The month of September is my favorite month. That probably comes from growing up on the farm. The hard hot work of spring and summer was over. The more unfavorite things to do on the farm were done for the year. Things like picking rocks, baling hay in the summer heat, harvesting oats and baling straw in the aforementioned heat, fixing fence on hot humid days while swatting away horseflies, walking the soybean fields to pull or cut those nasty weeds again while swatting horseflies. By the time September came, the weather was somewhat cooler and less humid; there was a slight break in action before the fall harvest got underway and the horsefly population drops considerably by September.
There was still the job of getting the manure out of the barn so we would have room for all the new manure that would accumulate through the winter. We used our 660 Oliver with the loader and get most of the manure out of the barn but I still had to grab the pitchfork and get the edges cleaned. I remember doing this in September of 1968 while listening to WCCO’s Ray Christensen broadcast the Gophers game against USC and their running back O.J. Simpson. The Gophers were still a good team coming off a Big Ten title in 1967, which happens to be the last time they won the Big Ten.
This was the opening game of the 1968 season and the game drew a record crowd to Memorial Stadium of nearly 61,000. O.J would go on this year to win the Heisman trophy. But in the 2nd half the Gophers had a 20-16 lead over the defending national champions. And as I’m pitching cow manure as fast as I can, I’m getting more hopeful for a huge upset, but alas it was not to be. Simpson accounted for 375 all-purpose yards and helped the Trojans pull out a 29-20 victory. At least it added some excitement to the mundane task of manure pitching.
I am quite removed from some of those chores now but I still like the month of September. This year, 2022, my West Concord High School class of 1971 will hold its 50th reunion. Yes I realize the math does not compute. It’s actually being called our 50th plus 1 reunion as Covid delayed us one year. While not on the party planning committee, I was still tasked with a job of putting together a video of pictures of our school years. It’s been a trip back in time going though old pictures and old WCHS yearbooks, or annuals as we used to call them. You see our second grade class pictures on this page. That goes back to the fall of 1960 when those pictures were taken. Is it any wonder we look so young? I did not have to pitch manure that particular September, 1960, and the Gophers had one of their best seasons ever winning the national championship under Coach Murray Warmath.
The job of putting together a program of assorted pictures would not take nearly the time it does if it wasn’t for the fact that I have to sit and reminisce about the years gone by. There are so many great memories to sort through before I can get to the next picture. But eventually I got through it and at our reunion I’ll be able to retell a lot of old stories to all my old friends.
Speaking of reunions, just a reminder that the West Concord All School Reunion committee, of which I am a part of, held their first meeting to start planning for the great get-together. The date has been set for 5 years now and it’s only months away now. Save Sunday, June 25, 2023 as that is the date of the all school reunion that will again be held in Owatonna at the Steele County All Seasons Centre. More commonly, we just refer to it as the Four Seasons arena. It’s always fun to see not only your own classmates but classes of years ahead or behind your own. Enjoy your September, I know I will.
