CONCRETE MEMORIES

     In no way have we solved the mystery of the balloon type instrument that Vern Modeland, BHS-50, is confident he remembers seeing sometime in the 50's/60's era. It supposedly occurred in the South Boone area and Vern was reminded of it from recent stories about the weather balloons that gained international attention a few weeks ago.

     Vern had mentioned that, perhaps, Dick Longworth may have a memory of such. Sorry! Dick wrote, "Vern's memory is better than mine. I don't recall any such incident at all." He wondered if it had occurred during the late 40's when "Vern and I were racing bicycles on Boone Street." Dick wondered if anyone was interested enough to go to the library or check the Boone News Republican archives for possible information.

     In my reply to Richard, I mentioned a great memory I, the Kornerman, had of playing basketball at the Longworth residence on South Boone street. In my days of "growing up," those of us that wanted to become All American basketball players did everything we could to improve our game. In my case, there was an old barn behind our house with a basketball hoop attached. And yes, even on cold, icy wintry days, I remember carrying cinders from our furnace to spread on the ice to accommodate some fantastic dribblin,' culminated by a fantastic shot at that old hoop. A majority of my time honing my skills probably occurred in similar situations.

     HOWEVER, there were a few times when we potential stars hit the "big time" on courts way out of our "normal reach." A good example was the Longworth driveway that was completely concrete and featured a REAL, honest to goodness, BACKBOARD AND GOAL AND I would guess the goal was even leveled (remember the recent Cyclone NCAA tournament debacle?)

     The Longworth arena wasn't the only such "show in town." There was a neighbor family between 15th and 16th on the east side of Carroll street where a similar situation occurred. The family name was Koenig and I remember looking forward to throwing up some shots at their place. Then too, the Justin Gustafson family further north on Carroll, near 18th street, had a hoop on a garage that invited lots of neighborhood action on a court not as pristine as the Longworth/Koenig facilities but still quite nice and very popular. And, there were probably many other similar sites that this old head has forgotten. Just thought of another.......across the street, Don Silvey's garage housed a hoop and the driveway was cement.

     I would be remiss, however, if I didn't mention the old, very old YMCA gym on Eighth Street. Yes, it was dark, dungy and dirty but it was a cement area with hoops and I wish I could claim a quarter for every shot that was ever launched at that gym where Roger Dutton and various other future BHS stars lived by the hour, day after day after day.

K-----K

     Thanks to all who remembered my birthday. There were many phone calls and cards BUT even more greetings via email, which seems to provide more room for conversation than the normal card. That allowed me to "catch up" with the lives of people I hadn't heard from for some time. It was all very much appreciated.

K-----K

     One more thing. A non birthday mention helped "make my day" even more special. Martha Warren Hilsabeck emailed, "wanted to give you a huge "THANKS' for publishing the obits in the Korner. Without our local paper anymore there are some families we would miss passing our sympathies on to survivors if it weren't for your column. My seem like a small thing to some people, but its been very important to me."

    The Kornerman concludes, "There's nothing more satisfying than knowing you're providing a service that is "important' to people."

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/death notices....

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