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We have the following entries: "A Day to Remember" by Kathy Cone Parton, Class of 1974 Please Contact Us if you have a story to share. The Webmaster will archive stories into a file and add new ones as they are submitted. |
A Day to Remember Back to the Top As everyone arrived at the "Farewell to Yale Field" event it was great to look around and see such a great representation of so many decades from Haines City High School. As we all stepped onto our "beloved" Yale Field such a flood of memories came to mind of all the Friday nights spent at the Hornet football games that were played there. Looking around and seeing so many faces that we had not seen in so many years and hearing different ones talk about the games played here, the practices some thought they would never make it through and we realized that the day was turning out to be as we had all hoped it would be - a day to remember what this place had meant to each of us who had in someway or another been a part of a team that had once played here. This is why we were all here, to see our former teammates, coaches and fans and to reminisce together one last time and to say "Goodbye" to Yale Field - a place that anyone who played here will never forget. For those who did play here we know that we were coached by some of the greatest coaches that have truly influenced our lives and have made such a lasting impression on us in those high school years. As the morning started we were honored to have our current Haines City High School marching band led by Sean Harlan march onto the field just like they always did on Friday nights. What a special touch they added by being there and playing the Alma Mater and of course our fight song “Hail Haines City High School". An invocation was given by Peter Jensen as he remembered how Coach Horace Odum would always lead them in the "Lords Prayer" before every game. A welcome was given by Kathy (Cone) Parton as the program was then turned over to Steve Green, a member of the 1973 State Championship Football Team. A presentation was made to the city of Haines City of a plaque that had formerly hung in the Green Clinic which Steve’s dad Dr. David Green had so proudly displayed in honor of the state team. This plaque will be hung in the new Multi-purpose Center that will be built on Yale field. Steve also talked of the history of Yale Field and the many different sports that were played there. On about 1932 Jed Yale gave the property for the sports field to the school in memory of his son, Hugh, who had died in 1918 on his way home from France at the end of the First World War. Yale Field was host to the Kansas City Blues, a farm team for the NY pro teams. Many professional ball players played there including National Baseball Hall of Fame honorees Yogi Berra, Jo DiMaggio and Phil Rizzuto. The baseball field was shared by the pro baseball teams from 1938 to sometime in the late 1940's. There are many stories that can be gathered surrounding the glory days of baseball and our Hornet Football team when they dominated the Ridge Conference. Over the years this field has been used by little league, pony league and of course the Jr. High and High School gym classes and sports teams. Whether it was football, band, cheerleading or baseball this place holds special memories for so many. We were much honored to have many former coaches with us on this day. Don Herndon (Coach of the 1973 State Championship team), Dick Pumphrey, Fred Cotney, Paul Roberts, Billie (Martin) Samsel and Blye (Bittle) Pegg were among some that were in attendance to share in the memories. After the presentation some of the former football players dared to choose up teams and play a game of touch football. It was great to see those guys playing again and having such a good time again on the field. The girls’ volleyball team and softball team and the Touchdown Club added to the day by cheering and selling water, cokes and sandwiches for all to enjoy. A big "Thanks" to them for quenching our thirst and hunger to help make the day special. Many stayed around to visit and eat a bite of lunch before the softball game began at 2:00. Teams were chosen and a great time was had by all who played as many spectators watched the teammates enjoy playing on the baseball field for the last time. As the rain held out for the day, there was a mini-reunion as spectators visited with friends they had not seen in years. A special "Thanks" to Dean Barnett for having the vision to gather one last time to play these sports and share in the memories. For all who came out for this day it will always be a day remembered and we probably will wish we could come back just ONE more time once the fields are gone. But we know the city has plans to build a park complex here so the fields will no longer be as we knew them. A time for change is here and that we will have to accept. But no one can take away the memories in our hearts and minds and the feelings we all had while hearing "Hail Haines City High School" for the last time on OUR field, Yale Field. Goodbye, dear friend. |
Well, Sigh.. It's All Over Back to the Top All the weeks of anticipation building up to the 1st HCHS All Class reunion week-end didn't disappoint me! I've just come back home from an enjoyable total immersion with my high school classmates. Anne & I drove down to the Cypress Garden Quality Inn in Dundee Friday night for a pre-reunion gathering given for the decade classes, 1957-1967. We spent most of the evening visiting with my long-lost 3rd cousin, Joan (Davis) Coarsey and Allen Shaw, Jr., my best buddy from my Haines City era that I hadn't seen in 40 years.Although Allen and I were in band together in high school, he was three years younger and graduated in 1961. So, even though we knew each other in high school and in band together . . . (we both even played trumpets), and took many, many, football band trips and went on the famous Washington, DC, Cherry Blossom Festival band trip together, we didn't become best buddies until after I had graduated HCHS and he was a senior, . . . when we both worked together at Haines City's radio station, WHAN. The All Class Reunion activities were set up on the "old" Yale Field overflowing with memories where HCHS played their home games of the famous three-year, 32 game consecutive "undefeated" football games, 1956-58. (Our old high school has since been turned into the junior high school, with a new high school built across town.) The All Class Reunion coordinators had placed "decade marker signs" along the 10-yard lengths of the football field; the 1940's, 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, & 2000's. The coordinators had erected a separate large 50' open tent set up for the three graduating years, 1958, 1959, & 1960. . . . with display tables & chairs. I took down several memorabilia articles, including our 1958 graduating class annual, 21 HCHS trivia questions about our school & Haines City, old faded brown copies of our school's newspaper, "The Hornet Buzzette" (I was on the staff my Sophomore & Junior years), some HCHS band concert programs, faded copies of our baccalaureate and graduating commencement programs, and a picture photo album of our previous class reunions . . . to display so classmates could peruse and bring back long-lost memories. I was chosen to make name tags for all the class of 1958 attendees that had pre-registered for the reunion. I printed them with our hornet emblem and the individual's senior picture to show "the way we were" for easy recognition by our classmates! At noon, Allen Shaw had a luncheon appointment with his uncle, Julian Shaw, who was our high school principal during our era. So, my cousin, Joan, Anne, & I went "uptown" Haines City and had lunch at Lawhorn's Corner Cafe, where we all three ordered the classic 1950s "Slawburger & fries" that a lot of us ate everyday during our lunch hour in our high school days. I had to settle for a regular Coke, since they didn't have the cherry-vanilla Coke that was my standard drink back then! For our short school lunch period back then, we would rush down, walking the three blocks from school to Lawhorn's Corner Drug to try to get one of the cherished few booths to eat lunch with our friends every day. One of my classmates that I used to perform this daily ritual with, Gary Wales, is now deceased. Tim Lawhorn, an offspring of the prominent Haines City Lawhorn family, has preserved the old Lawhorn-style Slawburger of times past at his cafe on the "main drag" in downtown Haines City. However, somehow it didn't have the same taste as I remember . . . maybe it was the lack of ambiance along with all our young classmates rushing around trying to get our lunch served and eaten before having to rush back to school before the bell would ring! Also, for some reason, all those eating at the cafe seemed to be a lot older and not as young as I remember rushing around trying to get the limited & coveted booths at Lawhorn's Corner Drug back in the 50's! After we finished eating, Joan's brother, Ed Davis, called and said that he had arrived in Haines City town. We had toyed with touring around our "old stomping ground" on the east side of town where we both grew up, but we elected to go back to Yale Field to see Ed, instead. When we arrived back at Yale Field, I met Ed and when I saw him, I was in total shock! I hadn't seem him since high school when he was the drum major for our famous HCHS band. I always thought that he was 7' tall. In reality, he wasn't much taller than I. He kidded me saying that I must have been much shorter back then and that I had finally grown up! However, after thoroughly thinking about it, I know now it must have been his drum major hat with its eloquent huge sky-high plume that he always wore when he directed our famous HCHS marching band that made him look so tall! We both had a short but nice conversation. Through my reunion contact with him, I learned that my long-lost cousin Ed now lives in Winter Park, only a few miles away. So, I look forward to continuing our relationship with my "long-lost - but newly-discovered" cousin. We have over 45 years of "catching up" to do. I went over to the adjourning tents where the "younger" decade classmates were and met some of my younger cousins whom I hadn't seen for several years; Jan (Strickland) Lyle, Linda (Clark) Shaw, Lynn Clark, & Kenneth Beach. I also had a great long conversation with a fellow classmate Jonathan Wallace and his wife. Again, we found out that we were literally neighbors, living only a few short miles from each other! We exchanged e-mail addresses and promised to stay in contact with each other, now that we know we're "neighbors". Allen Shaw had an appointment to meet some old neighbor friends in the mid-afternoon and wanted to know if we would like to go out for an evening meal together to reminisce & recall some old times after he returned at 6 PM. We agreed, and Anne & I left the reunion activities to take a tour of downtown Haines City and visit our old neighborhood across town. We stopped by the old "homeplace" on 20th street and chatted a few minutes with the owners, who were preparing balloons & table for an outside birthday party for one of their children. I told him some of the memories of my "old homestead" and afterwards, we drove around the area to try to spot old "landmarks" of our friend's homes. We returned to Yale Field at 6 PM and I had the "scare of my life"! All the classmates had departed & the tables & chairs were folded underneath the tents. I had a flash thinking that all my cherished memorabilia had been taken to some unknown location . . . but upon approaching the tent, I found them all stacked on our small tray that we had bought down for the reunion display. Then, just after we were leaving, the security personnel locked the gates to Yale Field behind our backs. They seemed to be locking our memories on Yale Field to be opened for another time & a future reunion! If we had been only 15 minutes later, we would have been locked out of recovering all the memorabilia that I had brought down for the reunion! We met up with Allen Shaw and drove over to Lake Alfred for an delightful & nice evening meal at a local seafood restaurant . . . we chatted like we did many, many times in his parents driveway back in the 60's . . . way into the "wee hours of the night" . . . discussing our intimate feelings and views ad infinidum. That's why I consider it so ironic, that even though we didn't discuss religion in all of our intimate details . . . we literally opened all other of our most intimate thoughts to each other . . .as we like to say, we discussed "EVERYTHING EXCEPT RELIGION!" However, with all our most intimate and private discussions, I didn't know that he was Catholic at the time. Ironically, I became one in 1995! Another "mind-boggling" aspect that I also just learned during our discussions Saturday evening . . . that he, too, was originally interested in electronics and wanted to get his engineering degree before he was encouraged & settled on a highly successful & rewarding broadcasting career culminating with CEO at ABC's company owned FM stations. I had also taken the same identical career path by taking Florida Southern College's 2-yr. pre-engineering curriculum after my HCHS graduation . . . and later wound up getting a broadcasting degree from the University of Florida! One little aside that I'll mention. . . (the probability & odds of it happening is literally one in several billion!) Allen had e-mailed me a few weeks before the reunion that he was going to bring down a present for me. That was it, and we didn't discuss it any further. I had taped an audio air check of Allen on his "Top 40 Show" at WHAN, one summer day in 1961. I transferred it from an 7" reel audio tape to a CD as my gift to him. When we met Friday night at the pre-reunion event, Allen gave me his gift that he had brought down for me. IT WAS A CD OF THE SAME IDENTICAL WHAN AUDIO AIR CHECK THAT I HAD MADE FOR HIM! I told him that with all our similarities, somewhere God had planted the same identical gene in both of us! That just blew my mind! (However, Allen always had the better looking gene between us!) We all three, Allen, Anne & I . . . . had a wonderful evening reminiscing of times past and catching up on years of happenings & all the water that has "gone under the bridge" since we've last seen each other. We drove back home around 11 PM Saturday night, and I was so keyed up with the week-end reunion events, it took me several hours to get to bed. Ah, but that we could live closer to my cousins, best HCHS buddy, and friends to share fond memories of the past in our autumn years together. Submitted by Send questions or comments about this web site to Webmaster |
High School Sports, Remembered and Replayed Back to the Top Returning to Yale field the evening before the GAME I stood with a old classmate on ground that I had not been on in over 40 years. It was unique a feeling, I played and practiced football as well baseball for the best years of my life on this ground. It seemed to welcome us back not caring that we had been gone so long as much as we had returned if only for a day to play once again. I had a strange feeling that something special could happen over the next Day. I now had met two old friends and all it took was a hand shake and a hug and the years disappeared till it was the day after we last said good luck. If you have ever been a athlete you know what home field advantage is and you appreciate it, we were about to go into the twilight zone where the field truly had the advantage but that is latter. We the class of '66 probably believed like all before and after us that we owned Yale Field well the opposite is true now thru my eyes Yale owns the hearts and spirits of all who praticed, played marched, cheered and watched from the stands. In a blink of an eye under a warm March sun everything that was in 1966 returned for many of for a short time. I have read the measure of our lives are special moments that can not be purchased , manufactured or pursued. They occur when circumstances,spirit,true respect and caring meet opportunity. These are the moments you asked will you marry me, or when you found you would have a child or grandchild they are the surprise of life. These times are usually seen thru a rear view mirror seldom do we see them in the front window coming right at us. Now the field was glad to see us we knew but it had some tricks to play on the boys and girls of summer. The even squad was the first to notice thanks to the O'Neal boys that a large black hole was developing between home and first base. This hole along with are minds thinking it was 1966 but our feet were in a totally different decade there was a definite problems running. We lost two of our finest boys before the 3rd inning. Also both teams noticed the laws of physics were not be followed solid matter (softball) was passing through other solid matter (gloves) without stopping or even changing direction. We learned the only way to work with it was backup everything it seldom happened twice on the same hit ball. A better ball game I can not remember, the stands were full I saw faces frozen it time Jo, Susan, Nancy our senior years cheerleaders. Mrs. Joe Stangry the foundation the only person in the world who could sent Coach back to pick up two boys walking home because we were mad at him for the afternoon. The game ended in a 16 tie, which was the only way the first game should conclude. Since 1966 was our year we believed we were never beaten we just ran out of time they never let the game go more than 4 quarters or 9 innings. We could wear you down if given the chance, I really wanted to continue to play longer but for that day our time in the sun was over. Teammates who could not walk before the game had a quickened step promised to keep track of those new ball gloves assured each other we will play again. I must say a old team mate looked at me in the second and asked to be taken out Id get pressure he thought. I know the boy in the man he got the first hit and scored the first run. I would, as we did leave with the person that brought me to the dance we win together or lose together but we play as one and would sacrifice our good for another. With the end of the game we had to answer a question can we do this again. YES - We will try . We would also want a heads up if ever this Field would disappear because it would require us to step foot once again on its playing field if its only one of us. Judy and Dawn you created the opportunity for us to play again on Yale Field. We tip our caps to you. Submitted by Dean Barnett, Class of 1966
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