This story is mostly about two men searching for a place called “Catgut Canyon,” which is….or once was…. located somewhere in Marianna. It may, however, be necessary to consume several paragraphs before we get back to the two men and to…..what’s the name of that place? Whatever….stay tuned.
You’d have to be at least in the age-70s category to have a personal recollection of former Marianna High athletes named Charles Baldwin, Jimmy Kynes, Mack Rooks, Frank (Archie) Harris, Al Padgett, June Sims---all of them four-year football and basketball players of some repute in the days when the whole world was at war….for the second time.
In the football season of 1943, Kynes (fullback), Sims (left guard) and Padgett (right halfback) were starters on the first Bulldog team to win the Northwest Florida Conference championship. Baldwin, Rooks and Harris were ninth-graders that year but got in some playing time and went on to become star players on outstanding Bulldog teams their junior and senior seasons.
These six Bulldogs-to-be were pal-around buddies/playmates/teammates/great friends for at least several years of their youth….though not necessarily all at the same time. ---And please note this is where “Catgut Canyon” makes its ‘official’ entry into this story: Kynes, Padgett and Baldwin lived very close to each other for many years early on…. CAP (Clarence Albert Padgett) and CAB (Charles Armond Baldwin) being across-the-street neighbors, with Kynes living only a short block around the next corner.
Less than a mile from their neighborhood, in a wooded area featuring a clear, sandy bottomed, fairly narrow stream, aka “branch,” was the place where these three boys often ---and others among their future Bulldog teammates occasionally---hiked, camped out and played lots of “Cowboys and Indians.” Yep, “CATGUT CANYON”---a place of great fun, and apparently a place long-remembered by several kids who grew up in Marianna, Jackson County, State of Florida.
Well, Charlie Baldwin and Al Padgett are the two who remembered it longest. They’re the only ones still alive from that “once-young gang of theirs.” And quite recently, suddenly realizing that four of the six original members from the “Catgut Gang” are already gone, they determined to re-visit their most favorite canyon in the universe. If it’s still there…..
They recall the “canyon” being located somewhere near (underneath?) the present-day Chipola College….or perhaps in an area where many, many large homes have joined the college in transforming a wilderness, some 70-odd years ago,
into modern-day “Suburbia.” Or, into “Suburban Marianna,” whichever you-the-reader should choose.
Will CAP and CAB find Ol’ Catgut and remember the many good times with so many good friends? Well, they’ve scheduled July 24 to give it a big-huge “Bulldog Try.” If they do find it, at ages (almost) 83 and 80, respectively, both say there’ll be no overnight camp.
Quick game of “Cowboys and Indians,” anyone? Stay Tuned next week for more on “The Hunt For Catgut Canyon”
Send or drop off any pictures of your favorite sports memories to the Jackson County Times.
E-mail: clintcox@jacksoncountytimes.net
Fax: (850) 526-1505
Phone: (850) 209-7319
Office: 2866 Madison St. Marianna
You’d have to be at least in the age-70s category to have a personal recollection of former Marianna High athletes named Charles Baldwin, Jimmy Kynes, Mack Rooks, Frank (Archie) Harris, Al Padgett, June Sims---all of them four-year football and basketball players of some repute in the days when the whole world was at war….for the second time.
In the football season of 1943, Kynes (fullback), Sims (left guard) and Padgett (right halfback) were starters on the first Bulldog team to win the Northwest Florida Conference championship. Baldwin, Rooks and Harris were ninth-graders that year but got in some playing time and went on to become star players on outstanding Bulldog teams their junior and senior seasons.
These six Bulldogs-to-be were pal-around buddies/playmates/teammates/great friends for at least several years of their youth….though not necessarily all at the same time. ---And please note this is where “Catgut Canyon” makes its ‘official’ entry into this story: Kynes, Padgett and Baldwin lived very close to each other for many years early on…. CAP (Clarence Albert Padgett) and CAB (Charles Armond Baldwin) being across-the-street neighbors, with Kynes living only a short block around the next corner.
Less than a mile from their neighborhood, in a wooded area featuring a clear, sandy bottomed, fairly narrow stream, aka “branch,” was the place where these three boys often ---and others among their future Bulldog teammates occasionally---hiked, camped out and played lots of “Cowboys and Indians.” Yep, “CATGUT CANYON”---a place of great fun, and apparently a place long-remembered by several kids who grew up in Marianna, Jackson County, State of Florida.
Well, Charlie Baldwin and Al Padgett are the two who remembered it longest. They’re the only ones still alive from that “once-young gang of theirs.” And quite recently, suddenly realizing that four of the six original members from the “Catgut Gang” are already gone, they determined to re-visit their most favorite canyon in the universe. If it’s still there…..
They recall the “canyon” being located somewhere near (underneath?) the present-day Chipola College….or perhaps in an area where many, many large homes have joined the college in transforming a wilderness, some 70-odd years ago,
into modern-day “Suburbia.” Or, into “Suburban Marianna,” whichever you-the-reader should choose.
Will CAP and CAB find Ol’ Catgut and remember the many good times with so many good friends? Well, they’ve scheduled July 24 to give it a big-huge “Bulldog Try.” If they do find it, at ages (almost) 83 and 80, respectively, both say there’ll be no overnight camp.
Quick game of “Cowboys and Indians,” anyone? Stay Tuned next week for more on “The Hunt For Catgut Canyon”
Send or drop off any pictures of your favorite sports memories to the Jackson County Times.
E-mail: clintcox@jacksoncountytimes.net
Fax: (850) 526-1505
Phone: (850) 209-7319
Office: 2866 Madison St. Marianna
No comments:
Post a Comment