Feature Articles from
"CHUCK FOOTBALL" NEWSLETTER -
Fall 2005
NEVER Give Up!!!
This is a very inspirational story of an excellent student athlete who graduated from the Bremerton Schools & is winning his battle to walk again.
After living 12½ years of his life in a wheelchair and being told that he would never walk again, West High alumni (Class of 1971), Stewart Hayes, set a goal for himself, to walk. With the help of a great support group, Hayes employed lessons which were reinforced by time spent as a stellar Wildcat footballer and wrestler. He dug deep for inspiration.
Hayes said, "I must confess that, during some very tough physical therapy sessions, I had a few flashbacks to scenes and comments growled out many years ago by Coach Chuck Semancik. After all those years of football preparation and wrestling drills in an overheated workout room, a lot of the principles and beliefs that Chuck taught us obviously became part of who we are. I can still hear him saying, "I don't care if one yard looks like a mile! Get up! Move! Oh, crap! Don't ever let me see you look at the scoreboard! Do your job out there and the damn score will take care of itself."
"Subsequent to a fall in 1992 I became a T-10 paraplegic with a C-5 secondary spinal cord injury. I was paralyzed from the waist down, requiring a wheelchair for mobility, and because of a secondary injury, developed progressive pulmonary problems" said Hayes.
Stewart's daughter, Theresa summarizes the path her father has taken toward a new chapter in his life. "...in January 2004, Dad entered a clinical trial where he began receiving a neurological drug called 4-Aminopirodine.
By combining the benefits he's gotten from 4-AP, with a lot of pool and land therapy at "the Tower of London" (Hayes pet name for the neurological rehab center), he was able to stand up in the pool by June, and by July he began using the old style long leg braces for "land" therapy.
By August they made some special long leg braces for him that have one-of-a-kind knee joints that when leaning forward, know when to bend and when to lock.
By practicing and practicing, he has gotten so good with them that the research doctor has re-classified him as a "community ambulator." With his new high tech braces and his "sticks" he walks all the time now.
Hayes adds, "Hey! My gait continues to improve as I am now walking at home, at work, and in the community. My balance, timing and stamina are the areas that are most rapidly improving. Now I am only using my wheelchair in the morning to get to and from the shower room.
A colleague of Stewart's at Loyal High School in Los Angeles said, "The thing that characterizes Mr. Hayes most for me is that he is a very powerful symbol for hope for the people around him. He is proof that you can achieve anything in life, despite whatever difficult situation you come from. His most recent success shows his persistence."
Thru the Decades
The letters we've received this year. Please send us your stories: PO Box 2723, Bremerton 98310 or dowells@wavecable.net
Ken Wills' Basketball - Great Years
Enclosed is my annual donation to the foundation.
I have also enclosed money for a large brick that I would like with a memorial to my brother, Phil A. Mahan, BHS Class of 1938.
Phil played for Ken Wills' varsity team in '37 & '38 and they were the first team to go to the district in a number of years. The team had Bill Morris, Larry Grams, Mel Wortman, Frank Ross, and Phil. I'm sure all the names are familiar.
Bill Morris received a scholarship at the UW, playing 4 years and became an All-American. After the war, he played for the semi-pro team in Seattle, and was inducted into the State of Washington Sport's Hall of Fame.
Frank Ross was an American Indian and had a scholarship to a college in Montana, graduated, and ended up as a high school administrator in Oregon.
Phil went to WSU, played varsity basketball '40, '41, '42 for Jack Freil. They were 2nd in the nation in '42.
Good memories - Bill Mahan
(Ed: Bill Mahan - 1936 BHS Wildcat, state contender for the T&F half-mile & mile, and to this day, still enjoys the BHS Knights)
STINKO! - STINKO!! - STINKO!!!
Thank you for acknowledging my contribution and sending the newsletter from the Chuck Semancik Memorial Foundation. I enjoyed reading all the articles, but the "Cripes ‘o Fishhooks" and "What the hell is this?" on the title page brought back memories of Coach Semancik.
If you decide to use some other expressions he used, please consider, "Stinko, Stinko, Stinko!" which I believe was not necessarily something he used to refer to me exclusively.
John E Hodge - Class of 1953
(Ed: John Hodge's tile in the Victory Park states, "I turned out ok" says it all)
School Board Member
Enjoyed the newsletter. Our community needs more citizens like you.
Hope the enclosed check helps attain the foundations goals
Louis Mitchell
(ED: We've received donations from Louis and Vicki Collins, both on the Bremerton School Board - and they didn't even know Chuck - - hm-m-m)
EARLY ‘30'S BREMERTON FOOTBALL
Evaluation: Middling Poor
Why? Poor talent, poor coaching, poor student body and community interest, and small player pool. Bremerton population was small, as was Bremerton High.
But, the team played its heart out. The players went both ways (offense and defense). At ends were Kiernan (Red) Shanley, and Harry Kemp; tackles were Vinnie Bowman and Horace (Hod) Burks; guards were Al Blair and Cal Eddy; center, Bill Briggs; quarterback (name lost); halfbacks, Clarence (Curly) Eskridge and Randy Carlow; fullback (name lost).
Perhaps we were all somewhat lost, but we played hard, loved the game, and did have winning seasons.
Best of all, we did learn teamwork which served us well, both in the armed services and civilian employment.
Horace "Hod" Burks
ED: Hod Burks still works out at the Y - and to think he felt "winning seasons" were "middling poor"!
WRITING & WRESTLING IN THE ‘60's
I spent a couple of years (‘60-‘61) in Bremerton attending Olympic College and working as a third-man on the staff (Bob Torseth & John K Smith) at the Bremerton Sun.
I wrestled in school at Puyallup and became a high school official and was assigned matches at West and East as well as the Tacoma area.
Officiating West matches when Chuck was coach was quite an experience.
I also worked out some with his wrestlers and also with the East team.
Dick Ferguson
(ED: We hear from people who touched Chuck's life - - and he touched theirs.)
"HELPING OUT" - Bremerton's Basketball Program Gets Lift From ex-West Star Danny Shedwin
2004 excerpts from Terry Mosher, Editor of the Sports Paper
Sometimes you think Danny Shedwin could climb back into his old basketball uniform and once again turn his quiet, mild-mannered personality up to his old competitive level and burn the nets with his sweet jumper.
There is an aura of mystery about Shedwin, still standing as ram-rod straight as the late spring day in 1964 he graduated from West Bremerton High School, and still as introspective and curious about life, including what makes kids on the basketball court tick.
Shedwin has touched the fringe of many things in his 58 years and now back home as an assistant boy's basketball coach at Bremerton High School.
Players on the Bremerton Varsity who no more knew him than the man on the moon, find his magnetic personality irresistible, sidling up to him at practice, seeking the magic that 41 years ago produced a then school record 37 points and 24 rebounds in a dazzling performance against Central Kitsap.
It was on the Westpark sandlots that Shedwin and his friends, guys like Jim Stockton and Jack Watson, honed their skills in baseball, basketball, and football.
"We all grew up on the sandlot together on Arsenal Way in Westpark," says Shedwin. "And it was vicious, man. We had a birch tree there that Cleve Williams put a hoop on and we would play way into the dark. Mrs. Finister would stick her head out the door, ‘Boys, it's time to go home.' We would still play. Then we were arguing. I was making baskets and somebody would say ‘No you didn't.' So we put a padlock up there so the ball couldn't go through unless it hit the padlock."
Shedwin said they would play until Mrs. Cleve Williams said it was time to go home. "Mrs. Finister was a sweet woman, but Mrs. Williams had more authority. When she spoke, boy, we would take off. We couldn't get by Mrs. Williams.
Not many people know, he says, that he was better as a baseball player than he was in basketball. Yet it is basketball that defined him in his teen years, one that led up to his senior year where he averaged 21 points and double digit rebounds and pushed and pulled an average Wildcat team (they would finish 12-13 for the season) to the West Central District Championship and to the Region IV Tournament.
Shedwin will be the first to acknowledge that it wasn't all him. Coach Bob Smith's Wildcats were rostered with guys like Lonny Folger, Ron Burley, Ed Tobacco, Jim Stockton, Gary Shute, Gary Chamberlain, and others including Larry Thatcher who came up from the junior varsity one night and poured in 17 points.
Since 1980 Shedwin has coached basketball, mostly working with kids in Seattle. He spent five years as an assistant boys coach at Evergreen High School in Seattle before coming to Bremerton in the same capacity, catching a ferry each day back and forth from Seattle.
"He is really the glue that is holding the ‘Hood' together," says Burley. "He's the guy you go to if you want to get word out, if you want to know what everybody is doing. He has to do with everything in the black community. He heads up ‘The Gathering'. We have it each summer. It's a weekend deal. He's the mouth piece for our era of 1964 through now."
Even if Shedwin won't be back next year at BHS, he'll be around.
Somewhere. Some place. Doing Something. And his sweet jumper will again make the nets swing.
(ED: We again thank Terry for allowing us to copy parts of his well-written history of Bremerton. For more information on his Sports Paper, you can reach him at bigmosher@msn.com or (360) 377-6029)
MAYOR'S SUPPORT
I played in the golf tournament to be supportive, not to win anything. Please donate my winnings back to the program.
Cary Bozeman, Bremerton Mayor
(ED: "Leave everything a little bit better than you found it" is the mayor's motto. We appreciate all he's done for us.)
SEMANCIK COUSIN
Please use all of my latest donation to the Chuck Semancik Foundation for the scholarship fund. I was a teacher for 40 years, and I feel giving needy and capable kids an opportunity to succeed is important.
Keep up the great work.
Rosemary Semancik - Sun City
(Ed: Rosemary has been behind this foundation since the beginning. We thank her for all she has given and we hope she has been able to enjoy the many memories of her cousin Chuck thru Bremerton eyes)
CHUCK' TEAMMATES - HIS PALS
Dan Virgillo, teammate and friend from Tacoma's Lincoln Abes of 1934, remembers the night they were playing Stadium with Chuck as a tackle:
"The opponent's foot came up and kicked Chuck in the chin and knocked him out cold. Chuck woke up on the sidelines and said, "Put me back in the game, Coach".
Leo "Lee" Artoe, classmate of Chuck's, joined the Chicago Bears as No. 9 in 1940, and on Oct. 27, 1940 at the Polo Grounds, Artoe kicked a 52-yard field goal against the Giants.
It was the second-longest field goal in NFL history at the time, and it would be 10 more years before someone else kicked one as long. Not only was it the first field goal attempt of Artoe's professional career, it was his only field-goal attempt of the 1940 season.
"Just trying to remember some of the past. I locked my brain up long ago and lost the key."
Daniel E Virgillo
Dan sent a poem from a school friend and photo stating, "There were four girls at Lincoln - 2 were half sisters - that Chuck (Semancik), Coo (Lawrence Berglund), Leo (Artoe - Chicago Bears) and I (Dan Virgillo) dated. One became Chuck's wife, Irene."
Special passages of this poem represent the friendship Chuck had with his teammates.
"My Ideal"
I had a handsome picture -
In my mind of a certain he.
But imagine when my dream man -
Turned out to be the three.
My ideals were best of pals; -
Have been pals-oh-so long.
If they should lose one another -
Everything would all go wrong.
At one another's side. -
They stick through thick and thin
In everything that comes their way -
They'll help each other win.
Someone once informed me -
I was breaking their friendship core
And that's one of the reasons -
I go with Dan no more.
I could go on forever -
And tell of Dan, Larry, and Chuck.
My real thought, words could not tell -
From my heart I only wish them luck.
Myrtle Ring - Lincoln High
(At the time of this letter, Dan was planning on moving to California - we thank him for these memories of Chuck)
Chuck's Basics Hold True
Ever wonder who helped make Chuck the coach he was? We found the following typed list from one of Chuck's old Lincoln High (Tacoma) football coaches:
5 Basic Principles of Offensive Line Play
1. Use the eyes.
2. Keep the feet under the body.
3. Work under the opponent.
4. Keep the body squarely between the opponent and the ball.
5. Break quickly downfield and block.
(ED: no mention made of pass blocking)
4 Basic Principles of Defensive Line Play
1. Get across the line of scrimmage.
2. Protect the territory immediately in front of you.
3. Go for the ball.
4. Tackle.
A Great Role Model & 21ST Century
Bremerton Hero MARVIN WILLIAMS Jr
Not because you won a national championship at UNC or were recently drafted #2 by the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, but because you believed in a dream, very actively pursued it, and are now very humbly starting to live it.
Congratulations, Marvin.....your community admires & loves you.
2005 Scholarship Winners
The Semancik Memorial Foundation is proud to announce the three BHS graduates who were recipients of 2005 scholarships you helped provide.
Your recipients have all shown the desire to further their education and have a plan to achieve a career goal:
Buddy Lee Bennett will be attending Olympic College and wants to get into Fire Management Service. He was a state tournament wrestler at BHS, and in the top 15% of his class. "I have devoted long hours towards my education and wrestling. I feel if Chuck were alive today as one of my wrestling coaches, he would be very proud of my success."
Tara L Richardson's plans are to go to into television broadcasting at Menlo College in Atherton CA, where she will also play fastpitch. "Chuck Semancik was an inspiration to students and to the people of our community. This scholarship program celebrates Mr. Semancik's effervescent life of service."
Kayleigh King plans to become an athletic trainer for professional sports through Western Washington University. She played volleyball while at BHS.
"Receiving the Chuck Semancik Scholarship means so much to me as an athlete and a student. I have always been consciously aware of my actions and the choices I have made throughout high school, and how they would affect my athletic endeavors."
Thanks to your many generous donations, we now have 14 BHS students who have been awarded scholarships totaling $9,000 since our inception in 2000.
Thanks to the teachers and coaches at Bremerton, we are receiving good applicants, and we wish we could help them all. The foundation's goal is to provide at least 5 students each with no less than a $1,000 scholarship.
Your foundation focuses on those kids who have overcome life-altering circumstances. A former West athlete wrote, "I don't know if you realized it, but I was one of the "at risk" kids you now help empower."
Please, help us guarantee the gift of education for all our kids.
Fastest Growing Tournament in the Area
"In just two years, the Semancik Memorial Golf Tournament has become one of the largest of its kind in the Greater Kitsap Area", stated ‘68 Wildcat grad, Tedd Hudanich P.G.A., Rolling Hills Golf Club Head Pro, as he was setting up dates for our 2005 tournament.
In 2004, its second year, the Semancik Memorial Golf Tournament saw a full-field tour, the 18 holes chalked full of Mulligans, Ayalas, and unique par 3 and hole in one contests that included a chance to win one of those plush new Lexus' Mike O'Brien wants to give-away to one of our tournament golfers.
Derrick Cronkhite, a Wildcat from 1946 said, "A year ago people were asking, ‘What's it all about?' Now they're asking, ‘How do we get in?'".
The sponsorship of this gathering of Bremerton alumni and community businesses was fantastic. Our net gain was a couple dollars short of $10,000!! That's $4,000 more than our first year!
O'Brien's Dealership Group, American Financial Solutions, and Don and Nancy Rasor's Alexander's of Maui were our main sponsors. The Captain's Sponsors included Ron Burley Construction, Paul & Dino Morgen, Frank & Kris Carlson Tweten's Clubhouse Grill, Kitsap Ready Mix - Fred Hill Materials, Graylin Huggard's Outback Steakhouse, Bryan & Tracy McConaughy's BMcConsulting/TMSportswear, and the BAR - Bremerton Athletic Roundtable. We had 30 Hole Sponsors and over $7,000 in donated prizes. This tournament gives everyone a chance to have fun, win big, eat hardy, and definitely not go home empty-handed.
At his writing, the 3rd tournament is shaping up to be even more successful. A big heart-felt thank you to all the local merchants and to our Bremerton alumni who have partnered with the Semancik Foundation to make this event a HUGE success. The Kids of Bremerton High appreciate you.
Bremerton's Renaissance of Football?!?!?
The practice T-shirts read..."It's a New Era." On the back of the garment were emblazoned the words..."It Starts with YOU."
Proudly, wearing this bit of football paraphernalia, the new look Bremerton Knight Football team near 40 strong, met its new head football coach at the edge of the field.
Nate Gillam, who played collegiately at Boise State University, met his charges and launched into an intensely stated explanation of the long Blue Line he had painted at the edge of the practice gridiron..
In a commanding voice Gillam said, "Gentlemen, today we are going to teach you the proper way to practice." The new head mentor is taking over a program that, for the most part, has been barren of "W's" for as long as some of the Blue and Gold players have walked on God's green earth.
As the players eagerly awaited the challenge to cross the Blue Line and engage in their first practice, Gillam, a former Blue and Gold RB/LB from the class of 1991, went on to say, "This is the point where practice starts. When you cross the Blue Line, you are expected to practice like a champion. Nothing less is acceptable."
The new head coach gave the word and the young Knights stormed the field. New assistant coach and former BHS stalwart, Mike Turso, who will coach the line, put the bite in Gillam's words about practice expectations. The block-like Turso "firmly" explained in football parlance sprinkled with words like hustle and enthusiasm, the meaning of practicing like a champion. Score one for the coaches!
After the two weeks of spring workouts, now allowed by the WIAA, we checked back in at the spring-ball scrum. Our first impressions were highlighted by the enthusiasm generated by the young Knights. Employing a base Wing-T offense with the stop department deployed in a vanilla 44 defense, there was a sweaty evidence of fundamentals well-taught. Yikes, players were actually flying around and joyfully knocking each other down. With apologies to the meek, that's the game!
This scribe will refrain from going out on the proverbial limb calling the youthful 2005 Blue and Gold a championship contender, but button your bonnets Narrows League, you're in for a scrap. The Knights are resuming the march on the path back to the glory!
Great Role Models for Bremerton's Kids...
The Semancik Foundation hopes that you will want to keep giving back to help create more great citizens like the Kirk's.
In the latest chapter in the lives of two of our community's heroes, Tara and Dana Kirk (2004 USA Olympic Swimming Team), Tara was selected a co-captain of the US team that competed in the World Swimming Championship held this summer in Montreal. This honor speaks volumes about the content of the character of the BHS alumni and Stanford University grad.
Kirk also netted two medals at the "World's," while both sisters medaled at the U.S.A Nationals
Local name becomes BHS Principal
Aaron Leavell, a Kitsap native and grandson of the late Bremerton Mayor Glenn Jarstad, has become the 5th principal at Bremerton High in 7 years.
"This is what I want to do, and this is where I want to be. This community has given me so much, and this is how I want to give back".
Leavell brings much-needed stability to a school with 45 teachers and more than 1,100 students. He will proudly oversee the addition of a new wing at BHS to be completed in the fall of 2007. This was made possible by the passage of the $30million+ Bremerton School Revitalization Bond which was the only successful bond in the Greater Kitsap area this past year.
(Ed: Way to go, Aaron, "You're the Man." And thanks to Bremerton voters..."With Your Help, Kid's Win."
How to Eternally Give Back to Our KIDS
By leaving an endowment in your will, you can insure that the gift you have given to help some very special kids further their education will continue to benefit kids in perpetuity.
Your attorneys can help you set up a trust or you may discuss this with our foundation investment counselor, Mike Fleury (360-692-3777) or our legal associate, Bruce Buskirk (360) 692-1194.
Join us in establishing your endowment which will continue to help even more very special kids seek a quality education.
You Ask, "What Can We Do?" Our Answer......
ï¡Our greatest need is grant writing knowledge and access.
ï¡Create and maintain a website for the foundation.
ï¡We need help finding monetary contacts for "The Path to Freedom".
ï¡Writing articles for the annual newsletter is always welcome.
ï¡Buy personalized Victory Park tiles.
ï¡Help with Printing & Mailing costs.
ï¡Give us addresses of any alumni who might be interested in this newsletter.
ï¡Donate items & services for the auction & raffle at the golf tournament.
ï¡Play in the golf tournament
Chuck Football is published annually by the Chuck Semancik Memorial Foundation, a non-profit corporation under the provisions of the WA Non-Profit Corporation Act (RCW 24.03) - EIN 91-2020300 - State UBI #602 007 558.
The Chuck Semancik Memorial Foundation is a 501C3 tax deductible organization established and nourished by alumni, athletes, coaches, and friends all sharing to create opportunities for our youth.
Send Contributions & Donations to:
Chuck Semancik Memorial Foundation
PO Box 2723
Bremerton WA 98310-0351
