With the 20 games packed into three days over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, the action begins from the opening whistle on Saturday, Jan. 14, when Lexington squares off with Waynedale, and doesn't stop until the final horn of the Jan. 16 game pitting Hiland against Trinity somewhere around 10 PM.

For 12 months out of the year, people work diligently to make it come together -- people like Hiland coach Dave Schlabach and his staff, volunteers, numbering near 240,  and event coordinator Tom Jenkins.

The incredibly short time span in which Classic in the Country has developed into what USA Today deemed "one of the best three high school athletic events in any sport in America" is amazing.

"This is so unbelievably exciting to watch," said Jenkins.  "Somehow, some way, between the school administration.  Dave's staff, the sponsors and all of these volunteers, this thing gets done without a hitch.  It is really exciting to see the way this community has gotten behind this and made it their own.  To see it so firmly established as a national tournament so quickly is a tremendous tribute to the people here."

But the beginning of this story was in Jenkins' Cincinnati home, where he, Schlabach and North Canton Hoover girls' head coach Paul Wackerly hunkered down in Jenkins' basement and pounded out a game plan to bring the event to Holmes County.

"We were kind of struggling with the tournament at Pickerington because they weren't interested in promoting some of the values we were interested in," said Jenkins.  "Dave was interested in starting a tournament and we were downstairs for two straight days trying to see how feasible it was."

The new Hiland facility, complete with two gymnasiums, had plenty of parking and the volunteers to make it happen.

But the values Jenkins wanted to promote involved Martin Luther King Jr. and the fact that Hiland legendary coach Perry Reese Jr. -- a black coach in an Amish community who had made a remarkable contribution before passing away in 2000 to cancer -- was the perfect fit for what he wanted to accomplish.

"Hiland had the facilities, and Dave and his staff had the desire, and because of Perry we had a perfect opportunity to accomplish what we wanted to do," said Jenkins. "Now we can promote Martin Luther King Jr. and put scholarship money into the Perry Reese Jr. Memorial Scholarship fund.  It's a perfect fit.

With the memory and inspiration of Reese behind the scenes acting as a catalyst, the people of East Holmes have thrown themselves into the Classic, taking it from the heart and minds of three men, and turning it into an athletic event run with fine tuning and precision."

"I love this community, and I love the people of this community," said Jenkins.  "The way they have stepped up and made this their own is incredible.  And to be able to honor men who have accomplished as much as Martin Luther King Jr. and Perry Reese Jr. is something that makes it all the more special."