SCHOOL VOTE....TUESDAY, MARCH 2
It seems like its been a loooooong time coming but our elementary bond issue election is just one week away, Tuesday, March 2.
Its proposed that a successful $23 million bond issue will allow the construction of a new elementary school to replace the current Page and Lincoln elementary buildings which are 80 years old.
Obviously, newer, modern facilities will provide much improved educational opportunities for teachers and students alike.
There are a couple other positive things that may be, somewhat, overlooked.
How about the importance of this project to the community?
I, the Kornerman, have lived here just over 70 of my almost 86 years. I wasn't born here and didn't live my elementary years here but I do claim Boone as "my town".......and I'm darn proud of it.
I want this community to retain its current allure, its history and the exciting things that each "new day" brings. But those things, alone, don't mean we should retain everything "as is" or put things on "hold."
Whether we like it or not, its a challenging and competitive world so we must move forward, telling the world who we are and what we have to offer.....and that includes a progressive school system that is an envy, not an embarassment.
Then, too, some may overlook the hard work previous school boards and administrations have done to bring us to this point. Those school leaders have studied and they've saved. There's a very favorable result. School Board President Dr. Brian Melhaus said under the district's time frame for paying the current debt, there would be no increase in tax asking for the new building. The property needed has already been purchased. So, a raising of school taxes is not necessary for this project thanks to excellent pre-planning.
Jo and I have voted YES already. We went to the courthouse to cast our ballot. Its something you might consider, to avoid a crowd or, perhaps, weather that may be less than ideal.
K-----K
FORMER TOREADOR CLIFTON.....AN ALL-AMERICAN
A fairly new acronym, usually tied to sports, is GOAT......Great of All-Time. Or, as my old friend and mentor, Tom Quinlan, used to say, "he's one of the all-time bottoms of a stove".......referring to a Grate."
Either way, Luka Garza is IT.....at least, at the State University of Iowa.
Sunday, he became the best men's pointmaker in SUI basketball history.
But, today, we're mainly invested in talking about a Boone High School GOAT or Grate.
Boone High School has had a long boys basketball program but only one Toreador player has ever earned collegiate All-American mention.
Bob (Pinky) Clifton, led Boone's 1947-48 team to state championship tournament play in Iowa City where they defeated Carroll but lost to Ankeny.
On to the State University of Iowa where, in those days, college freshmen were not allowed to play on varsity teams. But the next three years, in the early 50's, Bob developed into a starter and steady performer for Hawkeye teams that posted records of 16-7, 16-7, and 19-3.
Pinky Clifton had transferred from the Ogden schools to Boone for his freshman year. By the time he was a senior at BHS, he had grown to 6-3, which was "pretty tall timber" in those days.
That senior season, the Toreadors were 21-8 and made a Boone squad's first state tournament appearance in 17 years, the first since the 1931 team had won the state championship.
As a senior, Clifton was a unanimous first team All Central Iowa Conference player, who led that league in scoring while setting a new school scoring record of 471 points.
The Des Moines Register and the Iowa Daily Press Association both named him a first team all-stater and he was also named to the All-State Tournament team.
Pinky's Boone High School coach was Frank (Bucky) O'Connor and after that 1947-48 school year, O'Connor was offered a position on the University of Iowa athletic staff. With scholarship help, Clifton followed his prep coach to Iowa City. Due to some illness in the UOI basketball coaching program, O'Connor quickly advanced to the Hawkeye head coaching position. That brought Coach O'Connor and Clifton together on the basketball court again, this time collegiately.
During his years at Iowa, Clifton was known as very fiery and super aggressive on the basketball floor and, probably, due to that style of relentless play, he was a real favorite of Hawkeye fans, who gave him a tremendous salute in the waning moments of his final Hawkeye home game.
In his senior season, the Hawks, led by unanimous first team All American center, Chuck Darling, and Clifton, failed by just one game of winning the Big 10 championship. Clifton was named an All American by Look Magazine, a well respected publication of that time.
After his graduation, the National Basketball Association (NBA) beckoned.
The Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, known now as the Detroit Pistons, drafted him, offering a signing bonus of $7,000 and a $5,000 a year salary, plus a job in the off-season. Not wanting to be drafted while at Iowa, Pinky had joined the ROTC, which required a two-year military stint after graduation. That requirement and his impending induction into the service, pretty well doomed any chances of an NBA career, although Detroit, two years later, still expressed an interest.
After service time, Clifton returned to Iowa to obtain his Master's Degree and he was given the opportunity to coach the Hawkeye freshman team for $2,000. Now married and with a son, Chris, more income was a necessity and Clifton applied for the newly-opened head coaching job at his old school, Boone High School.
His first Toreador team, in 1955-56, was 9-11 and he concluded four years at BHS with teams at 15-5, 6-12 and 7-9.
Then, a former Boone resident, Bill Dahlien, was the Superintendent at Union-Whitten, IA and hired Pinky as his Principal. Four years later, Dahlien took a job in Oregon and took Clifton with him, offering the promise that his salary would double.
After four years in Oregon, Bob and family returned to Iowa as he became the Principal at Ackley, IA, later Ackley-Geneva, for the next 22 years before retiring in 1990.
He and his wife, the former Dorothy Barrow, a high school sweetheart, returned to Boone in 2001. That same year, Pinky was diagnosed with colon cancer and he died in 2002.
Dorothy, who is also deceased, was once asked how "Pinky" got his nickname. She explained, "one of his Boone High teachers, Mrs. Liddell, called all of the red-headed boys in her class, "Pinky," and it just stuck with him."
K-----K
BOONE CONNECTED DEATHS: Robert Frazier, 91, West Des Moines. Born in Boone. Jordan HS-48. Navy vet. Drake University grad. Married Norma Edwards in 1954. Worked for the U.S. Postal Service until retirement in 1996. Two daughters survive.........Tracy Allen Johnson, 53, Boone....Gordon Kusel, 63, Bondurant. Survivors include a brother, John Kusel, of Madrid........William (Bill) Burket, 91, Minburn. Survivors include a son, Don Burket, of Boone.......Gail George Rees Jr., 78, Grimes. Survivors include a step-son, Mike Wineland, of Madrid.
K-----K
Worldwide Korner headquarters are located at 928 South Jackson, Boone, Iowa 50036-4932. Phone number is 515-432-1530. Leave a message. To email your stories/memories/comments.......
kelleyskorner1@gmail.com.
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