Courtesy of NVCSC
Every week in the fall and spring three or four gentlemen would make the climb 5 or 6 rows up the bleachers with their blue seat cushions to occupy the glossy wood benches. Each distinguished gentleman would sip on a coke and watch their team as they played the hardwood shooting baskets, hustling defense, and clapping at a good play.
Whether watching friday night football in the crisp fall air or warming up in a humid gym with steamed windows while the snow fell, these gentleman would cheer and clap for each generation of young men and women from the sixties through the next century as they supported their community and its youth. Always polite, rarely rude, even after a bad call by the ref's, these gentleman would arrive in their big sedans for both home and often away games.
The dignity and sportsmanship they brought to the stands is rapidly being lost in the fast showboating of today's youth. These men were happy watching a slow stubborn defense in a low scoring game as much as a high scoring barn burner. They often shared stories of players past, games long gone, and championships played. The home team girls won the state and they coerced their wives to accompany them for three hour trips to towns around Indiana to watch them play. Grandsons and Granddaughters helped them into the stands as they watched their school win its first state championship in either both boys and girls.
These men are the reason many of us have felt the school pride that so many of our children find lacking in the test driven society of education today. Their support made working to get good grades and practicing hours in the hot Indiana sun or the haymow of the old barn for an opportunity to play in front of them. As the seasons come to a close they began preparations to help out the community in other ways.
Masons, Lions, and Church fathers these men helped raise funds to provide communities with Fun Days, Pioneer Days, Hill Climbs. The festivals of our youth, supported and run by these men and their magnificent wives. Who will step up to replace them? Who amongst us scattered to the corners of the globe will be there to support the students who may not even be related to us?
Rodney, Jene, Bill, and many more of the Greatest Generation. Watching from heaven as we send our children onto the playing floors. Waving as we march in parades, shaking hands after a good game and even more important a pat on the back after a particularly tough loss. I hope they have their blue seat cushions and the coca-cola is cold as they share crop reports and stories of the weather while waiting for the whistle to blow and the ball to be kicked. You are already missed.
Whether watching friday night football in the crisp fall air or warming up in a humid gym with steamed windows while the snow fell, these gentleman would cheer and clap for each generation of young men and women from the sixties through the next century as they supported their community and its youth. Always polite, rarely rude, even after a bad call by the ref's, these gentleman would arrive in their big sedans for both home and often away games.
The dignity and sportsmanship they brought to the stands is rapidly being lost in the fast showboating of today's youth. These men were happy watching a slow stubborn defense in a low scoring game as much as a high scoring barn burner. They often shared stories of players past, games long gone, and championships played. The home team girls won the state and they coerced their wives to accompany them for three hour trips to towns around Indiana to watch them play. Grandsons and Granddaughters helped them into the stands as they watched their school win its first state championship in either both boys and girls.
These men are the reason many of us have felt the school pride that so many of our children find lacking in the test driven society of education today. Their support made working to get good grades and practicing hours in the hot Indiana sun or the haymow of the old barn for an opportunity to play in front of them. As the seasons come to a close they began preparations to help out the community in other ways.
Masons, Lions, and Church fathers these men helped raise funds to provide communities with Fun Days, Pioneer Days, Hill Climbs. The festivals of our youth, supported and run by these men and their magnificent wives. Who will step up to replace them? Who amongst us scattered to the corners of the globe will be there to support the students who may not even be related to us?
Rodney, Jene, Bill, and many more of the Greatest Generation. Watching from heaven as we send our children onto the playing floors. Waving as we march in parades, shaking hands after a good game and even more important a pat on the back after a particularly tough loss. I hope they have their blue seat cushions and the coca-cola is cold as they share crop reports and stories of the weather while waiting for the whistle to blow and the ball to be kicked. You are already missed.