "We hope we won't need it all and can use it to help someone else."
