Essays of Old Grinnell

By Dave Adkins

I have written these articles and essays which are mainly historical-nostalgic and also on the topic of aging. They were published on the Grinnell, Iowa website ourgrinnell.com under the heading of Readers Share Thoughts. I was born in Grinnell, graduated from Grinnell High School in 1957 and Cornell College in 1962. I have a Master's Degree from Iowa State University and the University of Leon and a Doctorate from Middle Tennessee State University. I have lived and worked on Okinawa, in Mozambique and in Australia.

Dave Adkins, author

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 30, 2013
• ISBN: 9781493153558

Dave Adkins

I have written these articles and essays which are mainly historical-nostalgic and also on the topic of aging. They were published on the Grinnell, Iowa website ourgrinnell.com under the heading of Readers Share Thoughts. I was born in Grinnell, graduated from Grinnell High School in 1957 and Cornell College in 1962. I have a Master's Degree from Iowa State University and the University of Leon and a Doctorate from Middle Tennessee State University. I have lived and worked on Okinawa, in Mozambique and in Australia

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Dave Adkins.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2013922602

ISBN:                  Hardcover                          978-1-4931-5354-1

                      Softcover                             978-1-4931-5353-4

             eBook                                  978-1-4931-5355-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 12/23/2013

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Contents

Introduction

1. The Band Bowl: 1948 Mythical Championship of Poweshiek County

2. Aging: Part 2 for Readers Share Thoughts at ourgrinnell.com

3. Teaching and Coaching in a Small Iowa High School 50 Years Ago

4. Traveling with a Senior

5. Grinnell History: Jobs for a Kid in Grinnell in the 50’s and 60’s

6. Grinnell High School Football: 1954 and 1955 Seasons

7. Discipline at Any Age

8. LA Philharmonic Live with Grinnell Touch

9. Circa 1940’s and 1950’s in Grinnell: Our Old Grinnell

10. Aging: An Essay

11. Don Mayo: Hall of Fame Professional Cowboy from Grinnell, Iowa

12. The Grinnell Academy of Fine Arts

13. Grinnell College of 1949-50: My Favorite Pioneer Basketball Team

14. Early Days of AA in Grinnell by Dave Adkins

15. Summer Visitors in Grinnell

16. Here Come the Pioneers of Old Grinnell: 138—A Basketball Shenanigan

17. Poweshiek County Boys Basketball Powers of the Early 50’

18. We Septuagenarians

19. Dr. Dave Adkins Recalls John Pfitsch’s 2nd Basketball Season Against Beloit

20. Dave Adkins-GHS Basketball great in the late 50’s Remembers John Pfitsch in his book: Journey in Overseas Basketball

21. The Grinnell High School Class of 1957’s Fifty-fifth Reunion, July 7, 2012 in Grinnell, Iowa.

Photo Credits

Cover: Congregational Church and old Grinnell High School at Broad Street and 4th Avenue. Photo courtesy of Drake Community Library of Grinnell, Iowa.

A.   1948 Grinnell High School Football Team: Photo credit to Duncan Studio of Grinnell and use courtesy of Edith Cessna from the estate of Ken Cessna.

B.   Ken Cessna at his typewriter in Corpus Christi Texas, at Channel 10. Courtesy of Edith Cessna from the estate of Ken Cessna.

C.   The old Grinnell High School on 4th Avenue. Courtesy of Drake Community Library, Grinnell.

D.   Parker School at 6th and Spring. Stewart Library Collection. Courtesy of Drake Community Library, Grinnell.

E.   Prairie City Gymnasium. Photo courtesy of Dick McKlveen, Prairie City Historical Society.

F.   Prairie City girls’ basketball team, 1965. Credits to Ed Peck and Mrs. Ed Peck, Newton Daily News Sports Editor and photographers. Purchased by Dave Adkins in 1965, of the Dave Adkins Collection.

G.   Prairie City boys’s basketball team, 1965. Credits to Ed Peck and Mrs. Ed Peck, Newton Daily News Sports Editor and photographers. Photo purchased by Dave Adkins, of the Dave Adkins Collection.

H.   9th Avenue Cardinals, 1950. Courtesy of Grinnell Herald Register.

I.   Main Street, Grinnell. Photo courtesy of Drake Community Library of Grinnell, Iowa. Ivan Sheets Collection.

J.   Fifth Avenue Hair Care. Photo courtesy of Jack Mathews.

K.   Ave Adkins Barber—inside the 5th Avenue Shop

L.   One Lomond Terrance, Brisbane, Australia. Photo from Dave Adkins.

M.   McNally’s Food Market, Grinnell. Photo courtesy of Jack Mathews.

N.   Big Bill Weeks in Iowa State uniform. Photo courtesy of Mike Green, Director of Athletics Communication at ISU.

O.   1332 Main Street-Grinnell. Dave Adkins Collection.

P.   Don Mayo in action. Photo credit to Ferrell Butler, Mesquite, Tx. Photo courtesy of Don Mayo from Don Mayo Collection.

Q.   Paul Mayo in action. Photo credit to John DeVere Helrich, Klamath Falls, Oregon. Courtesy of Don Mayo from Don Mayo Collection.

R.   Bob Mayo in action. Photo credit to Bryant (Rodeo News Service) courtesy of Don Mayo from Don Mayo Collection.

S.   Grinnell Pioneers 1949-50. Courtesy of Grinnell College, Ted Schultz, Sports Information Director.

T.   Bud Wilkinson in University of Oklahoma gear. Courtesy of Pete Moris, Director, Oklahoma Athletics Communication.

U.   John Pfitsch. Courtesy of Grinnell College, Ted Schultz, Sports Information Director.

V.   Dave Dunlop and Earl Peisner, 1949-50 Grinnell College basketball. Courtesy of Grinnell College, Ted Schultz, Sports Information Director.

W.   Old Darby—House that John Built-Courtesy of Grinnell College, Ted Schultz, Sports Information Director.

Introduction

This is a book of essays which I have written the last couple of years under the heading Readers Share Thoughts on the Jack Mathews website ourgrinnell.com. Jack has been generous in allowing my thoughts to appear in writing in the form of articles on his website. These essays are arranged in a reverse chronological order—starting with the most recent and moving back in time with the others.

The main topic of the articles is Grinnell, Iowa, my hometown. They are a historic-nostalgic treatment of many facets of life there in the 1940’s and 1950’s including Grinnell College and Grinnell High School sporting events, customs in the neighborhoods back then, and the inevitable topic of aging and life as a septuagenarian.

The articles on aging are written with my GHS class of 1957 classmates in mind as we face these adjustments together.

Dave Adkins

GHS 1957

November 14, 2013

1. The Band Bowl: 1948 Mythical Championship of Poweshiek County

I recall that day vividly because I was worried that they were going to cancel the game because of the heavy rain mixed with snow—there was talk of a cancellation. Montezuma was undefeated and had a nifty offense based on speed and the GHS Tigers had high expectations for the season only to find themselves winless with only a 0-0 tie against Oskaloosa to their credit in the Grinnell Homecoming and the Band Bowl, named because it was a benefit to buy GHS new band uniforms, was the last game for both teams and Grinnell’s remaining chance to right the ship.

Grinnell was close but couldn’t close the deal against conference and state powers Newton (13-6) and the Ames Little Cyclones, also a 13-6 loss. Marshalltown was too much for the locals as Stan Cozzi and Co. wrapped up a 28-0 victory, even though it was 7-0 going into the 4th quarter of play.

The rain pelted down at Ward Field on that fateful autumn evening in 1948 as the two teams warmed up as best they could, nobody got very warm that night, and the sparse crowd huddled under the large press box perched on top of the stadium or donned rain gear and opened umbrellas sitting on the hard wooden seats in the old concrete Grinnell College stadium. With WWII now history and the Korean conflict yet started, the whole county was focused on the matchup of Montezuma, the county seat, vs. Grinnell, which many felt should have been the county seat.

We lived at 9th and Main, so the walk to the game was only two blocks east and my dad, Ave Adkins, and my mom, Irene Hedges Adkins, GHS classes of 1923 and 1924 respectively, were loyal Tiger supporters, as was I, and not about to miss this gridiron battle. I was 10 years old then and ignored the rain, snow and mud to watch the big game.

It was a classic battle, Montezuma’s reliance on speed was at a disadvantage because of the slippery field, and Grinnell’s power game thus had a slight edge. Ironically, the GHS touchdown was scored on a short jump pass (ala Tim Tebow), as described in the 1948 Grinnellian, from cagey quarterback Jack Rilea to the reliable receiver Harvey Krumm, who didn’t do the obligatory TD dance in the end zone which is seen frequently these days, he simply tossed the ball to the ref acting as I’ve been here before. And Krumm had been there before as he had scored the touchdown against Ames earlier in the season.

Krumm was a quiet target as all-conference end Clyde German drew most of the defensive pressure. Bud Simmons booted the soggy ball through the uprights to assure the 7-6 victory for Grinnell, which was confirmed by the large wooden frame scorebook located behind the north end zone at Ward Field. The Tigers wrapped up a one win, 6 loss, one tie season and the outstanding Montezuma team finished 7-1.

Would it have been a different result under ideal conditions, many Monte fans conjecture that it would have been as a dry field would have allowed the Braves to capitalize on their speedy backs. However, Grinnell fans say that a dry field would also have given speed merchant, Paul Criswell, a better chance to show his open field skills and quarterbacks Rilea and Bernie Oakes, offspring of Bunny Oakes, the Grinnell College coach for a short tenure, to let fly some downfield strikes to Clyde German. It was a classic event, of course, as we are still recalling it 65 years after the fact, thanks to ourgrinnell.com.

Post season honors went to relentless center Bob Blacky Wittenburg, lanky end Clyde German, and bullet quick halfback Paul Criswell who were named second team All Central Iowa Conference—these three Tiger players were first team all CIC calibre but it was a hard sell given Grinnell’s conference record and given that Ames, Newton and the Marshalltown Bobcats dominated the first team. Quarterback Jack Rilea and linemen Ken Kaisand and Junior Ducan received Honorable Mention.

O.B. Nelson, who later was a successful basketball coach at Parsons College, was the head coach and was assisted by the A.D., Gar Lamb, the irrepressible George Norris and Lyman Case, former Hawkeye player. Tom Mintle was the team’s student manager.

image002.jpg

Photo A: by Duncan Studio of Grinnell, Iowa (1948 GHS Annual). Photo was in the Ken Cessna estate and left to his ex-wife Edith Cessna, photo courtesy of the Cessnas.

Can you identify where this photo was taken and do you know the names of the coaches and players as pictured in the photo? You might have relatives in the photo—parents or grandparents or great grandparents. (Photo appeared in the 1948 GHS annual but this particular photo copy was owned by the Ken Cessna Collection and provided by Edith Cessna). Answers below.

Back Row: Coach O.B. Nelson, Coach George Norris, Bud Simmons, Darrell Casey, Jack Rilea, Paul Criswell, Larry Smith, Junior Duncan, Robert Gerard, Jerry Laros, Wayne Hendrickson, Ken Kaisand and A.D. Gar Lamb.

Middle Row: John Padgham, Willis Fritz, Martin Hankinson, Harvey Krumm, Robert Rutherford, Serge Phelps, Almon White, Keith Phipps, Gordon Wells, Wayne Ryan.

Bottom Row: George Larson, Don Hudnutt, Charles Fudge, Wayne Hasslebrink, Bob Wittenburg, Kenny Cessna, Bernie Oakes, Clyde German, Jerry Dimit, Mgr.

Photo Location: McEachorn Field at Grinnell College: the field located north of what is now Younker Hall. The team is facing south for the picture in front of Coles Dining Room.

Note: Input from the GHS Annual of 1948 and comments by Al Rabenold from Montezuma.

By Dave Adkins, GHS ’57, frequent contributor to Readers Share Thoughts. Author of Memories of Grinnell, Iowa, More Memories of Grinnell, Memories of Cornell College, Journey in Overseas Basketball and Gringoismos: Bilingual Essays.

11/6/13

2. Aging: Part 2 for Readers Share Thoughts at ourgrinnell.com

"To enter the country of age is a new experience, different from what you supposed it to be. Nobody, man or woman, knows this country until he has lived in it and has taken out his citizenship papers . . ." Malcolm Crowley: The View from 80.

I am writing about the subject of aging because I am in the throes of it in my 70’s and experiencing its ups and downs. I am not an expert in the field but I know what I see, feel and go through in the aging process. I am a participant, a student on the subject and also an observer of changes in myself and others—those are my credentials. It is always nice to have family and friends in your life and close by to share some of the load, but writing about it is second best.

Truth is that we have to work out our plan for this new stage of our lives pretty much on our own. Brutal honesty, flexibility and willingness to say good-bye to some of our activities, considered routine before, are necessities. You can go to war with reality if you wish, a negotiated settlement makes more sense.

I see dealing with physical and emotional pain as unique to the aging process and building a plan in order to continue as best we can to do the things we enjoy and continue being productive while eliminating those activities which we now struggle to do. For example, struggling to jog, yet able to walk or struggling to keep a large garden, yet able to keep a smaller one. We have to learn to make the adjustments necessary to accommodate our limitations and say adiós to those which are now more trouble than they are worth. The days of going to the wall to achieve I have put behind me, but completing worthwhile projects at a reasonable pace is still on the table.

Aging, I find, is a process of slowly giving up those things we used to take for granted including our youth. We can reflect on of 20’s and 30’s with a smile on our face, but we will not be able to feel that way again. To recall is to relive. A willing mind struggles with an unwilling body.

My realization of aging (first overt sign) was my heart going out of rhythm (atrial fibrillation) suddenly and without warning on the way to work one morning in Des Moines—I ended up taking the exit to the hospital emergency room instead of to a DMACC classroom where I was working as an adjunct instructor—it was the watershed moment which slapped me in the face with the reality of where I was in my life.

As they asked me to lay down in the ER of Lutheran Hospital and hooked me up with an EKG, two doctors appeared and told me that my heart rate was racing at 300 beats per minute. I was a runner then and my normal resting pulse before this fateful day was 50, which really has little to do anything as far as I can see today with the heart out of rhythm when we are discussing longevity, except it made me think I was in shape when I was in my prime. Appropriate exercise is important as is a healthy diet, of course, but neither stop the aging process, although they enhance our level of fitness and possibly slow aging to some degree. It’s the classic man vs. nature struggle with the human coming in a distance second in time.

While my watershed moment was the sudden pounding of the heart, Jim Lago, who has popular morning radio show on KKTX in Corpus Christi, similar to Jan Mickelson’s on WHO in Des Moines, woke up two weeks ago (last week in October, 2013) and noticed he couldn’t hear when he was taking a shower. (Truly a watershed moment). This was his sudden realization that things were changing for him. He now wears a hearing aid. Same thing happened to Rush Limbaugh, the national radio host from Cape Girardeau, Missouri a couple of years ago—he went stone deaf without warning and has had cochlear implants to deal with the silence.

Usually when this type of this drastic change occurs, we realize and admit that these things usually don’t happen to younger people. Speaking of Corpus Christi, Texas, a former Grinnellian, Ken Cessna, GHS 1948, had a long and distinguished career there on Channel 10 television with his sports reporting. Ken was doing ok, tanned and playing golf frequently, when I first looked him up five years ago in Texas. But two years ago, his life changing event was a fall outside of his home from which he never fully recovered and passed away this year. Same thing happened to my mother, Irene Adkins, she fell one evening