The grandfather Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue always admired was born on the Fourth of July.
So in 2005, on the first holiday after Tyrone George’s passing, the fireworks display and party Lue has thrown in his hometown of Mexico, Mo., for years honored his idol.
As pyrotechnic specialists paid by Lue lit the skies over downtown, the beautiful bursts illuminated a huge sign in the shape of a cake that read, “Happy Birthday, Grandpa.”
George was a big sports fan and getting together for his birthday had been a favorite tradition for Lue and his family. So two or three years into his 11-year NBA playing career that began in 1998, Lue planned his first day-long Fourth of July bash in Mexico.
Now the party has gotten so big that an official of the town of about 12,000 estimated that thousands attend, including residents of neighboring communities and those who have since moved away.
Lue rents out the city pool so kids can swim all day for free. A blues band provides entertainment for adults. Early in the morning Lue’s childhood friends drag out their oversized grills and start cooking hamburgers and hot dogs bought by Lue, along with other food and drinks.
The fete takes place on Tyronn Lue Boulevard, dedicated last summer, when Lue was still an assistant coach for the Cavs.
“The community is jam-packed. The hotels are all booked that weekend. It’s ridiculous,” said Stephanie Williams, 43, a part-time juvenile officer for the city of Mexico who’s also a full-time student studying sociology at Columbia (Mo.) College.
“Everybody is so close there,” said Lue’s uncle Kevin Graves, 54, a supervisor for a program for disabled adults in Johnson County, Kan. “In the area where we were raised, it wasn’t as fortunate as some of the others there. I think he just enjoys coming back and helping a lot of people he knows could use the help. It comes from his heart.”
A friend of Lue’s since childhood, Williams is Lue’s “right-hand girl” on the Fourth of July party. Lue’s aunt, now lining up an indoor venue in case of rain, also assists.
“I don’t know how much it costs,” Williams said. “Nothing but the best, especially for the kids.”
Mexico’s director of parks and recreation Chad Shoemaker has worked there 14 years and said the holiday celebration was already going when he arrived.
Asked to estimate the attendance, Shoemaker said, “I’d say thousands is appropriate.”
“Courtesy is very important in rural culture. Tyronn’s been very careful that he doesn’t put it on the same day as the Lions Club fireworks,” Shoemaker said. “That’s just the kind of guy he is.”
Jonathan Griffin, sports editor of the Mexico Ledger, said the town calls itself the soybean capital, but a biodiesel refinery is its biggest industry now.
“Where Ty grew up you can look across the road at one of the biggest brick plants, which is no longer working,” Griffin said. “There are a lot of farmers here, angus, plenty of churches.” There are also catalogue distribution centers for Home Depot Direct, Home Decorators Collection and Soft Surroundings.
Lue gave a shout-out to Mexico after the Cavs clinched the Eastern Conference title over the Toronto Raptors and it was not the first time he’d mentioned his hometown.
“I’m sure there were a couple dozen people not walking but floating down Main Street with that mention,” Griffin said of the conference finals press conference. “There’s always a buzz when Ty gets up on TV and starts talking about Mexico. People around here are busting at the seams with pride.
“Many people in town if they weren’t following the Cavs definitely are now. There’s a buzz through the entire town. Some of the basketball players think, ‘Hey, that could be me.’”
Shoemaker said he once shot down the notion that Lue is from Kansas City. Lue’s parents divorced and Lue moved in with Graves in Kansas City before his sophomore year in high school for better athletic opportunities. He stayed with Graves and his wife until he graduated, starring at Raytown High School.
“I remember talking to some guys I know that run a sports radio show and them saying that Tyronn was from the suburb in Kansas City where he played his high school ball,” Shoemaker said. “I said, ‘Tyronn’s from Mexico. Grandma’s here. I used to play pickup basketball games with him in high school and college.’
“He’s always been part of this community. Helped us pave basketball courts, put on pool parties for kids who don’t have anyone else who cares about them, doing the fireworks show. Years ago he brought in a bus and picked up a whole bunch of underprivileged kids and gave them brand new shoes and took them to Six Flags. He’s done stuff like that ever since he was a player and did it as quietly as he could.”
Misbehavior is never an issue at an event Lue sponsors, Shoemaker said.
“He rents the pool for the day and we (have) an activity,” Shoemaker said. “When Tyronn puts something like that together, we do not have a single problem. All Stephanie or somebody has to say is, ‘Don’t make me call Tyronn and tell him what you’re doing.’ The kid will straighten right up.”
Williams’ 9-year-old son Ryan is so inspired by Lue that he’s constantly “shadow-shooting” socks into the washing machine. She hopes to work full-time for the juvenile program in Mexico when she gets her degree. She sees what Lue provides for the town’s children and finds herself torn.
“He does right by these kids around here,” Williams said. “That’s the hard part for me because he’s such a role model to these children on TV, on the court and off. I like that. I just wish that we had more.”
Perhaps Lue will inspire more children from Mexico who will become successful and want to give back. It seems certain that Lue will go out of his way to return for the Fourth of July party and continue to foot the bill.
Graves could only imagine the crowd it would draw if his nephew leads the Cavs to the NBA championship.
“Oh, boy, right,” Graves said, pausing to picture the potential hoopla. “Exactly. Man.”
Exactly.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.