Corner 9 Sept. 21

TO GET A FEEL WHAT THE CORNER WAS LIKE READ MY PROFILE.

The PG had a small field house and 2 people who ran the sports, a man for the boys and a woman for the girls, and an older man who took care of the fields, sideline and base markings ,etc. All were very nice people. The man for the boys sports was someone that cannot be forgotten when you talk about the PG. Mr. Filler [ you have seen that I do not use names in my posts,but in this case I will use Mr. and last name although we called him by first name only].

He was really a wonderful man although as much as we liked and appreciated him I guess you have to be older and more mature to really appreciate his qualities. There was organized sports between the various schools in the Board of Educ. and he would always put our teams in the competition. We played in leagues of softball, touch football, volleyball, ping pong, track, etc. There were also tournaments from others, such as The Sun Times. He would coach us in the various sports make sure we knew to play as a team and then pile us in his car and take us. I seem to remember when there were too many he would get the woman who worked at the PG to take some. I do not remember parents car pooling. We always did well, usually winning the championships, He always had us playing as a team. I remember once in a tournament game in softball playing against a team that was bigger and stronger and meaner looking than we were but we beat them. If they drove the ball deep into the outfield, our fielders would track it down and catch it. Our infielders would make the plays on ground balls. As goofy we were when it came to sports we were matter of fact and supported one another and focused. A big time in the PG was in the spring when he organized a PG softball league. Guys would sign up and then depending on the number of names he would make captains and then there would be a draft. The nights we played the PG was jammed. Guys ,Girls, people walking on the streets. There were people standing by the fences watching the games. It was great. Mr Filler[no first names] in his own quiet and soft spoken way really took an interest in us. He was someone who you could depend on, no lecturing but you sensed a quality , hard working , caring person. At that age we didn't think in those terms but even we realized it.