ABOVE) Harmon Field photos from 1937 and 1935 Bucaneer yearbooks 

By Bill Herr

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.

I'll start with one of the saddest yet most poignant moments I witnessed. Bluffton has had fine midget football coaches. Jim (Cappy) Clark has an award named after him that is given to the most outstanding athlete in the Senior class each year. Another excellent midget coach was Chris Bricker. One of my former students, Chris was tragically killed in a snowmobile accident. At his funeral, the entire midget team sat on the carpet at the front of the funeral home during the service.

Later, a Buckeye tree was planted in honor of Chris on the west end of Harmon Field not far from the goal post. At the dedication ceremony I asked if anyone would like to share a memory of Chris. One of his players, young Hunter Bush, came up in front of the crowd and gave a moving testimony of his love for Coach Chris. It was an emotional moment. But what followed was also special. A large hole had been dug to place the tree in. A number of his players each took the shovel and put a shovel of dirt into the hole until it filled up. That tree is now flourishing and producing buckeyes. Each year before the first football game on Harmon Field, the Bricker family surrounds the tree in remembrance and checks its condition. Chris's two sons, Austin and Dakota, were outstanding football players during their years in high school.

When I was eight, my brother Don was a running back for the Pirates. Against an undefeated Ada team, he scored two touchdowns and Bluffton defeated Ada by a score of 14 -13. His fellow players put my brother on their shoulders and carried him in celebration of the victory. That was the beginning of my Pirate Pride.

My father and uncles (the Herr brothers) started the Bluffton 4th of July Rodeo on Harmon Field in 1944 and it continued until 1954. They built heavy oak chutes to hold the professional bucking horses and bulls. They were set up on the east end of Harmon Field. They were stored in the Myron Matter barn that once stood across the road from the Dari Freeze. Fence was put up around the field to protect spectators. My brother scored the most points and won a trophy as the all-around champion in the 1949 Old-Time Forty-Niner Gold Rush Rodeo. He even took third place riding a bull. Professional bull and bronco riders would attend our rodeo. All the men grew beards that year. When my brother retired, my time had finally come. I got to ride our quarter horse, Tony, a great horse my dad brought from Texas. Over 120 horses and riders attended and many were in the parade that preceded the rodeo. The year was 1954 and the first event I entered was the Musical Keg. The riders walked their horses around the large circle of kegs in the center of Harmon Field while music played. When the music stopped, all the riders hurried to the nearest keg to dismount and sit on a keg. I was just ready to sit on a keg when a girl beat me to it. I was the first contestant eliminated. But it was fun.

Unfortunately, the school board decided they didn't like the idea of all those horses running on Harmon Field and the rodeo was discontinued. Many people were displeased with the decision because in July the field was usually dry and firm. That was unlike during the football season when both the high school and college football teams used Harmon Field and sometimes the field became a muddy quagmire after heavy rains.

Peter Lehman was an excellent running back for the Pirates. His older brother, Evan, was his biggest supporter. Peter broke loose for an 80-yard touchdown run. When he scooted around the end he ran close to the sideline where Evan stood. Evan was excited and began to run along the sideline across from Peter. Evan didn't see a car parked near the sideline and he ran into the car hard and fell. It happened in front of me and I think it was the hardest hit of the game.

The 1966 Pirate football team was the NWC champion. They were a spirited team led by Coach Mark Covert. I was sitting in the stands behind the team benches when a Pirate player began to walk behind the players on the benches and tapped each player on his helmet. It was a good example of team spirit. The player was Steve Stratton.

On a nice spring day I took my advanced mathematics class to Harmon Field for an experiment. We would have someone hit a softball into the air, and then measure the ball's time in the air. Using a mathematical formula, we could measure how high the ball lifted in flight, and how far it traveled. I chose J.W. Shannon to hit the ball. He was big and strong, so I figured he could hit the ball the farthest. Little did I know how far. Standing in the end zone by the creek, he swung the bat and made contact. The ball sailed over the goal post on the opposite end and over the refreshment building. I knew J.W. was an outstanding fullback on the football team (he once carried the ball 36 times in a game for Coach Bill Lodermeier), but I found out later he was a home run hitter on the baseball team.