First Roundball Team In Beacom Memorial

Here's something that I've had fun with. This photo was given to Mayor Joe Surace by Kelly Powell. Kelly is the son of Buck Powell, one of the players. We were told it was the first team to play basketball in the new Beacom Memorial Gymnasium. Joe loaned me the picture to see if we can identify the players.

With a lot of help from a few friends we accomplished that and found out a little more to add to the story. At first it was thought this team played in the 1937 - 1938. The Byron D. Beacom Memorial Gym was erected in 1938 by the old Potters Lumber Co. The late Mr. Beacom had bequeathed part of his estate to the school system to build the gym. Before that the basketball gym was in the high school building under the auditorium. If memory serves me correctly Beacom was a lawyer and the last member of that family. Think he was a single man.

My friend Helen (WHS Class of '38) told me the first team that played in the newly constructed gym was in the 1938 - 1939 basketball season. Helen recalls having an English class her senior year sitting next to a window being able to watch the workers building the gym. One of the players on that team was "Pecky" Call. He identified each player.

In the front row are: #30 - William "Pecky" Call, #27 - Thomas "Tink" Healy, #33 - Jack "Bonehead" Call, #28 - Jim McDevitt, and #31 - Bill Shoub.

In the back row are: #32 - Bill Gorell, #24 - Bob Calhoun, #26 - Luke Thornton, #29 - Roy Lions, #25 - Paul Jackson & #23 - Bill "Buck" Powell.

The coach was Bill Store. According to Pecky #23 - Buck Powell transferred to Wellsville from Toronto. We were unable to determine what their won-loss record was for that team. Maybe some WHS historian can fill us in. Pecky said "it wasn't too good". Being Depression time there was several years there were not any year books. Folks just couldn't afford them. Helen told me that the Commercial Class would type up a year book substitution and run it off on a ditto machine. It was all text with no pictures.

Another interesting tidbit I learned about is a blog chucked full of WHS Alumni history. It can be found at http://www.alumnijabber.blogspot.com/. In addition to the alumni site Sparky Miller administers the blog too. I didn't know that one existed. With the 5-Year Reunion coming next year you may want to refresh your memories. You can click on the link to go to the blog. If you have any other tidbits we would love to hear from you.

Thanks to Kelly Powell, "Brother" Jack, Pecky, Joe Surace, Sparky & Helen for their help. It was fun collaborating with you all to put this much together.

ole nib

Footnotes: It was Buck Powell (#23) that transferred from Toronto. Jack Call (#33) got the nickname Bonehead from the coach. He flubbed something up and in his angst the coach said "you're nothing but a d--- old bonehead. It stuck with him ever since and was even passed on to his nephew. Pecky Call says that to the best of his knowledge he and Bob Calhoun (#24) are the last two team mates still living from that team. Calhoun went on working as an entertainer singing around the country and wound up in Texas.

o.n.