Gary, West Virginia is a coal mining town through and through. In 1970 coal was king and our little town was booming! There was a job available for anyone who wanted to work. Times were good then. They were even good for an AA high school football team called the Gary Coaldiggers. This team had no fear of the 1970 schedule even though it was loaded with schools of larger enrollment and much better football histories.

I did not play on that football team. I was a very very skinny teenager (coal camps provided pretty good size players in those days). Nope..I didn't play but I was involved. I was a "yell leader" for GHS. It was only the second year the school had any "guys" on the squad and on occasion I took a bit of razzing from opposing fans, but all in all it was worth it. Being on the sidelines for the 1970 season was a truly great experience. It was a DREAM SEASON.

Before our final regular season match up with our arch-rival Welch HS we had won 9 games in a row, 6 of which were against larger schools. The game with Welch was a yearly affair played after the parade on Veterans Day. The winner of this grudge match got to possess, re-paint and display the "beer barrel" for the next year. I helped paint the barrel our school colors in 1970. We beat Welch 44-12 and went on to win the state AA championship game against Oceana 28-0 to complete an undefeated season.

It was a magical time. Each Friday night that we played at home the entire town attended the games. It was the"event" that unified our town: young and old, black and white, parents and students. My gosh! The sights! The sounds! The band marching through the streets to the stadium, the opponent taking the field to a round of "Boos", the crowd gathering and that murmuring sound, the look in the eyes of my buddies who played, the smell of the freshly mowed grass! I know most of you remember those times, you remember what it was like. As for me, those nights were some of the best times of my life.

Then it all changed.

Gary High School existed for a few more years. Unfortunately, the coal jobs were slowly dying out. Machines were taking away a lot of the "people" jobs. Steel prices in the US kept going up and the market for American-made steel kept dwindling. More and more people, young and old, moved away. In the end it was decided to combine Gary High and our rival Welch. They built a new school and named it Mount View. The View would play their home football games at Welch Stadium. Gary High School had ceased to exist. Things would NEVER be the same.

Recently, the McDowell County Fair was held on the old Gary High football field. I decided to go see what the tiny fair had to offer. I was unaware, even as I drove the 6 miles up the road, that the past was getting ready to haunt me and actually break my heart.

We parked the truck and walked up the same dirt road I had walked 100 times to get to our games. Then...there it was! But...it WASN'T!!! The grandstands had been painted an odd blue color. The big "This is Coaldigger Country" sign was gone from atop the scoreboard. The student cheering section and band bleachers were GONE! I looked around and saw funnel cake stands, a ferris wheel, merry-go-round, kiddy rides and a heck of a lot of people I did not recognize.

I took a walk all around the field, pausing here and there to let the memories wash over me. At one point I could actually smell the popcorn from the concession stand where my dad used to help out (yes, I KNOW it was the fair's popcorn). I closed my eyes and let the memories live and roam in my mind's eye. I could see my old friends, hear their laughter, feel the hugs and high fives as we beat all those bigger programs! My heart beat just a bit faster as the faces, the smells, the sights and the sounds got closer and closer. Then...in a blink...they were gone. I was again just a 45-year-old man standing on the outskirts of the county fair.

I cannot return to "my" old high school stadium on Friday nights in the fall. I can't walk the hallowed ground I walked as a teenager. I can only now pretend interest in the new school and cheer them on as best I can when I venture out to a game. I envy so much you 70's grads that can, on occasion, return to your old school and see those same uniforms and colors you saw 30 years ago. I am not allowed that glorious pleasure. I can only go to the county fair, walk through a small window to the past...and dream. It may seem trivial, but if you have good memories of high school and those high school Friday nights...I truly hope that what has happened to me and my school NEVER EVER happens to you and yours.