Many posts in this discussion recall memories, good and bad, of people, places, events and experiences we had growing up in Bassett, and what that time in our lives means to us. Although some of you are too young to remember the actual event related in this article, you may have heard of it. Perhaps this piece written long ago sums up what the Bassett experience means to many of us. It is a bit lengthy, but here goes: On one particular Friday in early March of 1959, the halls of BHS were deserted, and the final bell was hours away. Had school been dismissed because of snow? Well, no. The previous week, the Bassett Bengals, coached by Jim Akers, had defeated their fiercest rivals, the Martinsville Bulldogs, in the semi-finals of the District 6 basketball tournament in the VPI gym in Blacksburg when, with only six seconds left to play and the score tied, Bobby Joe Quisenberry calmly swished through two free throws to give the Bengals the win, 56-54. The following night, the Bengals won the tournament, the first in school history, by defeating Blacksburg High School. The entire town went berserk. Congratulatory signs appeared in store windows; The Bassett Journal gave front page coverage; one would have thought that Mr. W. M. Bassett had scored the winning points. A couple of phone calls on Sunday afternoon to Mr. Ed Bassett and to Mr. Whit Sale produced blue paint from Blue Ridge Hardware; Mr. Lloyd Wells provided a huge piece of cloth and unlocked Bassett-Walker to give students space to paint a banner proclaiming Bassett Bengals - District 6 Champs which was strung up to the second story windows of BHS after Mr. Waleski showed up with the keys. When the factory whistles sounded on Monday morning, car horns blew, and people yelled and waved as they passed the banner. Now, it was the State Tournament, a place the Bengals had never before been. The trip to Blacksburg took a while and meant traveling up the winding road through Floyd or up old US 11 through Roanoke - that required leaving early enough to get there. On the Friday in question, where was Principal Waleski? Gone to Blacksburg. What about Assistant Principal Francis Turner? Gone to Blacksburg.The football coach, Mr. Pegram? Yep, gone to Blacksburg, too. The guidance counselors, Mrs. Goodman and Mrs. Hill? Guess! Other teachers? students? merchants? townspeople? All who could arrange it were on their way to Blacksburg. Was less business conducted on this Friday? Probably. Did classroom instruction suffer on this Friday? Of course it did, but the lesson the team, the coaches, the students, the entire town learned from each other that day was far more valuable. It was a lesson typical of many taught to those with the good fortune to have roots in this tiny town. It was a lesson of caring, a lesson of support, a lesson of unity, a lesson taught by the pure joy of so many at the success of a few, a lesson that maybe needs to be re-taught to each generation. By the way, the Bengals won the State Championship too.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 01:18:11 +0000
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