Football Memories | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Football Memories | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marlene Custer
12/09/20
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES

During my childhood years I often heard my father talk/brag about his high school football days. To hear his stories, one could conclude that he was quite the football hero. But alas, when it would have been advantageous to pull out some memory books or newspaper write-ups, he would woefully say, “your mom threw out all my clippings.”

Now in defense of my mother, she did not maliciously destroy his clippings. My guess is that their demise was the result of small apartments and several moves in the early years of their marriage.

Years passed. Dad was in his 80’s. His birthday was coming up. What would be a meaningful gift? We were now living in an amazing world of technology. I became aware that newspapers from the 1930’s could be seen on microfilm/microfiche, and they were available to anyone at public libraries. I checked the library in the town where my father went to high school. Yes! They had the newspapers from when he played football for the little rural high school. Could those football clippings be duplicated?

My husband and I made several Saturday trips to the Ravenna Public Library. We picked out the football write-ups for the years 1931 and 1932, and carefully made copies. We relished the sports writer’s comments. Some of the most memorable were, ‘The Randolph aggregation fought bitterly throughout the contest’, ‘the win was accomplished in a driving rainstorm’, Randolph drubbed Deerfield 38-0.’

But the write-up we cherish the most was the report of a 59-0 loss for Randolph. The article was summed up with these words, ‘Only the stellar defensive play of Crawford, safety man, prevented Garrettsville from turning in a higher score.’

I put all of the copied sports articles into a scrapbook and presented it to Dad for his birthday. Our Saturday trips and hours of pouring over old microfilm had been well worth the effort. Mom, you are finally vindicated. And, Dad, your stellar sports memories are restored and cherished!

Ravenna Ohio Evening Record

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY FOR THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE

The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.