By Mike Ford

Thanks for sharing your chapter about the 1959-60 basketball season.  Either you have an awfully good memory or else you have access to some detailed accounts of the games. Chuck Brunau mentioned watching Bob Kurch play in the “pit”. I can remember going to watch Bob & Mickey French play when I was a kid. It was a big deal that Al Esther was moving to Fond du Lac. I can remember his line-drive jump shots that left no room for error. 

As for the entertainment at the games I do remember playing “Sweet Georgia Brown” but I didn’t remember that it was to accompany Bob Tadman. In 1959-60 I was 2nd chair to Joe Hupfer. Joe was really good at reaching upper register notes on his trumpet. Joe & I liked to jam some of the tunes – I particularly remember “When the Saints Go Marching In” which was ironic with our cross-town rival being Saint Mary’s Springs. I also recall “Tequila” as being popular. The pep band at home games was probably about a third to a half of the full band. I’m sure we played some tunes that were selected by Paul Scharfenberg or Cal Moely at halftime but we were kind of on our own for timeouts & other breaks in the action. For away football games I played at we were pretty much on our own as far as getting the musicians together, selecting what to play,  and finding transportation. 

In addition to Tom Stevens, Mickey Faris also performed on the trampoline and did other gymnastics. Art Kaemmer may have participated in some of the gymnastics as well if you can reach him to see what he remembers.

I don’t have any memory of a summer band camp at Roosevelt. I usually went back to Ohio for about six weeks each summer to visit my grandparents and help them with yard work and farming. Thus I missed out on a lot of the things that you and others got to do in Fond du Lac.

In our senior year at Goodrich it was not only the first year for Calvin Moely leading the band but it was the first year for Jim Johnson to begin his coaching career. Jim was to become the most successful head coach ever at Fond du Lac.  From 1964 through 1974 he led the team to four conference championships and two state championships even though he went 0-8 in his first season.

Mickey French was a guard on the team with Bob Kurch. The FDL Reporter gave them a lot of press – I’m not sure what years they played in the 1950’s, probably before 1956.

I do not recall that a pep band was organized for very many away games. When we did go we just sat in the visiting team stands. There was no band leader so we just played the school song & a few other tunes as we pleased. It was usually just a trumpet, trombone, percussion, clarinet, & mellophone so we didn’t make a big noise. I do think that cheerleaders were part of the team and did go to the away games but I’m not sure. John Barfknecht’s sister was a younger cheerleader so John might know if she went to away games if she made varsity. Likewise, Margie Wiedeman was going with Larry Wetzel & he might remember if she went to away games when she was on varsity a year after we graduated (he was still going with her  then). Other than that my yearbook shows Ellen Soukup, Martha Steffes, Dale Terrill, Sue Wilson, & Tom Stevens as varsity cheerleaders in our senior year. Some of them might also remember more about halftime activities.