MORE SPEECH HIGHLIGHTS

     I'm not done.

     Many interested people, especially those who have moved elsewhere, out-of-state or even in-state, missed my presentation, "BOONE-My Kind of Town" in October, 2023, at the Boone County Historical Society.

     A recording of the talk was made and is available for listening at the BCHS but that is no solution for outsiders. So, I've attempted to relate in this column some of the highlights of that speech. We've already issued several updates with more to come.

     Please keep in mind that there's no way I can accurately describe the original speech word-by-word (there was no script for the 90-minute presentation), so what I release in the Korner is a much more detailed version of those remembrances.

     First, I must say I feel so blessed by the fact that, in my long life, so many amazing things have "gone my way." It seems as if I've, so often, benefitted by simply "being in the right place at the right time." Today's remembrance is a good example of that.

     When I was working as Sports Editor at the Boone News Republican in the 1960's, it was a given that I would follow all area sports teams and team members and write about their accomplishments. I, perhaps, didn't know that I would be expected to also be a photographer.

     I had no previous interest and absolutely no experience in that skill.

     Fortunately, a co-worker, Rollie Peterson, was an experienced professional photographer who was in constant demand for photo coverage of weddings and other important events in addition to his normal newspaper duties.

     In those days, the newspaper provided equipment was much less sophisticated that it is today. In fact, we used those bulky "black box" type cameras that were often seen in movies of that day.

     Good old Rollie gave me a quick lesson. If I recall right, he said, "you don't have to buy the film, so don't worry about how much the job requires. Just pick out your subject, highlight it by shooting at several various angles and at least one decent picture should become available."

     In one of my first newspaper photographic experiences I hauled that cumbersome black box camera to Goeppinger Field where a track meet was being held.

     Oh yes, there's the pole vault taking place. O.K. I pointed that hefty camera skyward and started shooting just as Toreador athlete Clyde Hovick, BHS-66, was sailing over the bar.

     I didn't realize it at the time but I had just witnessed and taken several camera shots of Clyde becoming the very first Iowa high school athlete to ever clear 14-feet in the pole vault.

     When I found that out, I was very anxious to get that film back to the office to see if any of the shots I had taken  were acceptable.

     One of the shots was especially beautiful......couldn't have been better. If I remember right, I think it found its way to the sports pages of the Des Moines Register.

     Young Clyde Hovick started vaulting as a seventh grader, using bamboo poles. In the last meet of his eighth grade season, using a steel pole, he cleared 10-4, which, at that time, was believed to be the best mark ever for an Iowa athlete that young.

     As a freshman, Hovick cleared 11-foot and as a sophomore 12-foot. As a junior student, he cleared 12-10 3/4 indoors and 13-1 1/2 outdoors.

     His senior campaign began successfully with a 13-2 winning record at the State Indoor meet. A bit later, he did 13-7 and a season long rivalry with a Villisca vaulter began. Both cleared 13-9 at the Drake Relays and the two went back and forth all season long.

     Finally, Hovick, in the Toreador Relays, set a new meet and school record and became the first Iowa prep vaulter to clear 14-foot. The official mark was 14-0 3/4.

     Clyde was a fine all-around Toreador athlete. He also played defensive end or corner back at 130 pounds for the famous 1964 undefeated and top-ranked BHS football team as well as being a pitcher-outfielder on two good Boone High baseball teams, including the 1965 state championship club.

     At the University of Northern Iowa, he set a school record but explained, "I only improved four inches in four years."

K-----K

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