MAYBE YOU'LL REMEMBER

     Green light, red light.

     Its been some time but today, I got the itch to write SOMETHING and, hopefully, something new to these pages. A couple things came to mind, American Legion baseball, and the Boone unit, Iowa National Guard's summer training of years past.

     Maybe a viewer or two will find some of this material memorable. And, I'm willing to admit some of the material presented may be less than completely factual. It was a long time ago and my memory is....well....you know. Anyway, correct me if you find flaws.

     In the 1950's, there was no Boone High School baseball and no Little League or Babe Ruth programs to join. There always were semi pro teams available for the "older" crowd.....example, some times both the Boone VFW Post #817 and the Boone Odd Fellows Post #170 had teams.

     We thank the local American Legion Post #56 and local car dealer Moffitts for their strong backing of an American Legion Baseball program in Boone at that time. Moffitts, I recall, even designated a special bus for the team's transportation.

     The Legion was a very strong program those days with teams throughout the state. HOWEVER, the players age ranged from 13 to 18. There's a bit of a difference when a team has a hard-throwing 18 year old pitcher facing a 13-year old batter.

     I and many friends were thrilled to have any chance for real baseball activity so, even at 13, 14, etc. we were squad members on our local Legion team.

     The local roster was not limited to the Boone city limits.......perhaps to a counties confines. At least. I recall, we had several non-Boone players on our squad......Harley Saunders from Ogden, Ab Anderson from the Boxholm area and Dean Swedlund from the Stratford area. Saunders and Anderson were pretty darn good pitchers and Swedlund played first base.

     Something that makes me chuckle whenever I have this memory. Kenny Mallas, BHS-51, was the catcher and he was working at Quinn's Wire and Iron Works during the summer. Apparently, the end of his work day coincided with baseball practice because when he would hurredly show up for practice, he was a sorry sight.......with black soot mixed with sweat, etc. etc. 100-percent throughout his clothing and body. He didn't look like the Kenny we knew.

     I don't remember all the details but we had some pretty good teams and the younger teammates were happy to have any involvement in baseball, even though it was somewhat limited in those earlier years.

     Later, as we aged, we took our turn as regular, game to game, contributors.

     The program was all we could ask for......all that was available at that time and the local Legion and Moffitt's, made it as first-class as possible.

     At the end of one season, I recall the team was rewarded with a trip to see the Major League Cubs in action and after another season, we were transported to Omaha where we saw a College World Series game and were given a tour of Boys Town.

K-----K

     Somehow, I don't really how this happened, but somehow, my buddy Gary Grosnickle and I were hired one summer to work at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri during the two-week Boone Unit of the Iowa National Guard's annual encampment.

     Yes, we were paid and we did a variety of things.....mostly in the kitchen/dining room area. I remember the dish washing and working to keep the dining hall shiny, spic and span.

     Oldtimers will remember Major General Walter Anderson, who was the top officer of the Boone unit. He had joined the Iowa National Guard in 1912 and, eventually, became Brigadier General Anderson. He retired in 1953 and the old Boone National Guard Armory (remember?) was named after him in 1964. He passed away in 1979 at the age of 85.

     Everything done in that kitchen/dining area was catered to General Anderson. He had his own extra special utensils and plates. Members of the "older" crowd like to tell of something that made General Anderson a hero to the kids who came to his door at Halloween time. The line was long.......he was known to provide as his treat.....maybe, shiny 50-cent pieces or, at least, way above the average "giving" on that night. This was when 50-cents.....if that's what the gift was.......was pretty exorbitant in the 40's/50's.

     We enjoyed our time at Fort Leonard Wood and on the weekend between the two weeks, we were taken to St. Louis for a Major League game involving the St. Louis Browns.......yes, there were two St. Louis major league teams at that time.

K-----K

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