Raise the Roof – Marshfield

Today, September 19th, is International Talk Like A Pirate Day.  Shiver me timbers, the MHS Pirates have found their sea legs under the guidance of Cap’n Long John Lemmons.  Having sighted and plundered three ships so far, the mates are eager for more.

Several Pirates from the past have opened their treasure chests and contributed to the Class Challenge.  So now we are less than $900 away from the $50,000 mark for Pete the Pirate’s teams.  Notably, another class that had not had a contribution set sail with a $71 donation from Carol (& Bill) Tingley, class of ’71.

We hope you had a chance to row over to the new stairs and railing during the first two games.  The landlubbers were having trouble climbing the ropes and keeping their balance.  Now they can easily get to their seats.  Your next chance to see the south stands project is this Friday (the 22nd) when South Umpqua sails into the harbor to Susick Stadium.

Please take a look at the Challenge results and consider donating so that your class can move into either the Purple ($2500) or Gold ($5000) levels.  Your donation might also nudge your class ahead of another class.

Don’t forget the weekend of October 13 & 14 – the Kent Wigle Field Dedication and Social and Auction.  Join us for the game on Friday, the social and auction on Saturday, or both.

Kent Wigle Weekend Info

How to Donate

Request a Donor Packet

Raise the Roof Donors

Our Field Dedication ceremony and auction weekend for Kent Wigle is just a month away.  Wigle’s protege, current head coach John Lemmons (MVP of the 1992 state title game) has been setting the table for the event by leading the Pirates to a 2-0 start in Lemmon’s first year at the helm.

We strongly encourage all Pirates and Pirate fans, especially Wigle’s former players – Pirates or South Umpqua Lancers – to attend one or both events.  Here is the information.

Marshfield High School will host the Kent Wigle Field Dedication on October 13 at a home football game against Brookings-Harbor. The following night October 14th, there will be a social and auction to honor Kent Wigle and his players. The event will take place at The Mill Casino and funds raised will be used for the Raise the Roof project at the stadium.

The details follow (You should see two pdf files, if you don’t please click on the download link). If you have questions or if you want to let us know you will attend, please email mhsalums@gmail.com:

Download link

Download link

Today we honor Fred Girt, a 1st team all state running back in 1967 and 1968.  Fred was also a great track athlete.  We are not recognizing Fred just for his athletic accomplishments, we also honor him for his fun and uplifting spirit.  How many times would he drag himself back to the huddle, looking bedraggled and battered, only to make everyone in the huddle laugh by saying ‘This is fun, do I get the ball again?’  Pete usually made sure he did.

The following was written at the time of his induction into the Marshfield Hall of Fame in 2010.  Sadly, Fred passed away on September 1, 2010.

The third of four sons, Fred Johnson Girt III was born July 15, 1951 to Fred and Dorothy Girt of Coos Bay, Oregon. He has spent most of his entire life living in the Bay Area, attending Market Street Elementary, Michigan Avenue Jr. High and graduating in the class of 1969 from Marshfield High School.

Fred was a three sport athlete all four of his high school years lettering in basketball, football and track. Football was Fred’s greatest passion where he earned 1st Team All State Honors in 1967 and 1968 as a running back. He was also selected Team Captain, was a member of the State Finals in 1968 and was selected to participate in the State All Star Shrine Game in the summer of 1969.

Track and Field was yet another sport Fred excelled in where he long jumped, sprinted, and ran the high and low hurdles. In 1969 he was the District Champion in both hurdles. He earned honors at the State Track and Field Meet his Junior and Senior years running the high and low hurdles, placing 2nd his Junior year. Today Fred continues to hold the Coos County record in the high hurdles.

Following high school Fred earned a full ride scholarship to play football at Oregon State University for Coach Dee Andros. While playing football for four years, Fred earned degrees in Mathematics, Physical Education and Health. During the summer of 1972 he married his high school sweetheart, Nancy Susick.

Upon graduating from OSU in 1974 Fred and Nancy moved back to the Bay Area to begin their teaching and coaching careers until they retired in 2009. Fred has a special gift that enables him to reach out to all levels of students and athletes truly making a difference in the lives of children. Using his quick sense of humor, compassion and dedication, he has taught and coached at every level including kindergarten through 12th grades in the Coos Bay School District. Fred has also participated on numerous Math and PE committees at the district and state level, coached the Math Counts Team and has been a volunteer coach for the Boys and Girls Club.

Fred’s most valued treasures are his family. Nancy and Fred have been married for 38 years and have two children, Chelsey and Casey, both graduates of MHS. Chelsey and her husband Michael Seedborg teach and coach at Marshfield High School. Casey and his wife Amity live in Portland where Casey is a manager for Conrad Wood Forest Products and Amity is Assistant Dist. Attorney for Multnomah County. They are expecting a baby boy in Sept. and perhaps another generation of Girt running backs!

Our thanks goes out to Fred Girt’s classmates who have been very generous in the Class Challenge fundraising efforts.

These photos were taken last week. Clean up will occur prior to Friday’s home opener to make Phase 1 an inviting area.

Today we would like to thank our ‘In-Kind’ Donors.

They have been instrumental in completing Phase 1 of our project. In-Kind donors contribute material, services and/or labor.

In-Kind Donors

• Coos Head Builders Supply
• Gold Coast Truck Repair
• Bill Ferguson
• Industrial Steel
• Bob Jenkins
• Knife River
• Marshfield High Metal Shop
• Scott Partney Construction
• Stuntzner Engineering & Forestry
• Don Thompson Construction

The goal of Phase 1 was to install safe access to the upper seats.  This included side walls, installation of the two stairways and rails.  Mission Accomplished!

Phase 2 will be the installation of the roof system set for the Summer of 2018.  Phase 2 will include covering the upper section, promenade area, and a few rows in the bottom section.

Phase 3 includes restrooms, improved handicap access, a walkway to the promenade section, electrical work, and press box areas.

We hope you can attend one of the four regular home season games this year.  You’ll get to see how the Pirates perform under new head coach John Lemmons as well as see how Phase 1 turned out.

Home Games

• September 1 – Cascade
• September 9 – Phoenix
• September 22 – South Umpqua
• October 13 – Brookings-Harbor
  • Kent Wigle Field Dedication Friday & Saturday
  • Friday Field Dedication and Saturday Social and Auction information here.  All former Wigle players are encouraged to attend.

We are still fundraising for Phase 2.  If you would like to donate, it’s as easy as clicking on the donate button and using PayPal or a credit card.  A check works, too.  See our current list of donors here.

Still more good news on the donation front.  Your donations have helped us complete Phase I of construction in time for the home opener this Friday night:

• A $1,000 donation from Anna Brands Schep has moved the class of 1969 back into 4th place in our class challenge.
• The class of 1964 held their 3rd place spot by donating $500 over the last two weeks.  They lead the class of ’69 by $200.
• Kathy Erickson of the class of 1965 just donated $1,500.  Kathy’s contribution will increase ’65’s total to almost $13,000!!

Classes who donate a combined $2,500 or more will receive purple or gold recognition.  Five classes have reached the purple or gold level and three classes are very close.

• The class of ’62 is just $100 away from purple.
• The class of ’66 just $176.
• The class of ’53 just $300.

We recently created a Donor’s Page.  For those of you who have donated, please review the list and make sure the year you graduated is listed so that we may credit your class.  Let us know if there are any errors or omissions.  The donor’s list has been updated through August 28th.

Marshfield has four home games this year during regular season, so drop by a game and check out out the project progress.  A special event to dedicate the field to Kent Wigle will be held October 13th.  Here is a link to the entire schedule.

Here is a link to information regarding the Kent Wigle field dedication on October 13th and the social and auction on October 14th. Funds raised at the auction will be used for the Raise the Roof project.

With less than a week to go until the Pirate football opener, we honor another all time football great, Barney Holland.  The following is from his induction into the Marshfield Hall of Fame in 2004.

Barney Holland – 1950 Marshfield Graduate

Barney Holland was born in Marshfield on May 11, 1932. He attended Harding Grade School , Marshfield Junior High School and Marshfield graduating in 1950.

While attending Marshfield he was a three-year varsity basketball starter. These teams won three district championships and went to three state tournaments. Against state competition the teams placed 3rd, 2nd and 4th, compiling an overall record of 94 wins and 18 losses. Barney earned All-District and All-State honors his junior and senior years. He was the first Pirate in history to score over 1000 point (1025) in his high school career.

As a football player he was the starting quarterback during his junior and senior years. His senior year the team won the district championship and reached the state semi-finals. The Pirates lost at LaGrande in a hard fought game 7 to 6. Barney was named All-District and All-State. He played in the 1950 Shriner All-Star game.

Barney received a football/basketball scholarship to the University of Oregon in 1950. At Oregon he was a two-year football letterman as quarterback. His most notable achievement was leading the Ducks to a 13-6 victory over the highly ranked U.S.C. Trojans, passing for the winning touchdown.

Basketball wise Barney was a three year letterman, being named the team M.V.P. in 1954. He was also named 1st team All-Northern Division and 2nd team All-Coast. In addition he set the U of O single game scoring record of 32 points. The record stood for eight years. In 2003 Barney was inducted into the Ducks Hall of Fame for football and basketball.

Upon his graduation from Oregon in 1954 he entered the Air Force and received his pilots wings in 1956.

In 1958 he started a high school teaching/coaching career that lasted 32 years. It included stops at Lebanon , North Eugene and Aloha High Schools , plus two years as assistant basketball coach at Oregon .

Barney’s basketball teams won three state championships and ten district championships. He received numerous honors as a basketball coach including “Oregon Basketball Coach of the Year” in 1966, 1976 1977 and 1989, “The West Coast National Coach of the Year” in 1967 and “McDonald’s Coach of the Year” in 1977.

Barney married Mary Jane Rud in 1955 and currently resides in Beaverton , Oregon . This December 23rd Mary Jane and Barney will be celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary. Their son David is a also a basketball coach at Aloha High School . Their daughter Sara coached volleyball at LaPine High School . There is a six year old grandson Mack Fox, who Barney thoroughly enjoys coaching and playing with.

We’ve created a new web page to recognize those who have donated to our Raise the Roof project.  Over 105 people or businesses have contributed cash to our campaign.  We plan to add those who have made in-kind donations (labor or material) at a later date.

Project Construction Manager Bob Jenkins, class of ’65, has reported that Phase I is almost complete.  The stairs to the upper level of the south stands were completed last Friday, the 18th.  We’ll post photos next week.

Please visit our Donors page.  We’d appreciate it if you check your name for proper spelling and to make sure we have credited the correct class for the class challenge.

Just finding out about this great project?  Find out more on our project description page or request a packet.  Find the Donors Page here.  Please consider emailing this page to your friends and classmates.

Please visit our new Raise the Roof Donors page. It lists all donors from $10 to $25,000.

Just seven days until Friday Night Football at Pete Susick Stadium.

Today we honor another of our Pirate former head coaches who was also a Pirate great on the gridiron.  The following is from Johnson’s Marshfield High School Hall of Fame induction in 2004.

John was born in Webster City , Iowa in 1937.

He was a 3 sport athlete all four years of high school from 1952-1955.

• Played Football for Pete Susick and was a 3 year letterman.
• Played halfback on State Co-Champion Team of 1954.
• Named 1st team All-State and 2nd team All-American.

Played starting guard in basketball and was coached by Bruce Hoffine.

Was coached by Walt McClure in track and was a four year letterman.

• At the county meet John was champion in the 100 yard dash all four years of high school.
• Was 4th place at State meet in 100 and 220 as a junior.
• District Champ in 100 yard dash and 2nd in 220 as a senior.  An injury prevented him from participating in the state meet.

Attended the U of O on a full ride football/academic scholarship, but career ending knee injury during Shrine Game practices prevented college athletic participation.

John married his sweetheart (then & now) Rosalie Gilfillan in 1957.  Graduated U of O in 1959 and returned to Coos Bay to begin his career as an educator and started his family of four terrific sons.  John taught all subjects of math at Marshfield for 33 years.  He coached athletics at MHS for 42 years.  Coached as a 3 sport assistant alongside Susick, Hoffine and McClure in football, basketball & track for 17 consecutive years 1965-1981.

In football he was the head coach from 1980-1988 (four years in the state playoffs).  Was assistant coach during the state 2nd place team of 1969 and was assistant coach during the 1992 state championship team and 1994 state runner up team.  John retired from teaching in 1992 but continued coaching and currently helps his son Marty with the successful program at Sheldon High School.

He coached basketball for 24 years at Marshfield.  John was the boys’ head coach for four years and in the state tournament 2 of those 4 years.  “District Coach of Year” in 1978.  Head Girls Basketball coach for three years.  Worked as assistant coach with Bruce Hoffine for 15 years with 3 state tournament teams in 1968, 70 and 71.

John coached track for over 20 years primarily in the sprints and jumps.  To this day he still volunteers at Marshfield’s home track meet as the head judge in the long jump at Pete Susick Stadium.  John also tutor’s math to home school and college students and recently helped with 5th grade students at Coburg Elementary.

Raise the Roof Website

We are building a new roof for the south grandstands, please visit our Raise the Roof website for more information.

With just ten days until the Pirates kick off the 2017 season at Susick Stadium, we celebrate one of our Pirate legends.  Hillstrom followed up his Pirate days with a very successful coaching career before switching to the life of a restaurateur.

Spike has been one of our more entertaining speakers at our Hall of Fame gatherings. The following is from his Marshfield Hall of Fame induction in 2004

Eldon L. “Spike” Hillstrom  1953 MHS Graduate

Spike went to Harding Grade School , Marshfield Junior High, and Marshfield High School .

Played football under Pete Susick.  Sophomore year played in State Championship game against Grant HS and named 3^rd team All State .  Junior Year played fullback and linebacker, Pirates won district and lost to Grants Pass in quarterfinals.  Grants Pass won that year.  Senior year was All-District, All-State and All American: Wigwam Wise Men of America.  Selected to play in Shrine Game.

Spike Played basketball at Marshfield Jr. High School under Bruce Hoffine.  Played basketball under Bill Borcher 1950-51 and Hoffine 1952-53.  Played in the state tournament all 4 years.  The team won the state championship in 1953 (senior year).  Lost only three games in four years in the state tournament.  Lettered all four years and was All District junior and senior years.  Listed on Bill Borcher’s “Top 10 Players of MHS”.

Spike Hillsrom leading Jim Shanley at the U of O.

Spike accepted a football scholarship to University of Oregon and played guard and linebacker.  Was named All Northern Division Junior and Senior Years.  Graduated 1957 with a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education.

Career & Family

1957 – 1958 Grants Pass Freshman Football (Mel Ingram Varsity Coach): taught Geography.

1958 – 1959 North Salem High School Offensive Line coach:  Assist. basketball coach:  taught US History and Government.

1959 – 1960 Appointed Head Football coach after 3^rd game due to illness of Head Coach Mel Fox Played for State Championship; lost to David Douglas

1960-1961 Record of 7-2 Lost coin-flip for play-offs (only year to miss)

1961 – 1962 Won District, lost to Beaverton in the quarterfinals

1962 – 1963 Won District, lost to Medford in the quarterfinals

1963 – 1964 Won District, tied Grant in the State Championship 7-7.  Assistant coach Shrine Game 1963, Head coach Shrine Game 1964 (first coach to have been a previous player in the Shrine Game).

1965 – 1976 Accepted position as offensive line coach United State Air Force Academy (Ben Martin Head Coach), Sugar Bowl 1971, Recruited for AFA in Oregon , Northern, CA., Washington and Idaho .  Set up numerous football clinics in these areas.

In 1976 Spike started a new career in the restaurant business.  After 25 years, he sold the business to his son.  Spike’s wife is Sherry (Thaxton, MHS 1953), is a professional artist and they have been married 49 years.   Together they raised Kellie, a buyer for boutique, Michael, a teacher and football coach at Air Academy HS and Jeffrey, owner of The Mission Inn Restaurant.  Spike is retired and lives in Colorado Springs , CO .

Good fundraising news over the last five days.

• A $1,000 donation jumped the class of 1964 into 3rd place in the Class Challenge.
• A member of the class of 1951 donated $51 to match the year the member graduated.  The donation moved the class ahead of the class of 1958.
• And a member of the class of 1966 donated $66 to give the class a little breathing room over the class of 1953.

We’d like to remind you that the Class Challenge is to get your classmates to combine donations to reach either the Purple or Gold recognition levels.  Five classes have earned a recognition plaque so far!

Donors List

For those of you who have donated, we have recognized you on our Donors List.  Please review the list and make sure the year you graduated is listed.  Let us know if there are any errors or omissions.