by John Mooy
For some unknown reason the other day when we experienced a sprinkling of snow with most of the now brown grass visible, I had a mental flashback.
It was Thanksgiving Day morning and I was thinking of those celebration days from years gone by. It was mid-morning and I pulled on an old Marcellus Wildcat warmup jersey. It was a black silky material with orange and black material that circled around each of the sleeves near the shoulder. As I recall, there were times when athletic items from the high school had seen their better days and were given away to anyone who wanted them. The jacket was a prize for me. I hoped that one day I could be a member of the Wildcat varsity basketball team.
If you speak with anyone from Marcellus and mention the SJV some will recall what those letters meant and others will have never heard of them. They in fact stand for the St. Joe Valley League. That was the league Marcellus was a part of and was often considered to be one of the best Class C – D leagues in the state.
The teams and their nicknames seem never to escape my memory: The Marcellus Wildcats, Schoolcraft Eagles, Constantine Falcons, White Pigeon Chiefs, Burr Oak Bobcats, Mendon Green Hornets, Colon Magi and the Centreville Bulldogs.
On this particular Thanksgiving, I remember walking over to the old gym we played in and somehow we were always able to get into that old magical building. Other friends showed up and we played basketball. No supervision was necessary. After several hours we left the gym and made our way back home for the turkey feast followed by the traditional Detroit Lions game versus the Green Bay Packers.
The hours and hours and hours we spent in that gymnasium learning how to best put a round leather ball through a net draped metal hoop. When I look at baskets all in those terms it was a rather simple game. Yet as simple as it was, the St. Joe Valley League fostered some of the most enjoyable moments one can imagine.
Teams took turns at being the best in the league when they had a particularly good group of players. Even some of those payers I’ll never forget. From those players I watched while in elementary school to some we would play against during our high school years.
  In retrospect it was all magic, the practices, the bus rides, the games and the always loyal support of the Marcellus fans. One of my fondest memories for me was the night we played the Constantine Falcons in our gym and both teams were undefeated. It was a cold snowy night with a howling wind but that didn’t stop the legendary sportswriter Jack Moss of the Kalamazoo Gazette from attending the highly touted game. There were so many fans in attendance they were standing right up next to the out of bounds lines around the gym. It was so loud you couldn’t hear yourself think. The game was close throughout and unfortunately the Falcons defeated us by a score of 68 – 67 (see below for The News’s coverage of the game from 1964). But that wasn’t what I remember most clearly, instead it was my walk home after the game.
I walked out of the gym into the snowy night holding my gym bag in my left hand and holding my warmups which were on a hanger over my right shoulder. As I made my way down the street past the Burchard house I couldn’t help but notice how quiet it was and the only sound I could hear was the sound of the snow squeaking under my shoes as I turned right under the streetlight by the Allen’s house. The snow was illuminated as it drifted down illuminated by the streetlight.
I walked west on Elm Street until I arrived home, walked up the steps and into the warmth of the kitchen.
An evening filled with magical moments………………and we would play Constantine one more time.
Have a great week, Marcellus.
You’re the best.
PS. We beat Constantine at their place 57 – 53.
Another great game, more great memories.
From The Marcellus News – January 16, 1964
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