The first time I went to a football game was at Watkins Field, the football stadium at the old Dora High School. The year was 1960 and I was in the fourth grade at Dora Elementary.
My dad parked the car on the road by Dora Church of God and we walked up the hill to the gate. There it was a huge stone entryway to Watkins Field. I think the gate and the gym were built by Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. As we approached that entryway it looked as big as the Parthenon. Inside the lights made the grassy field as bright as the moon. Moths, looking as big as bats swooped and darted at the big lights shinning on the field that night.
The cadence of the drum squad and the noise of the crowd had my heart racing with excitement. I could smell popcorn and peanuts before they tore my tickets in half. Blue and Gold crepe paper streamers and banners hung from the goal posts and fences, fluttering in the autumn breeze like flags. Boys my age played catch and tackle, with a small football in the end zone. Young girls lined the fence to watch every move the cheerleaders made.
Before the start of the game, the announcer came on the loudspeaker and said a prayer. The band played the Star-Spangled Banner as local Boy Scouts hoisted the flag up the skinny pole. Then the crowd on both sides erupted as the teams ran onto the field. I was in awe. I didn’t know much about football but I knew we were supposed to beat the socks off Cordova. The Bulldogs did scrape by the Blue Devils that night 12-6.
I ate bags of parched peanuts, bags of buttered popcorn, and so many hot dogs that Oscar Meyer probably had to add an overtime shift to meet the demand. The stadium was packed that night, and I remember seeing people in trees outside the fence in the graveyard next to the football field. Even though it cost only a quarter for admission, there were those who couldn’t afford twenty-five cents.
The event instilled a love of football in me that has stuck all these years. Recently I went down to shoot some photographs for my book project. As I stood there at the gate, the stadium looked so small. I hear it’s used for a soccer field now. But I could still smell the peanuts and popcorn and hear the band and the cheers of the crowd.
I got an e-mail awhile back from an out of state Dora alumnus asking if Watkins Field was still standing. I told him it’s still there, not nearly as big as it was in 1960 but full of memories.
