Missing the Friday Night Lights in Williamsburg

I’ve never been an ardent high school sports fan. I grew up in (and still live in) Williamsburg, and them’s fightin’ words here, but it’s the truth for me. I’ve never been one to go out of my way to attend a game. That might be because I never really had to – I live near Williamsburg’s school campus and could always hear the home football games being announced from the football field nearby. But no more. With the Williamsburg School Board’s decision to cooperate with the Juniata Valley School District for varsity football, the field and my fall Friday evenings will be silent. And I will miss it.

There was a special excitement in the air on the evening of a football game. Fans from the other team would park their cars on my street and walk to the football field carrying their blankets and seat pads. Band members would arrive at the school and begin tuning their instruments, sometimes playing an impromptu song. I could smell the sausage and french fries as the members of the Football Boosters Club started cooking in their fundraising booth.

Then the game began. The band would play the school’s alma mater and national anthem. The announcer would introduce the starting line-ups. From my front porch I could hear the cheers and boos after an official’s whistle. I could hear the music the band played during halftime, especially the drums keeping the beat. After the game it would all happen again in reverse. Cheers would go up for the winning team. The band would play as they marched back to the school. Fans would return to their cars. Sometimes there would be a dance at the school after the game, prolonging the excitement in the air as teenagers celebrated their win or mourned their loss. The evening ended when the dance music stopped and the lights went out on the field. Now the music has stopped and the lights have gone out for good.

Williamsburg has always been a sports town. We’ve had our share of great moments-state championship games, college standouts, and a pro-football player. Many of the other things that helped define Williamsburg’s tight knit culture are gone now, like the paper mill and the Penelec plant. We’ve always managed though, to keep our school and its sports tradition. I feel sad for the families who have had generations play football on Memorial Field and now have to reconcile themselves to the fact that it is over for their children. I feel sad for the future band members and cheerleaders who will not know the excitement of supporting their school’s Blue Pirate Football team in their hometown. But I also feel optimistic that the townspeople will pull together as we always do and rally around our players at Juniata Valley. We’ll support the band and cheerleaders as they find other ways to present their talents. We’ll support the teams that still play under the Blue Pirate banner. We adjusted to the closing of the mill and the Penelec plant, and we’ll adjust to this. It might take some time, but change is inevitable. And really, if we’re being honest, we knew this day was coming; we just didn’t know when. But I’ll still miss those Friday nights.