Recently, I was invited by Jim Hess of Byron to view some sports scrapbooks and other artifacts he has accumulated over many decades. It was a lot of fun reading stories not just about Byron, but others schools around the county.
For example, one of the scrapbooks was kept by Robin Jarret’s mother during the 1965-66 Byron basketball season. Jarret, who would go on to be one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the area, along with Eddie Harmon, Bill Lutz, Dean Ferb and Jim Hogan gave the Tigers a formidable unit under coach Joe Parks.
What stood out about that season is Byron going undefeated against everyone they played except for Forreston. Not only that, but Forreston beat Byron four different times, including a season-ending loss in the district championship game.
Some of the names from that stellar Forreston team were Don DeVries, Greg Ludwig, Bob Ross, Ron Abraham, Jim Van Ness and Ron Meyer. Back then, the Cardinals had one of the most successful coaches around in Bob Brinkmeier (356-138 in 18 years at Forreston).
It was the fifth district title in a row for Forreston (26-2) in what was a one-class system. In that era, small schools played in a district before advancing on to the regional where the larger schools lay waiting.
In 1966, Forreston lost to Rock Falls at the regional. Likewise, in the previous four years, good Forreston teams were taken down in the regional by bigger schools.
Mr. Hess had plenty of stuff for me to pore over and also took me to the Byron Museum, which displayed some of his items from track and field. Living a few miles away, I felt a bit embarrassed for never having been to this nicely-appointed museum.
If one thinks about it, every household with collections of school sport memories are mini museums in themselves. In a spare bedroom closet, I have newspaper clippings from football and track and field that my mom saved for me.
Yes, they hold meaning to me, but does anyone else care about the 1975 football playoff quarterfinal between Rochelle and Geneva or the 1976 conference track meet? As I downsize in my later years, do I ask my kids if they want my collection or simply toss it in the dumpster with everything else?
Probably the latter, as memories are best served by those who lived them. Suddenly, “you wake up and realize time has slipped away”; at least that Paul Anka sang about in “Times of Your Life”.
As the song continues, “Gather moments while you can.” That’s where moms come in handy. When you’re making memories as a young man or woman, they don’t have the same significance to you that they will later in life.
Moms intuitively know this and save them for you, even if they might be “shadows of misty yesteryears”, as the song continues.
Being from the newspaper scrapbook era, I wonder how collecting is done nowadays in an era of social media, be it visual or audio? Is everything condensed on a small disc?
Even though they are old and yellowed, give me newspaper articles and photos in a scrapbook that is falling apart. Opening those historical treasures in the basement of the Hess house brought me back to the 1950s and 60s.
Wouldn’t it be neat to have a central clearinghouse in Ogle County for old high-school sports mementoes to have a final resting spot? Your family may not want your memories, but there are probably enough sentimental sports nerds that would enjoy perusing them.
A touchy question that many a school grapples with and that is what to do with old trophies and awards. There comes a point when what a school runs out of space for everything it has accumulated.
Because of that, things have to go and often unceremoniously. The decades move on and that sectional trophy that seemed such a big deal in 1960s might reside in a dusty basement storeroom.
Or there is the case of schools that close, co-op or consolidate. Often, items don’t even find a home and are discarded.
But, as Paul Anka crooned, “Memories are only time that you borrowed.”
Andy Colbert is a longtime Ogle County resident with years of experience covering sports and more for multiple area publications.
