Yes, the year was1785. Some 78 years later the Territory of Idaho was created from the Washington Territory, after having spent some time under control of the Oregon Country which was part of a disputed land claim between the U.S and Great Britain. But I digress, as I've said before this is not an Idaho educational site, but I like the comparison for context.
So it was rather timely that I received a letter from a fellow bulldog in exile out here in the territories, one Joe Davis. Joe Davis is a Damn Good Dawg who served our country overseas in the Air Force and who eventually settled in Idaho. Joe attended UGA in the late 50's about the same time my Mother and Father were enjoying their time in Athens. If you're like me you could listen to Joes stories all day. I am keeping his letters to put in my Dad's Pandora so that when my son attends UGA (Class of 2030 baby!) he too can take a trip back in time.
after the jump take a step back in history:
Joe writes
I’m another displaced Dawg living in Orofino, Idaho, the good part of Idaho. No desert here, just mountains, rivers, a 650’ deep reservoir, and lots of trees. I’m here by choice having lived all over the world as an Air Force pilot and settled on this location for retirement. Orofino is pretty remote, relatively speaking. Located in a large county, Clearwater, that ranges about 120 miles long from west to east with a population of about 8,000, no fast food restaurants, and not even one traffic light. We’re so different from Boise and southern Idaho that we’re in another time zone, Pacific. I totally agree with you about the food especially BBQ. These folks think a T-bone steak is BBQ and they’ve never heard of Brunswick stew. I’m still a die hard Dawg fan and even have my own English bulldog, a gift from my wife of 50 years for my 73 birthday. Subscribe to ESPN Game Plan every year so I haven’t missed watching a UGA game on the tube in many years. I graduated from UGA in 1961 so I’m an old fart from the days of Fran Tarkenton, Pat Dye, Bobby Walden, etc. My Mom graduated from Georgia in 1930 and attended the very first football game in Sanford Stadium in 1929 between UGA and another bulldog team, Yale. Beat Yale 15-0. Mom wrote the score on her ticket to the game and put the ticket between the pages of her Pandora yearbook. I discovered the ticket when I was a student at Athens and still have the ticket from that first game in 1929........ I’ve often wondered what the ticket would be worth to one of those wealthy Atlanta alumni to hang on their office wall. I just purchased a limited edition framed photo of the current Sanford Stadium and plan to frame an original photo of the 1929 stadium along with the ticket and display the two photos together on my office wall. I still correspond with my former classmates that live in the southeast. One of my roommates is coming back out next summer for a visit and we plan to disappear for a couple of weeks in the vast forests between here and Missoula, MT. We both graduated from Georgia with degrees in Forest Management but I strayed from that field and flew airplanes instead. Had a UGA alumni living here until about a year ago but she moved back to Athens. She was once married to Bill Stanfill, former UGA All American and All Pro with the Dolphins. Recently met a young gal who just moved here from Athens. She graduated from UGA a couple of years ago and is a landscape architect with the U.S. Forest Service. So, there are some more Dawgs around. Glad to hear you’re in Boise to keep those Bronco fans in check. if you ever wander up north to Orofino, give me a call. I’ll be sure we have some authentic BBQ and sweet tea.
Go Dawgs,
Joe Davis
Getting this letter from Joe lit a spark in me so I dug out my ole mans Pandoras and started thumbing through history. Stuffed inside his 1958 edition was a Red and Black from Jan 5th 1961. The Red and Black was a weekly back then and this particular issue had several historically worthy stories.
With historical context from Joe, here are some clippings:
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| the integration of UGA was an interesting time but the news media blew it all out of proportion. A couple of national news magazines were banned from campus because they paid students to throw rocks so they could get photos. One TV network showed a clip that supposedly was a group of angry students chasing the two black students. We recognized the scene as students between classes and in another part of the campus. |
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| " The old Stegman Hall was a real dump and the University had let it deteriorate in hope of shaming the legislature into appropriating funds for a new facility. It was so bad that we had to play all our home games with Kentucky at the big teat on the Tech campus in Atlanta. One night in 1958, it was raining hard and the wind was blowing the rain in sheets, I decided instead of walking across the street to watch the game I’d just listen on the radio. The roof was leaking so bad that they had to put towels on the floor to mop up the water. Ed Thilenius came on the radio and began the broadcast with something like this: “Folks, this is Ed Thilenius broadcasting the basketball game from Stegman Coliseum. The captains are meeting in the middle of the court for the toss of the coin. Stegman Hall is the only gym in the country where wind is a deciding factor.” I Was there when construction began on the new Stegman Coliseum. One of the arches began at about home plate of the baseball field and ended out beyond center field. The baseball field was pretty crude and the announcers stand was hardly anything other than a wooden box up in the stands. I used to sit right in front of the box and lean back against the front. That way I could listen to Ed Thilenius, voice of the bulldogs, broadcasting the game on radio. Some of the football players also played baseball including Fran Tarkenton, outfielder, and Phil Ashe. Phil played everywhere. I believe, if I remember correctly, that in one game Phil started out at first base, moved to catcher, and finished the game as pitcher. He was quite the athlete playing football, baseball, running track and although he didn’t play basketball I remember an intermural game where he scored fifty some points |
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| The era before Johnny Griffith was Wally Butts and some fantastic assistant coaches such as Charlie Trippi. I understood Trippi was the heir apparent to Butts and when they brought Griffith back as coach, Trippi left. I think Trippi came back eventually and remained in Athens for the rest of his life. No trip down memory lane would be complete without the Chapel Bell Promo.... Has there ever been a video that so perfectly encapsulates the feeling we all get? Whether you're 73 or 23 the PSA nails the sentiment: You may leave Athens, but it never leaves you |
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