Mr. Rogers' Legacy Comes to Crookston - Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

Mr. Rogers' Legacy Comes to Crookston

  The legacy of Mr. Rogers paid a visit to Crookston High School.

Mr. Rogers: "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, it's a beautiful day for a neighbor…."

  Crookston native, Tim Madigan is now an award winning journalist from Dallas-Ft. Worth. He wound up being a very close friend of Fred Rogers, before Rogers death in 2003.

  Madigan even wrote a book about their friendship and the lessons he learned from Rogers, that he now passes on to students in lectures he gives around the Country.    

Tim Madigan, Journalist: "It's a message that I have from that… especially to kids. You don't have to go through difficult periods in life along. Almost everyone has someone they can trust. Maybe not quite at the level of Fred Rogers…  but a teacher, a coach, a friend, a sibling, a parent."

  And it's a message that fits well with the anti-bullying campaign here.

  The Principal says they've trained groups of kids at different grade levels to look out for each other.

Reporter: "The word of a senior has more effect on a 9^th grader than your word?"      

Lonn Jorgenson, Principal: "Absolutely. And the word of a 9^th grader has more effect on a 7^th or 8^th grader. It just kind of carries the weight."

  Fred Rogers message of caring and watching out for one another continues, as his friend Tim Madigan relays it to another generation.

Tim Madigan: "It creates magic is what it does. Magic and healing. I think obviously that's what our world needs a lot of."

   Madigan says he initially met Fred Rogers during a 1995 interview with him, and began his close friendship, until Rogers death in 2003.