Friday Night And The Lights Are Low

On last Friday, August 25, five new individuals  and one team were inducted into the BHS Athletic Hall of Fame.  Previous posts have mentioned them, but, once again, they are:  the 1951 BHS track and field team, which tied for the state championship (newspaper articles from the day indicated they won the coin flip for the right to take home the championship trophy); Ron "Red" Erickson, class of 1951; Bob Adams, class of 1968, Lori Andersh, class of 1981; Tim Burns, class of 1988; and Norman "Nig" Johnson, teacher, coach and administrator 1946-1973.

In comparison to last year, attendance was higher.  There were perhaps twice as many in attendance, likely due to the inclusion of the 1951 track and field team.  All of the inductees that were present had many fond memories of their high school days.  As so often happens at gatherings such as this, the stories are somewhat embellished and perhaps exaggerated.  It seems that as athletes get older, their performances get a little bit better than what actually happened.  In any case, it was a wonderful time, and the acceptance speeches given by these new members were extremely enjoyable and enlightening.

There was some severe weather forecast for that night.  The usual procedure is to award the plaques at half-time of the football game.  However, since there was a strong the possibility the game would be called before half-time, the individual plaques were awarded at the pre-game social.  The game was called in the middle of the first quarter, and they did shut off the lights.  Below are a few of the pictures of the festivities that Bob's wonderful wife was able to take.

  This picture shows some of the members (or their relatives) of the 1951 track and field team.  From the left are the son of Dave Christensen, Stan Rishoi, Jerry Danielsen, Duane "Hoppy" Rykhus, Ron "Red" Erickson, and Rosalie Ruth Ann Houk, one of "Nig's" two daughters.  His only son Arnold ("Little Nig") was actually in town earlier, but illness forced him to return home to the Twin Cities.   If you can access this site, you can find a number of BHS annuals from years past: http://www.classmates.com/places/school/Brookings-High-School/9192?hitwiseSegment=free&checkCookie=1432789842814

"Red"Erickson is shown being congratulated by the photographer, Dick Turner.  "Red's" loyalty to the Bobcats is shown by choice of attire.  That red and black polo shirt looks great on him.   Dick was a long-time social-studies teacher at the middle school.  He grew up in Madison, and was just a couple of years older than we were.  "Red" actually taught in Madison for a number of years.  Don't know if Dick was a student of his, though.  "Red" did teach when Tom Osterberg was teaching there, however.  I was able to get a chance to talk with "Red" about growing up in Brookings. what a pleasure! One of his best stories was that he could stand at the corner of 6th St. and Medary, walk less than a mile in any direction, and shoot his limit of pheasants.  On "Red's" left is Tim Burns, Bob Adams, and Rosalie Houk.

Here is "Red" standing in front of his plaque.  When we looked at annuals from "Red's" day (late 40's, early 50's), the basketball uniforms looked familiar.  They were the the same ones we wore in 8th grade.  Mine hung down so low on me that my mother had to put a temporary hem in the area around the neck so that the armpits did not droop to my waist.    It seems that "Red" had brought some kind of uniform,  perhaps a track and field outfit, with him that was signed by some of other team members..

Here Bob is talking with Duane "Hoppy" Rykhus.  Mr. Rykhus was Bob's track and field coach for his sophomore and junior years.  Again, his loyalty to the red and black is showing in his choice of attire.    "Hoppy" himself was an outstanding pole vaulter.  He held the South Dakota high school record in that event for most of the 50's, and was the first south Dakota collegian to clear 13 feet.  In those days, the landing pit was sand and sawdust, not the soft foam pits that are available today. One had to know how land to avoid serious injury from those heights.  It was interesting reading the sports pages from old Registers of the 50's.  Not only was "Hoppy' prominently featured and  mentioned in the track and field articles (according to "Red," Hoppy had to win  the pole vault at the state meet in 1951if the Bobcats were to tie for the title), but he also played an important role on the football and basketball teams.  [He was one of our 9th grade football coaches, "Skip" Webster being the other one.  If we would have had someone nicknamed "Jump" for a third coach, we would have had "Hop," "Skip," and "Jump" for coaches (groan)].

These are the individuals that were able to attend.  From the left are "Red" Erickson, Tim Burns, Bob Adams, and Rosalie Houk  Lori Andersh was unable to make it.  Steve Berseth, the coordinator for the Hall of Fame, eventually located her, but not in time for her to make arrangements to be here.  By a strange coincidence, while looking up information from the early 50's, we found that her father competed in track and field at South Dakota State about the same time "Red" Erickson was competing for BHS.  The name Laverne Andersh. Lori's father,  was listed in some of the meets in which "State" competed.  Lori was only here for her junior and senior year, but was a key member on some good cross-country, gymnastics, and track and field teams.  Did she inherit her athletic ability from her father, who ran the two-mile in college?

As for the football game, it was finished the next day.  Yankton had to drive all the way home, and then get up early to make the trip back to Brookings for the 11:00 AM game.  It was great start for the Bobcats, as they won 27-21.  It was their first win since 2015.  They had a rough season last year, not winning a game.This season looks promising.  The games are live-streamed.  Perhaps Bob Adams can comment on how to do this for those who are interesed.