5/9/2019
One more look at the Alumni Banquet I wrote about attending last Saturday night. Two or three things are note-worthy for me, if not for anyone else. I had never been asked to sing or lead people in singing the National Anthem until the opening of the meeting Saturday. (I don’t mean to brag, but I nailed it!) That was more enjoyable than I would have thought.
Secondly, they asked me to do the “Roll Call” of the crowd, finding out what year was their graduating year. We started with 1946, the year my sister, Margaret graduated. She is 91, so the oldest person attending. But, for fun I asked if anyone from the graduating class of ’39, ’40, or ’41 was there—no one was. I wanted to confirm something once told to me by a 1949 graduate; he said his brother was scorer of the first basket made in Trafalgar’s “New” gym in 1939. But, alas, I couldn’t get that confirmed or denied.
So, if any of you reading this are from Trafalgar, here is the whole story: Bill Ray, who was the 1949 graduate once told me his older brother Shorty, a teacher of mine in 1958-60, was the first person to score in the new gym in 1939. Bill passed away within this past year. I was privileged to sit at the banquet with his widow, Wilma. She did not confirm nor deny what he had said.
Hers was also a”fixture” family in Trafalgar. Her father, Bob Bowers, after a different career, worked until late in life as the janitor of the Trafalgar School (all 12 grades.) Bob was a friend to everybody, but especially to us high schoolers. He would get us out of a “boring” study hall period and “let” us work for him, loading the coal stoker, sweeping up areas where he was behind, mopping the gym and cafeteria floors—all that good stuff we liked better than study hall. I once worked with Bob in the Summer when he re-finished the gym floor. He never let me paint the stripes. I wonder why. Just asking him if I could got him to laugh. and when he laughed, nearly half the town could hear him!
In the Spring & Summer, Bob also mowed much grass, including a couple of old and nearly forgotten cemeteries. He didn’t like my technique of cemetery mowing. He said, “you mow the baseball outfield, you won’t cause much trouble there!” and then laughed!
One other note on Saturday night: I brag a lot about the 1957 & 58 basketball teams and their championships at the Johnson County Tournaments. This last Saturday night, without a planning of it, 6 of the Varsity from 1958 were there: Jack Hicks, Kenny Minett, Gary Chandler, Daryl Marker, Dave McNeely and my brother Jack Lockhart. Not only that, one of the rival schools at that time (Nineveh) had a super star of their own and he married a classmate of mine—he was there also! Johnny Allen was a true rival, a great competitor and scorer. We joked about my brother Jack had to always immolate Johnny Allen in the practices before we played them.(Jack was 5’6” and Johnny was about 6’1”) I told Johnny I heard his name more on the floor those weeks than anyone else’s.
As you can tell, the conversations at the alumni banquet is, at least to me, a very enjoyable evening. If I’m healthy, the first weekend of May each year, I plan on being there.
With our son from NY visiting for the next week, it will be a joyous time for Barb and me—all 3 of our children around close to us! We will enjoy every minute of it! (Though saddened by the loss of my brother, Kenneth’s grandson at a much too early age. Praying for his mother Terri and his grandmother Shirley, and all the family: for peace and serenity in a troubling time.)
Thanks for reading, the Elder
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