CLAWSON, Mich. – Hundreds came out to Clawson City Park to the softball field where Clawson High School standout student-athlete Alexandra Verner played, danced, and laughed.
Al, or Alex, as friends and family called her, was one of the students killed at Michigan State University by an active shooter last Feb. 13.
She was No. 24 on the Clawson High School varsity basketball team, and her name and number now grace the school’s court.
The community could not let the 13th pass without letting the Verner family know how much they are loved and cared for. Her mother, Nancy, tearfully told the crowd, “It’s not me who deserves the applause it’s all of you.
Friends of Al’s from High School and MSU came, the school district managed the event, and so many neighbors of the Verner family all stood in support.
“Everybody says Clawson is a little town with a big heart, so everything that’s been done in Al’s name doesn’t surprise me at all,” said Michael Andrews, who lives next door to the Verners.
Clawson High School’s art director, along with many of her friends, put together a beautiful video that captured her spirit.
“Clawson is a very small city,” said Alexandra’s father, Ted Verner. “So when I go to work and see 30 MSU Strong signs on people’s lawns a year later, that means they took them down, mowed their grass, and put them back up again. The strength that it gives me, the joy to know this support.”
Al’s number on the basketball court was 24, so on Tuesday (Feb. 13) night, for 24 seconds, there was a moment of silence by the crowd to remember the girl they loved.