A Time in the Sun: Ghosts of the Gridiron

By Ralph Curtis

Have you ever been a victim of wrong doing and suffered the indignation there would be no possibility to right the wrong? Perhaps, you know of someone who did, maybe someone close to you, or even someone distant. What did you do? Perhaps, in brief moments you thought of ways the wrong could have been righted, only to have reality once again remind you this was fantasy. You go on with your life with an emptiness which will forever accompany you. When you heard stories of others who described how the impossible became possible, perhaps, tears filled your eyes. Perhaps, it is because you remember the time when your impossibility could not be possible. If so, this story is about you. It is a story which may make you realize hope still remains for those who are faced with no hope.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781640964754

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A Time in the Sun

Ghosts of the Gridiron

Ralph Curtis

Copyright © 2018 Ralph Curtis

All rights reserved

First Edition

NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

320 Broad Street

Red Bank, NJ 07701

First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2018

ISBN 978-1-64096-474-7 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64096-475-4 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

To my sisters.

Prologue

People work hard toward their goals. Such can be seen in the field of sports. Players dedicate their time and efforts toward a winning season. All they ask for is an opportunity for their time in the sun. This is all they should expect.

Success and winning are good indicators of the hard work and dedication exerted toward a goal. Oftentimes, they are incorrectly touted as the rewards. The real rewards are the realizations hard work and dedication can lead to opportunities. This is all they should expect, an opportunity.

This a story of a team who worked hard, dedicated their efforts toward a dream, and earned the opportunity for their time in the sun. Their opportunity was denied.

Chapter 1

Farms in the ’30s

Small farms saw golden years in the early ’30s. Hard work, dedication, and good crop prices helped them in the pursuit of the American dream. Small farming communities sprang up in the rich topsoil state of Indiana. Small towns sprang up in the center of these farming communities. They all started out with entrepreneurs; those who can recognize a need and act to provide the need, at a price. An everything store sold groceries, clothes, hardware, and other needful items which could be order from a catalogue. A bar provided the need to enjoy an evening of drinking and dancing, as well as other needs with little dignity. The horse stables traded their services to shoe horses into services which fuelled the motorized vehicles. Once the railroad established stations, the most conspicuous structure also became the important for the farmers. The extremely tall grain elevators served well as landmarks to signal the farmers they were nearing the town. During the harvesting, they were the busiest part of the towns, operating 24/7. These towns became gathering places for the farmers to share their experiences on farming and engage in the sometimes-reliable media known as rumors.

The practicality inherent in the farmers of those old country towns ensured effective administrations. A sheriff and a deputy were all thought necessary to protect people from those with ill intent. Volunteers made up the fire department. It was not unusual for the gas station operator to double as the fire marshal and the grocery store owner to double as the mayor. One or two operators managed a small telephone exchange above the grocery stores, diverting calls through shared telephone lines. Teenagers often were heard yelling to their neighbours, Get off the line! The small telephone exchanges also served to give notice to the volunteer fire brigades. The only direction provided was something like, George Smith’s farm.

Though small were the farms, the families were not. Often, five or more children would soon be introduced to the rigors of hard work and dedication. With the many children came the need for their education. The success of the small farming communities allowed them to fund their own small school systems, the prides of the communities.

Banks realized the farmer’s need for expensive equipment to plant and harvest crops and low-cost mortgages to buy land for farming. The banks convinced the farmers to borrow heavily using the land as collateral. Because the banks believed the land’s worth could only go up, it was the perfect collateral, a very low-risk venture for the banks. With their land as collateral, the farmers put themselves in heavy debt to pay for the expensive equipment needed to make their efforts profitable. After harvesting, the farmers paid on the loans. It was sufficient to hold the banks at bay till the next harvesting. Most of the small farms were well on their way to experience the American dream. The banks prospered. Both the farmers and banks could not control the storm appearing on the horizon.

The great depression stuck its daggers into the hearts of the small farms. Crop prices bottomed out. This forced farmers to grow more crops in efforts to survive. The unforgiving law of supply and demand forced the prices even lower. As more crops increased the supply, the demand dropped. With a surplus of crops, the prices dropped so low it became cheaper for the farmers to burn their corn to provide heat rather than sell it. Expectations of the American dream turned into fantasy, then into nightmares.

With the land as perfect collateral, the banks were eager to provide loans to the small farms in good times. However, the banks never predicted the effect of the great depression on land prices. Land prices also plummeted. The banks realized their investments could never be recovered through what once was believed to be perfect collateral. The banks unmercifully demanded payments. No farm escaped the threat of foreclosure, creating unheard-of tragedies for many families. Even the banks suffered. With foreclosure, they became owners of land no one wanted and expensive equipment which would go unused. The banks themselves went into receivership.

The farm families were no strangers to difficult times. They relied upon their experiences in those times to survive. Gardens were grown to sustain their families and to grow vegetables and fruit for sale in the city. Necessities outweighed conveniences. One plate meals were common. Meals were simple, designed for nutrition rather than taste. Macaroni and cheese, various chicken meals, milk, and bread were popular. Farmers recycled everything. Farm children were proud of their flour sack clothes, recycled from the sacks used to hold grain the farmers needed for planting and flour they needed to bake. The small farms bonded together. Troubles of one farm brought help from neighbours. Community events were planned to promote togetherness. Many joined together in city excursions, limited to marketing the vegetables and fruits grown in their gardens. It was during this time the events of this story unfolded.

Chapter 2

Farmtown

Reasons to celebrate during times of the great depression were rare. Rush County, in the great state of Indiana, was home to a community of farms. The center of activities was a small town, appropriately named Farmtown. The Farmtown patrons had a good reason to celebrate during the great depression. Their 1935 Farmtown Owls football team went undefeated in the regular season. Summerville, a much larger city only twenty miles away, matched Farmtown’s feat. Both were touted as state champions. However, it was the Farmtown Owls who won the hearts of the people, including many from Summerville. The Farmtown Owls accomplished their feat with a team of only twelve players! They won over schools several times their size! Additionally, they played two teams Summerville also played and beat them by much larger margins.

During those years, there were no tourneys or playoff games to establish which of the best was indeed the best. It was left for the media to report a consensus champion. The Farmtown Owls earned the right to be called the state champion. Even the Summerville patrons agreed with this. This city had a reputation for appreciating the game of football.

The year 1935 was a significant year for football. Colleges saw the need to establish arenas to decide which teams were the best. The Orange, Sugar, and Sun Bowls were created. A trophy was created to honor what a consensus decided was the best college football player. The next year, it would be called the Heisman Trophy. Talk abounded about doing the same for high school football.

Chapter 3

Great-Grandparents

The depression ended. Small farms which survived the depression saw better times. Unfortunately, the fate of many would be sealed by advances in technology. Starting at the start of the ’60s, technology allowed much larger crops to be planted and harvested. Very large machinery did in a short time what previously took hard work and dedication to accomplish. Small farms could not afford the machinery. Their profitability could not match that of much larger farms. Many small farms were taken over by these larger farms. Some struggled on, hoping to achieve the American dream. Not able to support their families solely by farming, many farmers found jobs in the larger industrial cities.

The decrease in the number of farms was accompanied by a decrease of those who supported the businesses in the small towns. Without the patronage of the small farms, the businesses left, seeking larger towns and bigger profits. Many of those old country towns resembled ghost towns of the old West.

As went the towns, so did the small schools. With the decrease in the number of children, it was no longer practical to spend so much money on the few children now in the schools. Several schools consolidated into larger schools. The old school structures of those small farm communities were abandoned, left to the fate of the elements.

Farmtown was one of those ghost towns. The sturdiest structure in the town easily survived the many years despite it was never used. This grain elevator still stood tall, as if to hold on to the pride once enjoyed when farmers depended upon it. The Farmtown High School, once the pride of the Farmtown community, had long been abandoned. The high school now was a torn-and-shattered resemblance of what it once was, a fate common for those who are neglected. The elements now dictated its fate. It was eventually condemned as a hazard.

John Curtis and his family had just moved from the Farmtown community to Summerville. John was working for a demolition company. After work, he picked up his wife, Linda, at a small nearby college where she was teaching. They stopped by the high school to pick up their thirteen-year-old daughter, Tammy.

John told them, We have an exciting project. We will be demolishing the old Farmtown High School.

Tammy suddenly stopped thumbing the cell phone and asked, The one Grandpa John and Granny Lucille attended? Tammy was very interested in her relatives. She had researched them thoroughly. She referred to her great relatives as Grandpa John and Granny Lucille.

John responded and added, Yes. It is also the same school your Grandpa John’s and Granny Lucille’s parents attended. Our relatives have a lot of history in that old structure.

Being a college history teacher, Linda commented, I hope they save anything historical before they demolish it.

Tammy was anxious to preserve anything related to her relatives. She added, Can we see it before you tear it down? I want to video it.

John told them, I always take a walk through a structure, just to make sure nothing valuable or of historical value is left. I am not sure you can video it, sweetie. It can be dangerous. I am not sure our insurance covers children.

Tammy was not a child who gave up easily. She asked in a tone which was more of an order than a request, Dad! I have through that old school. I know many of my age who have gone through that building. You have to let me go!

John, a pushover for his only daughter, responded, Well, we will be doing the walk-through on Saturday. Ask Mom. If she agrees, I guess we can get you a hard hat.

Tammy looked at her mom intently, a look her mom knew well as we girls have to stick together.

Linda said, Okay, sweetie. But you keep near your dad, and do what he says.

Tammy was excited about the prospects of seeing where her old relatives went to school. She quickly thumbed the news to her friends.

Frank, her friend and neighbour, thumbed back, I love to watch them tear down old buildings. Ask if I can go. Tammy asked and was told if Frank’s parents said it was okay, they would take him. Frank’s parents gave him permission.

John said, You do not have to video it, sweetie. We always take our camera to video all the structures before they are torn down. You can use our camera to do this. Frank can help.

Saturday came. As they approached the old town which once was the center of activities for the surrounding small farms miles around, Tammy pointed out the tall old grain mill. It remained the tallest structure for miles around, although now never used. They all were excited to tour the area where John’s relatives once lived. They arrived in Farmtown where the schools were located. They were silent as they drove through a town of tired old buildings, with signs broken and hanging, with doors sealed by wooden two by fours. They waved to occasional old couples walking together, those who could not afford to move elsewhere.

John took his family and Frank to the old Farmtown High School. It was an emotional time for John’s family but more so for John. His grandparents, and their parents, had grown up on farms nearby, now all consolidated into much larger farms. They all had attended the Farmtown school, the same structure they had to tear down. His only picture of his grandparents was a graduation picture of them standing in front of the Farmtown school building, the same school which soon would be a memory.

John had to be consoled by his wife upon nearing the old structure. Tammy was also emotional but did not want to show it in front of Frank. Tammy was a dreamer, a creator of times and events which always were on the edge of believable, yet unreachable. She was ecstatic about viewing her great-great-grandparents, anticipating she could see them strolling the hallways, hand in hand, between classes in the old structure.

John had Tammy and Frank first film the outside of the neglected building. The windows were all broke, compliments of kids who lessened their frustrations by taking out a symbol which reminded them of why they were frustrated. Much of the lower level of the building was now covered by high bushes and weeds. Vines had climbed undeterred up the walls. Many of the old bricks were crumbling, now unable to support the weight of the structure. John stood outside the building and tried to visualize it as it may have been in the ’30s. Tammy, the creator of dreams, was much more successful. This old high school was a grand old structure, standing proud, a place fit to mold the lives of young adults. John sensed the old structure was telling him it was ready for what must be done, to make room for the future.

They all put on hard hats and walked down the now-barren halls of the structure. The walls also were victimized by harsh treatment from the elements. John led the way, looking for dangers which always hid in these old structures. Frank held a portable light as Tammy proudly videoed all Linda instructed her to. John now could easily visualize his great grandparents holding hands as they strolled down the halls of this old school. John imagined what they would have felt nowadays, realizing a place they spent many hours of their lives would soon be gone. They neared the area where the accolades of this abandoned high school were once displayed. Tammy videoed them to document the displays were now empty. It was as if the display were telling them the accomplishments of this old school had also went the way all would eventually go. It took them the whole day to video everything.

The day came to return all to dust, to make way for the future. John decided to use a large crane with a steel ball for the demolition. Tammy was less interested in seeing the old destroyed. She was more interested in dreaming about how the building looked in its heyday. As Linda and Frank watched the destruction, Tammy reviewed the videos they took, trying to visualize what once was. Tammy saw something which made her jump.

Frank was more interested in the large crane crashing the huge metal ball onto the structure. He was somewhat bothered when Tammy grabbed him, insisting for him to look at the video.

She placed the camera’s replay of the video right in front of his face and asked, Do you see something at the bottom of this display?

Frank took a quick look. He said, Yes, it looks like a dusty old picture frame.

He quickly