In 2024, a 100th birthday was celebrated in Bluffton. Harmon Field turned 100, and at halftime of a football game, Spike Berry spoke of some events and some people that left memories on the field. I didn't say "old" field because unlike humans that turn 100, Harmon Field has never looked better or younger as changes in landscaping and the attention of volunteers has made it into one of the premier football fields in the area. I'm sure that anyone who ever played on it, or attended games there has lasting memories. Here are some of mine.
CLICK on gallery to enlarge and view at your own pace / Cover of 1953 Ohio vs. Kentucky High School All-Star Basketball program and Beemer soars in for a layup
By Bill Herr
Bluffton Icon columnist
It isn't often that I get to interview a sports legend. Beaverdam High School's last graduating class was in 1964. The next year Beaverdam consolidated with Bluffton Schools. Since then Beaverdam has provided good athletes in different sports that have helped Bluffton teams win championships.
For persons with Alzheimer's Disease (AD), they may know more about their surroundings and what is said to them than people think. They ought to be treated in conversation just as though they don't have AD, but have awareness and recognize what is being said, even if they don't reflect it. And they, like all of us, appreciate warmth and friendliness.
According to current research, we have 86 billion neurons in our brain. Whether we have dementia in AD or not, some of our neurons are constantly dying, just as cells in our bodies are constantly dying, but new ones are also being produced. There are neurons that transport information to parts of the brain involving memory and reasoning. This part of the brain is like a factory. When certain elements of a factory shut down, confusion and inefficiency occurs. But some of the images stored in this factory in the brain remain, although they may be mysteriously hidden. Sometimes they may surface like the sun breaking through the clouds on a dark day.
The greatest basketball game I ever witnessed on the Pirates newer court was against Crestview on December 14, 2018. The Knights were undefeated and ranked high in Ohio. They were led by All-State center Javen Etzler and his younger brother Kalen who is now on basketball scholarship at Ohio State University. The Pirates had a young, talented team. Coach Todd Boblitt said of the team, "We were a really skilled group in 2018-2019. Our guys had good basketball IQ and were able to adapt to in game adjustments. This group was able to control and dictate tempo with their skill and IQ."
Coach Boblitt said their strategy was to focus on stopping Crestview's three best shooters and leave the other two alone. One of the Pirate starters, Baylor Garmatter, who was quick on his feet, was given the assignment on defense of keeping between the center and whoever had the ball for Crestview. The strategy worked and a packed gym watched a close, exciting game that came down to the last minute. The tall Etzler in desperation took two long jump shots that failed to connect and Bluffton won the game 43-41. The Pirate fans exploded in joy.
This is the second in a series of four columns about the four greatest Pirate men's basketball games I ever saw. In the first column, Ron Lora and Jim (Spike) Berry wrote about the game against State-Ranked Bellefontaine (Fourth in Class A) in which the Pirates prevailed in the old Bluffton High School gym. In this column Spike Berry writes about a second game in that same 1954-1955 year, the tournament game with Bluffton going against undefeated Willshire.
The Bluffion-Willshire Game
Spike Berry: Thirteen teams played in the Non County Tournament with three teams going to the District at the Celina Field House. The Bluffton Pirates made the trip as one of the three teams, the first trip for the Pirates since 1942. We played the game at the Celina Field House, and 69 years later the Celina team still plays there.
Two of the greatest Pirate basketball games I ever witnessed occurred in the year 1954-1955. Coach Joe Harris has passed, so I asked two of the starters on that team to share their memories of the games and the players involved. They are Ron Lora and Jim (Spike) Berry. Ron was the leading scorer on the team that year and Spike was the point guard and floor leader.
