February 09th, 2012

Ardath Hampel Bumgarner 's Story

Birth Year: 1917




Table of Contents





    Ardath Hampel Bumgarner


    I was in the class of 34 at Cache La Poudre Consolididated School.


    I played basketball in Junior High and High School. When I was in the eighth grade, we girls played the eighth grade boys and beat the soxs off of them. But we were bigger than they were and they had to play girls rules, which in those days was three court basketball.


    I played as a freshman, won a letter as a sophmore, quit as a junior because of poor coaching, but began again as a senior under the coaching of Mr. Van Dyke. He put up with no nonsense, the girls straightened up, paid attention and learned to play basketball. I was captain that year, and again won my letter.


    The berthoud team consisted of big, blonde Amazons who tossed the ball over our heads and wouldn't let us score. We hated them!! The Estes Park Kids were the nicest, we thought and when they came to play, we made a chili in the home ec room and had a big chili supper for them before their long drive home inthe mountains.


    Any of you who were in school at the time, no doubt remember we had no gym at school; we used the one in the Presbyterian Church at Laporte. It was several blocks from school and we walked back and forth to practice. The church is no longer there. It burned down in later years.


    Our team wasn't very good and I can't remember ever winning a game. But it was fun and I am so glad I had that eperience. I learned something about sportsmanship and how much fun it is to be a member of a team.