TORNADO DESTROYS TENNESSEE CENTER

Tornadoes can be terrifying because they can strike with little notice, are unpredictable in their path and can cause devastating damage.

Gabrielle Vannoy was working at the Big Play bowling entertainment center — a brand new venue in Hendersonville, Tennessee, that had been open only a few months — on Dec. 10 when a tornado hit the community. She told WTVF that as the strong winds took aim at the center, she grabbed onto a guest’s arm.

“She was praying,” Vannoy said.

A manager inside the center moved people to the middle of the venue, which proved to be a wise decision as the nearby go-kart area was destroyed.

“Who knows how many lives they saved doing that,” Big Play Entertainment Center proprietor Brandon Wooldridge pondered.

It was a show of character that Wooldridge was more concerned about loss of life than the loss of his business. Speaking of which, does he plan to rebuild?

“It’s not going to happen overnight, but we will be back to the drawing board, and we’ll be back bigger and better,” he said.

WTVF noted that a nonprofit, Live Love Nashville, had some 500 gifts collected at Big Play for disbursement to local children in need. Somehow, some way, Big Play team members and volunteers managed to save most of the gifts, including bikes.

A Christmas miracle? That’s certainly the obvious way to look at it. But, in reality, it took determined people from a caring community to collect the toys in the first place and then make sure they did not perish in the storm. It’s a community that deserves a place like Big Play — a place where people with big hearts can gather.