Dr. John Holmes  '34   Prize Possession

         In September of 1930, I enrolled at Milton College. As I remember the class was predominantly girls.  They had a dormitory, but the boys had to find lodging with the town's people.  As freshmen we had to wear a beanie or skullcap similar to what the Cardinals wear, except ours were green.  Woe be unto you if you were caught by an upper classman without it.

        By the time I entered college I had made up my mind as to my future.  I took all Pre Med courses - biology, chemistry, physic, German and English.  The classes were small, maybe 8 or 10, and mostly the same people were in all classes.  I do not believe any others went on into the medical profession.  The college was liberal arts with emphasis on music.  It graduated many teachers, both in music and academics.  The enrollment was probably about 100 that year.

Now about my prize possession.

        I went out for basketball but the first year I did not do well. George Crandall was the coach.  I did better the second year with Coach Rowbothan.  We practiced hard.  Being independent as were many other, the squad was 10 and could travel in two cars.

        We played Ripon College that year and North Western which is located in Watertown.  We also played Platteville which was two nights there - two schools - the Plateville teachers and the Platteville miners.  The teachers had a decent gym, but the miners had a converted large classroom with low ceilings.  You could not arch the ball too high.  We also went to Elmhurst, a suburb of Chicago.  At that time my father was at Hines VA Hospital in Maywood and he and a friend came over to see us play.

        Our gym at Milton was quite impressive having been built in the late 1920’s.  You entered through a foyer with offices on either side.  It had a full size basketball court and at the other end there was a stage across the whole end.  This was used for many things including the production of Shakespearian plays for which the college was well known.  One year Mid Summer’s Nights Dream as produced and I was a member of the supporting cast - and I mean supporting - I was the wall.

        Along one side of the gym was a series of leather-covered rings on which you could swing the length of the gym.  The roof was supported by steel beams with some cross beam support.  At practice we would shoot through openings and attempt to make a basket.  This building has had many renovations and the now is the home of CESA.  To me it will always be "The Gym"

        Seventy three years ago after the basketball season and at the end of the banquet Coach Rowbothan gave out letters and I received the coveted "M" of which I am very proud of to this day - one prize possession!