The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, December 18, 2019 C-7 EAST GIBSON NEWS Submit school news: Email: egnews@ pressdispatch.net Deadline: Noon on Friday Oakland City Elementary Barton Township Elementary BARTON/FRANCISCO/OCE LUNCH MENU Thursday, Dec. 19: Salisbury steak, nuggets with roll, chef salad with roll or ham and cheese sandwich served with fresh fruit and juice. Rainbow of Flavors Week: Extra option of Rainbow Flatbread. Friday, Dec. 20 : BBQ chicken on bun, cheese pizza, popcorn chicken salad or PB&J sandwich served with fresh fruit and juice. Rainbow of Flavors Week: Extra option of Rainbow Flatbread. Monday, Dec. 23: NO SCHOOL - Christmas Break. Tuesday, Dec. 24: NO SCHOOL - Christmas Break. Wednesday, Dec. 25: NO SCHOOL - Christmas Break. BARTON TOWNSHIP BASKETBALL SCHEDULE GIRLS Date Opponent Place Time 12/19 Winslow H 4:30 p.m. 01/07 Oakland City H 4:30 p.m. 01/09 St. Peter and Paul H 5 p.m. 01/10 Sixth Grade Tourney A 4:30 p.m. BOYS Date Opponent Place Time 12/19 Winslow H 5:30 p.m. 01/07 Oakland City H 5:30 p.m. 01/09 St. Peter and Paul H 6 p.m. 01/13 Oakland City A 5:30 p.m. 01/14 Holy Cross H 5:30 p.m. CALENDAR Dec. 19 – Girls' Basketball vs. Winslow, 4:30 p.m. Boys' Basketball vs. Winslow, 5:30 p.m. Dec. 20 – Christmas Par- ty: K-3 at 2:15 p.m., 4-6 at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 23- Jan. 2 – Christ- mas Break WOOD MEMORIAL UPCOMING SPORTS SCHEDULE THURSDAY, DEC. 19 Girls' 7 & 8 Basketball vs. North Da- viess, WM gym, H, 5:30 p.m. Girls' Varsity Basketball vs. North Knox, A, 5:30 p.m. FRIDAY, DEC. 20 Boys' Varsity Basketball vs. North Da- viess, H, 5:30 p.m. SATURDAY, DEC. 21 Girls' Varsity Basketball vs. Mt. Carm- el, H, 3:30 p.m. Boys' Varsity Basketball vs. Washing- ton, H, 5:30 p.m. MONDAY, DEC. 23 Girls' Varsity Basketball Toyota Tour- ney, H, 10 a.m. Boys' Varsity Basketball Toyota Tour- ney, H, 11:45 a.m. CALENDAR Dec. 19 – Girls' 6th Bas- ketball vs. Princeton, 5 p.m. Boys' 5th Basketball vs. Princeton, 6 p.m. Dec. 20 – End Quarter Dec. 23- Jan. 2 – Christ- mas Break Barton Township Spelling Bee On Monday, December 16, Barton Township Elementary school held its Spelling Bee. Pictured above are the participants, front row (l to r): Mag- gie McEllhiney, Jesse Willis, Kinley Stoffel, Ireland Tkacz and Carly Schoo- nover. Back row: Leyla Cargal, Gavin Strickland, Jaxon Egdorf, Spencer Tee- ters, 3rd place Sage Miller, 2nd place Kaigan Nossett, 1st place Maddie Bal- entine, Keziah Doerner and Hannah Henry. Want to share your news with others? The Press- Dispatch can help deliver it to Pike and the surrounding counties. NEWS! 812-354-8500 Mills' book examines high school basketball, father-son relationships By Janice Barniak In Oakland City University Pro- fessor Randy Mills' dreams, he talks to his father. Since writing the book "An Al- most Perfect Season," about bond- ing with his father, a World War II vet, over basketball, however, his father in his dreams finally talks back. "An Almost Perfect Season," Mills explains, is his exploration of 1950's and 1960's basketball in the Midwest, in the time before high school class basketball and the three-point line, when hun- dreds of small-town high schools crammed their fans into tiny gym- nasiums on cold winter nights to cheer their teams. During that up-close look at Bluford, he peels away the nos- talgia, to look at a complex small town, essentially sweeping the mental health problems out from under the rug and looking at them up close, even as he grows in his own understanding, not just of his father, but also eventually himself. Mills has written nine books, most of them histories on regu- lar people as they interacted with history, for example, the Vietnam War. He said he was nervous to turn that lens back on himself, but he began like he began many of his projects, with research. As he looked into the underdog story of how a school of only 100 students in southern Illinois went on a 25 -game win streak that was the longest in their region and the second longest in the state, he started to wonder why he hadn't done this story before. The story follows Mills' basket- ball career, which began in eighth grade. He shot up a little earli- er than his classmates, and the coach, seeing his height, picked him out and began having some- one work on basketball with him. That attention flattered Mills, but it also began Mills' father's chance to live through his son. Mills' father had been paralyzed and recovered from polio, and, be- sides his military service, had al- so lost his wife. "He had this public persona; everyone loved him. But he was moody. He had an explosive tem- per. He didn't mean to hurt you. When he was angry, you just didn't want to be around him. When we started doing basketball togeth- er, as a father and son, we drew close," he said. It also looks at Mills and his fa- ther's depression—something he thinks clouded his ability pre- viously to see the potential in the small town story. He remembers his father, a man who had conducted himself brave- ly in the war, but who also had a lot of fear, a gun in the nightstand, and a prevalent worry about peo- ple being outside the house. "I never had a chance to grab him and say, 'dad, tell me your sto- ries,'" Mills said. His father died about nine years after he played basketball. Mills, as a professor, had gone to col- lege most of the time since high school. He said originally he had to re- sist the urge to make himself a he- ro, the strongest in the hay fields, and the best on the court, and be willing to see a deeper honesty. "I had great experiences. I al- so had humiliating experienc- es, and that's what people want to read about. I had to pull away those scabs," he said. Mills also had to look honestly at the first signs of his depression, looking at some of the prevalence of suicide in that region of Illinois. In that way, he thinks the book will appeal to those who have com- plicated relationships with their fathers, fans of small town basket- ball and people who have strug- gled with depression's influence on their lives. He said the book casts a wide net, and he's had a variety of pos- itive reviews and feedback from people who were players and fans of the time period. "When I used to have dreams of my dad, he would be sad, mom had left him, but he'd never say anything. Since I've written this book, he talks to me, in dreams. We do things together. It's a heal- ing path," he said. "An Almost Perfect Season: A Father and Son and a Golden Age of Small-Town High School Bas- ketball," is available online at Am- azon and at Barnes and Nobles or from the publisher online at bookorders@rosedogbooks.com or by calling 800 -788 -7654. Book cover of "An Almost Perfect Season" is courtesy of Randy Mills, as are all the photos. Randy Mills goes up for a jump shot during a high school basketball game in the 1960s. Randy Mills, third standing from left, poses with his high school basketball team from Blu- ford after a win. CREATIVITY. OUR SPECIALTY. The Press Dispatch PIKE COUNTY'S NEWS NETWORK Design by two of Indiana's top designers is included with every ad purchase. Call today! 812-354-8500 OR ADS@PRESSDISPATCH.NET