Leave it to a fellow longtime Daily Times employee to jog my memory and remind me that I have a connection to the athletic fields that are very much the center of controversy in Clifton Heights these days.
Our longtime maintenance boss John Stier, a Clifton Heights native, jogged my memory. John and I used to joke all the time about our previous meeting.
John played football for Clifton Heights High School.
As it turns out, a lifetime ago Clifton Heights used to play their football games on those fields.
Which means I played football on those fields.
But not for Clifton Heights.
In 1969, Oxford Area High School started its first varsity football team. We did not play a varsity schedule for two years.
But I'm guessing some time around the fall of 1971 we piled into a bus and made the trip up Baltimore Pike to play Clifton Heights. That's us in the photo. I'm No. 12 seated in front.
What do I remember about the game?
Not very much. I remember we weren't very good.
I'm not even sure who won.
What I remember more than anything else is this: The time.
Back in those days, those games were played at 10:30 Saturday morning. It was unbearably hot, one of those really sticky early September mornings.
Do you know what time you have to get up in Oxford, Pa., to play a football game in Clifton Heights at 10:30 a.m.
About the time I get up now, a lifetime later.
I'm not supposed to takes sides in this job.
But I have to admit I'm rooting just a bit for the folks in Clifton Heights.
This is the last bit of open space in their tiny town. It's where they hold one of the highlights of the year, the annual July 4th celebration and fireworks celebration. Hell, they even use the field for fundraisers such as the famous Cow Pie Bingo.
That's kind of the way our fledgling football program at Oxford High played in those days.
Clifton Heights Mayor Joe Lombardo has referred to the fields as "sacred ground."
Another resident referred to them as "the heart of our town."
I sympathize with Upper Darby officials, but I'd be lying if I said my heart wasn't pulling for the folks in Clifton Heights.
Their famous colors are orange and black.
And one day when they left a bunch of kids from Oxford High black and blue.
You can read today's editorial here.
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