GHS59-GHSGym

The cavernous walls once echoed the sounds right out of the movie Hoosiers.âs Fading yellow bricks silently age while the rows of bleachers once bordering the sidelines are long gone.

The half-moon windows tower above the court with caged wire around them, crisscrossing beams of sunlight onto the hardwood.

Above each wooden backboard and basket at either end overhang balconies for the perfect view, high above courtside. Fans would hoot and stomp their feet, cheering the nightly exploits of the hoop teams of Phil Tarpey and Bill Footrick.

This is the fifth in a series chronicling long-lost sporting gems of Gardner.

When basketball was played in Gardner in the 1920s through the early 1950s, it was played here, the former Gardner High School gym on Elm Street.

The playing court became obsolete after the Consolidated School was built on Waterford Street at the Gardner Junior High School in 1953, and Wildcat games would thereafter be played at Morze Gymnasium.

Today, the Elm Street School gymnasium has been transformed into a storage area amidst the COVID pandemic. It is the result of classrooms needing to socially distance to the new normal of 6 feet.

The balcony no longer has fans crammed into the rows of seats. Instead, volumes of books are stored where the Wildcat faithful once sat or stood

Starting in the 1920s, it was the only gymnasium in Gardner. On winter evenings from before the start of the Depression until after World War II, the place would be jumping with roundball excitement.

Today, amidst the spaced desks, bulletin boards, bookcases and stacked tables, there is little evidence to the casual observer of the glory that once occurred there. Just the same, I stopped by to try to conjure up the ghosts of the past, and they were there, all right. Oh, you had to stand for a while, and look and listen, but soon they were running and jumping all over the place.

The irrepressible foul-line hook shot of the legendary Hawk Pellerin; Satchtromski skying for a rebound; the one-handed set shots of Mike Morgan from the top of the key; the cool ball handling of Roger Belliveau; the smooth shooting of Jeff Schreiner, Jim Haverty, Norm Erickson, Alan Wickman and Tony Wojdylak; classic rivalries with Fitchburg and Leominster, as well as Athol, Greenfield and Turners Falls; the dull sound of the buzzer calling in a player; and the sharp bounce of a dark-brown canvas ball slamming the court.

And there were even some physical signs, still remaining after many, many years, left behind by those very same ghosts.

There is still a gouge on the far backboard, made the day big Frank Morze fired a shotput during an indoor track spring practice. An eye-popping toss that would later lead him to a New England record in the early 1950s.

Then there is the pegboard introduced by Coach Footrick in gym class. Boys would muscle their way to the top, peg by peg, and then write their name in pencil on the above bricks to record their conquest.

Most of the scribblings above the pegboard are too faint to be made out. No doubt gymnasts like Reggie Boone, Henry Straus and Bob Ashe each took their rightful spot at the top, though faded by age.

Basketball continued to be played there into the early 1970s by the Gardner High girls basketball teams under their fledgling coach, Steve Hancock. Ellen Courtemanche scored the bulk of her 1,000 career points in that gymnasium

In addition to athletic contests, with decorations and streamers, the gymnasium could be nicely transfigured into a hall for social events. The annual Freshman and Sophomore Parties were highlights of the Gardner High School calendar through the 1970s.

Another school tradition popular back in the day was the annual Senior Kid Party where seniors dressed up like little children, rode tricycles, played kid games and enjoyed refreshments the way they celebrated pre-adolescent birthday parties of their youth.

By the winter of 1976, Gardner High LaChance Gymnasium became the new home to Wildcat basketball, as well as school dances and functions. And while basketballs no longer slap the floor at the venerable Elm Street gymnasium, there is still evidence of what used to be.

High above courtside, the admonition of yesteryear still abuts each wall behind the old baskets:
No Street Shoes Allowed on Gym Floor.