In March I was notified that the 1956 Union Springs High School Track and Field Team, of which I was a member (discus and high jump, sometimes half mile and even shot put(!)) would be inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame Saturday, May 19th.
I checked the 1957 yearbook (the '56 track season being the previous fall) and saw that we really were something special – as our coach John Connell (who was also a skilled PR practitioner) trumpeted, "Supermen in Spikes!" Actually, in those days only a few of the sprinters had spikes. The rest of us wore sneakers, or were those before your time?
See if you can pick me out in the yearbook photo before looking at the names. I've been surprised by how many selected me on the first try, and most of the rest got it on the second.
Friday we left behind a week of rain in Arlington, arriving in Aurora to splendid spring weather.
Five miles south of Union Springs, Aurora is the site of Wells College, founded by Henry Wells; also founder of Wells Fargo and, probably not as well known, American Express.
Since Wells College was having graduation ceremonies that weekend, we were fortunate to be able to secure accommodations at the historic Aurora Inn, provides the finest lodgings in the area.
The pleasant weather remained long enough to enjoy dinner on the terrace that evening.
Although the next morning rain arrived, thanks to information provided by the Aurora Inn we had already planned visits to historical museums before the ceremony. We were in Room 4, which was on the second floor. The significance of this is that our balcony had a roof above it – the floor of the balcony above – while that one, on the top floor, had no such cover.
In fact, when we met the couple from Room 3, next door, on our spacious shared balcony the next morning, they said they'd discovered the disadvantage of that lack during similar weather conditions on an earlier stay.
As we entered the hall that evening, I was surprised by how large a crowd, perhaps 150, had turned out! However, I quickly realized that this was no occasion for a swelled head – there were also several individuals, more recent graduates than our group, being inducted.
It turned out to be quite an impressive evening – even the buffet dinner fare was good!
Since I was a sophomore at the time and many were seniors, the ranks had thinned. Of the eighteen named (one in the photo wasn't identified, but another who was absent was included in the text), six were known to be deceased, while two couldn't be located. That left ten, two of whom didn't attend. My 360-mile trip was only the third longest – one came from Florida, another from Illinois.
We were introduced by the sister of "Mr. 880," and quite eloquently considering it was based mainly on the yearbook description and other articles she found in online newspaper searches from over 60 years ago. We later learned that she had nominated us for the award – it's likely that otherwise our exploits would have faded into the mists of time!
They called us up individually and photographed us receiving the award. Here it is; a 4" x 6" x 1" clear Lucite plaque, etched on the back. Really quite classy.
In case you didn't recognize the beast, it's now known as a wolf. In our time it was a wolverine, but I guess attention spans are shorter these days.
I recently received a photo of our intrepid team! (I added the captions.)
