Friday Night Lights - Victory!

Second Post of the Day

Friday Night Lights #2 is in the books and it was family clash. My high school played Craig's!

And I didn't go. 

Why? It was played at my school which is a sprawling campus. I knew the walk from the parking lot, into the stadium, and around the track to the bleachers would do me in. (Just as it had last week only at a smaller campus. Harrison's is huge!) 

So, I stayed home and relied on Craig and Lisa to send me score updates and pictures.

I did ask for one favor - that they get photos of one of my former students, now a senior who was just named as one of the best high school football players in the area by local media.

Quinn Clary.

I'm happy for the accolades he is accruing, but I never saw that coming. Quinn was one of the smallest boys in my classroom when he was in 4th grade. But, that was eight years ago and he is eighteen and has grown. A lot. LOL

Quinn was one of those nice, hard working, good kids every teacher hopes walks through her door. 

That's Quinn on the right with two other boys from our class and their reading buddy (who required three buddies instead of just one because he was so sassy. They loved him but they had their hands full!)

I was sad not to be at the game, but it was the right decision. I'd had very weak legs most of the day and couldn't get very far even with my walker. I knew I would not be able to make it to the bleachers.

Craig took photos of the marching band and even filmed the twirlers for me (look on the left.) 

I used to twirl a baton on that field during halftime shows. I no longer have my baton, but give me a straight stick and I can still twirl some of our old routines! Hah! 

The high school dance team also performed.

In the end, the Harrison Raiders beat the West Side Red Devils 28-21. Which means I have braggin' rights until our teams meet again next year.

I won't tease Craig too hard, though. After all, I root for West Side every Friday except when they play my high school. (Kind of like how I root for Purdue until they play my alma mater, the University of Illinois.)

West Side plays McCutcheon, another local school, next week. If the game is played at West Side, I'll be able to get from the parking lot and into the bleachers. But if it's at McCutcheon, which is a big, sprawling campus like Harrison, chances are good I'll be staying home again.

I love Friday Night Lights and hate to miss another game, but sometimes it is what it is. 

Friday Night Lights Begin

First Post of the Day

What a way to begin our Friday Night Lights season - my alma mater playing Craig's!

We are ready for some high school football!

As always, we found seats at the 50 yard line. It was a bit of a challenge because both teams were local and so a lot of fans were present, but we found an open space near the top of the bleachers and settled in.

School has just begun so the West Lafayette marching band did not take the field for a show; instead, they played on the track in front of the bleachers.

I really enjoy watching high school and college bands play. I played the flute in high school but I rarely marched with the band - I was a baton twirler and performed that way. (Bet you did not know that about me!) Believe it or not, I can still twirl most of the routine to Harrison's school song.

The game progressed and Harrison was in the lead the entire time. I am happy to say that there was not one single foul called against either team - both sides played fairly the entire game. Way to go, guys!

I have two former students on Harrison's team but only one took the field last night.

Quinn, #7, was a starter for the offense and made some good plays for Harrison.

Here is Quinn (far right) as a 4th grader in my class. He and the two other boys are reading to one of our Reading Buddies, the boy in the Purdue tee.  

In the end, Harrison won by 8 points. I was glad my high school team won, I was glad that football had begun, and I was glad to be sitting outside on a beautiful summer evening with people I love.

It may be late August, but it feels as though Fall has begun. And that makes me happy.

The Harrison High School Dragoons

When I was a teenager, I attended William Henry Harrison High School, a brand new high school located two miles from the site of The Battle of Tippecanoe and named after the man who had led the American forces in the fight.

Given free rein to choose new uniforms for the new school, the band director selected military uniforms. These were highly unusual for the time as other band uniforms in the 1970s were basically a jacket, matching pants, a brimmed hat with a plume, and spats. As a result, our band really stood out in parades and at events as a result.

Another eye-catcher for us were our dragoons. Historically, dragoons were a mounted infantry who went into battle on horseback but dismounted to actually fight. Continuing the military theme, our band director decided to have a mounted cavalry as part of its marching band presentation. Since it was a rural high school, finding band members with horses was no problem.

I played the flute in the band, but when we were marching and bringing the dragoons along, I got to ride!

This is my Quarter Horse, Cee Hunt and me getting ready to march. (Any other model collectors think he looks like a Breyer Lady Phase in this photo?)

Written on the back of the photo was that it was 1974 and we were marching at a rally in Battle Ground, the town that grew up around the battle site. The group in red jackets were from Washington, DC and called "The Olde Guard."

I don't remember anything else about this particular march, but it had to have been something pretty special for a group from Washington, DC to fly to and participate in!

Eventually, we all were given saddle blankets like these; mine is still in my tack trunk. At this time I did not yet have mine so I used my show blanket. (I still have all the tack that is on Cee; it's stored out at the barn in the tack room.)

I have been trying to reconnect with others who rode in the Harrison Dragoons with me, but have not had much luck yet. Hopefully I will be able to write another blog entry with more pictures and information soon.

I still count myself as lucky to have had such a unique opportunity!