Hundreds of people gathered at Fairfield High School Friday night for the return of the Building Men and Women for Others event, sponsored by the Joe Nuxhall Miracle League.

The first event, held in 2005, proved so popular and impactful that organizers brought it back, this time, focusing on how both men and women can make their world better by giving back to the community.

Joe Nuxhall’s son Kim and former Cincinnati Red Sean Casey returned, as did “Seasons of Life” author Jeffrey Marx, whose book inspired the event. The primary speaker was the subject of the book, Joe Ehrmann, a former football player for the Baltimore Colts who became a pastor. Several area athletic teams attended the event as well, sitting together wearing their jerseys.

“I think we’ve lost our ball in the weeds when it comes to sports, particularly youth sports … sports are always a means to an end. It should be about the moral, ethical, social and emotional development of everyone. You’re not going to just be athletes. You’re going to be moms, you’re going to be dads, you’re going to be citizens, and you’re going to be contributors to your community,” Ehrmann said.

Unfortunately, men are taught that its important to be athletic, dominant and wealthy, whereas women are taught that they need a man to rescue them, that to be beautiful they need a certain body type, and that they need to be popular. None of that is what really matters, he argued. What does matter are relationships, and leaving a legacy.

“It’s all about the heart … at the end of your life, you want to be able to look back and know you left some kind of mark, some kind of statement that you were here and you made a difference,” Ehrmann said.

Nuxhall remembered addressing a class recently where he asked a group of elementary school kids how well their lives were going. One girl indicated it was not going well at all, and the memory of that choked Nuxhall up.

“I wish there was a magic wand I could wave and make it better for them,” Nuxhall said. But then another girl asked Nuxhall how his life was going.

“She got what I was trying to do,” he said.

After the event, Fairfield resident Diane Robinson said, “I thought it was a fabulous message for all ages — how much all of these men give back and are teaching our kids to give back and teaching us to give back as adults.”

Mark Thomas, a former Ross Twp. resident said the message he took away from the evening was that “It’s about a spiritual journey. That’s what being a man truly is.”