One-Game Wonder

Ron Johnston

Description

On Friday night, January 8, 1965, the 5-1 Churchville-Chili boys' basketball team hosted Greece Arcadia in the Saints gym at approximately 8 p.m. It was the first game of the new year and would turn out to be school record-breaking as C-C won 101-55. 101 points, WOW! All 14 Saints on the roster played and scored. Ron Johnston, a junior non-starter and the author of this book, became a one-game wonder when he scored a game-high 16 points in almost two quarters of action on the hardwood. He couldn't miss, draining seven straight perimeter shots in the "pre-3-pointer era."
Thing is, Ron had a condition known as bronchiectasis that he has never revealed until this narrative now. Only his parents, immediate family, and doctors knew about it. The lung disease which he has had all his life has not hindered in any way his participating in athletics on both the prep and collegiate level. In fact, competing in sports, running, and walking have benefitted him.
Ron never had a prep varsity basketball game like the school record-breaking January 8 one ever again. But this story is more than him being a "one-game wonder."
("Better a one-game wonder than not," he would tell you, laughing.) It's also kind of a love story back in a time of teenage innocence. It's about teammates, cheerleaders, classmates, coaches, teachers, soldiers, and...people. GOOD PEOPLE, who have gone on to have families and been successful in life.
Being a newspaper sports editor/writer has been very helpful to Ron on this life journey. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy...and maybe you'd better have a box of Kleenex tissues handy. Because "One-Game Wonder" evokes emotion.

Sujets

• Biography
• 1 (number)
• Wonder
• Autobiography
• One
• Game

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris US
• Date de parution: 11 décembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669859215
• Langue: English

Extrait

One-Game Wonder

A Hoops Memory and Compilation







Ron Johnston



Copyright © 2023 by Ron Johnston.

Library of Congress Control Number
2022923065
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-6698-5922-2
Softcover
978-1-6698-5920-8
eBook
978-1-6698-5921-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.






Rev. date: 12/12/2022





Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
849422

















To Becca and Jake



CONTENTS
Introduction: A 12-Year-Old’s Sarasota Holiday
PART 1
About Five Years Later On January 8, 1965
One Year Earlier: Friday The 13Th Unlucky For Saints
Roger and Out!
Steedman Picture Perfect For Churchville
Rose Very Quick, Talented
Randle, The Team’s ‘Enforcer’ By Design
Vietnam Vet A Team Player
Saints cager meets Wilt
C-C’s ‘Renaissance man’
A Camp All-Star Game Honoree
‘Pooch’ Bled Orange And Black
Once Upon A Time At Lovin’ Cup
‘Binch’ cheerful, energetic
A Saints Entertainer
A Thorn In The Opposition’s Side
‘A Blue Collar Player’
Probably A Better Shooter Than Brad Pitt
A ‘Beast’ On The Boards
Me
‘The Shot Doctor’
‘In Like Flint?’
The School Record-Setting Game
Good Friends Have A ‘Riot’ At Stones Concert
‘Animal’ Lovers
‘A Pass First Guy’
Wayne’s World At C-C
Saints Fall To Falls In A 1-Point Cliffhanger
Judy Maclaren Still Cheering
Kenny Fuller Always Dependable
A Monday Morning ‘Bronch’
A Fallen Soldier’s Motorcycle Inspires Cousin
Jimmy
PART 2
Everybody’s Somebody In Riga Center
Sharon Herley Artistically Inclined
Jim Loedel Everybody’s Friend
An ‘Uncommonly Good Woman’
Gutting Out A Wrestling Win
A Vivacious Beauty Queen
A Long Overdue ‘Thank-You’
Ellen A Multi-Tasker
He Saw The Beatles
An Academic Achiever
Kathi
Unforgettable English Class
A ‘Beagles’ Fan
A Hockey Enthusiast
Gebhard A Good Athlete
Coach Setter
C-C History Teacher A War Vet
‘Ronald Starkweather Boulevard’
Brothers Both Class Salutatorians
A Dedicated C-C English Professor
One-Handed Pitcher An Inspiration
From Finland With Love
A True-Blue Yankees Fan
Twice As Nice
Easy-Going George
A Ray Of Sunshine At C-C
One Of The ‘Wiz’ Kids
Proud To Have Served
Bushman And The Great Class Of ‘66
Betty Mc-Nificent
Ralph A Huge Sports Fan
Outstanding In His Field
Beware Of Doug
Bubby
Lanctot A Longball Hitter
A Devoted Wife, Mother
A Superb Facilitator
Mcgill Very Competitive
Be Like Mike, Be Happy
An Ambassador Of Good Will
Sherri
Mayor A ‘Touch Of Class’
A Wrestling Standout
A Stand-Up Saint
Strolling With A Purpose
Marie A Caring Individual
Cheryl’s ‘Brush With Fame’
Jerry Spotts
A DAR Winner
A Talented Booter, Second Baseman
Tommy T
Dr. Jay
‘Ooh-Rah’
A Hero For The Ages
An Accomplished Pianist
‘Crazy’ About Sandlot Football
A Local Rock Star
Sledding
Bonnie’s Long, Winding Road To Happiness
A Biker Enthusiast
A Super Duper Job
Fun-Loving Sister

Acknowledgements
Author’s Note
The Scar
Appendix



Introduction
A 12-year-old’s Sarasota Holiday
With Tommy Edwards crooning, “It’s All In The Game,” on the car radio, newly-wed Jim Smith gripped the steering wheel of the 1959 four-door Ford Fairlane.
He was driving on a lonely stretch of highway somewhere in Georgia.
In the backseat was his bride Nancy of four months and her parents’ Charles and Betty Podgers (my grandparents) of Rochester, N.Y.
I, a 12-year-old sixth-grader from Chestnut Ridge Elementary School in the Churchville-Chili school district, sat in the passenger seat.
Our destination that early March day in 1960 was Sarasota, Fla., and it was about to be interrupted by flashing lights from behind us.
Jim just grinned as he pulled the sedan over to the side of the road.
“You weren’t going that fast,” I said.
All Jim did was reach for his wallet and license in his back pocket, and then roll down the driver’s side window.
“He must have noticed our New York State plates,” he said.
The Georgia trooper got out of his vehicle and slowly approached Jim, who was waiting patiently for him with all of the pertinent info in his hand.
“You were speeding,” the trooper said matter-of-factly.
Jim said nothing. Nobody in the car did. I almost said, “No, he wasn’t!” But held my tongue.
After the trooper gave Jim a ticket, we followed the law enforcement officer a few miles to a court building in a backwater town.
Jim paid the fine, and then we resumed our journey south.
“Gee, he was a young-looking guy,” said Nancy of the Georgia state trooper.
***
Jim and Nancy met in high school at Charlotte and Irondequoit, respectively. According to the Charlotte yearbook, Jim was called “Smitty” and was interested in “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of jokes.”
Aunt Nancy, my mother’s baby sister, was like an older sister to me, and we sometimes had our “sibling” spats.
Jim and Nancy were ‘57 graduates. They were a good pair. Both visited me when I was hospitalized for a month at Rochester’s Strong Memorial in April of ‘59. I always appreciated their concern.
Later that year on Oct. 31, Jim and Nancy were married by Rev. Franklin Laundry in a candlelight, double ring ceremony in Rochester’s Seneca Methodist Church, the same place where my parents were wed several years before. My little sister Kate was one of the two flower girls in the Smith-Podgers wedding party.
Jim and Nancy honeymooned in New York City, so the March trip to Florida was kind of an encore trip.
I was along for the ride, because my grandparents (Charles and Betty) had invited me. They believed it would be good for me after the operation and trauma of the hospital stay less than a year ago.
I had to get a doctor’s excuse at school, and at first I wasn’t too crazy about traveling to the Sunshine State, because I was in the middle of a basketball tournament. But, with it being spring training and a golden opportunity to see the Yankees play, it didn’t take too much arm-twisting.
When we finally arrived at a rented house by the beach in Sarasota, Jim and Nancy and Gram basically did their thing, while Gramps and I went to St. Petersburg to see the Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals play. I was looking forward to seeing Mickey Mantle up close, but he was having a contract dispute with management at the time (as I later learned) and was nowhere to be found.
Still, I got to see manager Casey Stengel jawing, Yogi Berra play third base and first-year Yank Roger Maris in left field.
I also saw Stan “The Man” Musial swing the bat for the Cardinals.
The Yanks lost the exhibition game, but I was still thrilled beyond belief to be there.
The next day, Gramps and I visited Bradenton, and saw the Milwaukee Braves host the Chicago White Sox. We sat in the left field-foul line bleachers and watched Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews perform. I wore my Yankees ball cap, and was eyed with a smile by the Braves’ third-base coach.
Needless to say, for a 12-year-old, Florida was an adventure – the beach, the sunshine, everything. It was paradise.
But, after a week there, it was time to bid farewell and return north – and to school. The journey home was uneventful (not even a traffic ticket), except for Nancy and I teasing each other the whole way.
“Oh, look at that lady go behind the bush out there!” Nancy said.
“Where? Where?” I’d respond to much laughter in the car.
It was all good-natured and in fun.
And, when we crossed the New York State line, guess what? It was snowing.
It really was time to turn around then and head back to Florida – but, of course, we didn’t. We stayed the course.
***
After my journey to Florida, it would be 30 years before I returned to the Sunshine State, this time with my family in a visit to my mother in Port Charlotte. I did not attend a spring training baseball game.
Gramps and Gram both passed away in the 1990s within two years of each other. They were two of the dearest people ever.
Jim and Nancy went on to have a family of their own, raising a son (Tom) and daughter (Suzette) in Hilton, N.Y., where Jim owned a construction company. Before that, he was employed with Podgers & Sons.
In 1977, the Smiths moved to Lewis County in New York and managed the Snow Ridge Ski Area in Turin.
Several years after Jim tragically passed away in early January of ‘83, Nancy re-married in ‘95, and she and her husband Don Pratt worked in Rome, N.Y.
Last year, on Jan. 6, 2021, Nan passed away at the age of 80.
And...I still miss all the teasing, especially on the great Florida adventure of long ago, a trip I considered not make because of basketball.
By the