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Health & Fitness

WDM Council Candidate Mickelson Discusses Memories from Growing up in WDM (Blog)

WDM City Council candidate Mickelson reminiscences the old Valley Stadium on 8th Street.

Valley’s new stadium on Mills Civic is a jewel for our community.  I was never fortunate enough to play there, but know that the facilities rival those of many colleges. 

In contrast, the old Valley Stadium on 8th Street was in need of some major upgrades when they replaced it with Hillside Elementary in 2004. However, I still consider myself blessed to have been able to play all four years of my high school football career in the old stadium and I miss it.  I grew up across the street from the retired Coach Lee Crawford, so went to nearly all the games there when I was a little boy.  In my eyes, the old Valley Stadium might as well have been the modern day Cowboys Stadium.   

Those football games, and the events surrounding the games, are some of my best memories growing up in West Des Moines…highlights include beating Dowling the first game of my senior year 42-14 and beating Stillwell 26-0 as an 8th grader at Indian Hills.  Lowlights include losing to Dowling later my senior year in the second round of the playoffs (in a monsoon) and watching a friend “peel-out” in his dad’s SUV in the stadium parking lot – only to roll it when it hit gravel (he was OK – the SUV was not).  Generations of WDM kids have their own memories of that beautiful 8th Street stadium built in 1938 by the Public Works Administration. 

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Many residents outside of the football program are probably not aware of some nuances we had.  As West Des Moines grew and Ashworth Road became a major thoroughfare, the fastest drive to get to the stadium from Valley High School eventually became to take Ashworth west and then go south on 8th street.  However, in a nod to tradition, our busses always instead turned south on Vine from Ashworth and drove through the Fairmeadows neighborhoods, just like they had for generations past. 

The busses were always deathly silent on the entire trip on Vine – a combination of nerves and concentration.  When we reached 8th Street, to turn left and go up the hill towards the stadium, someone would yell “strap it up” and as soon as the bus turned, we would all put on our helmets so we could be fully dressed when we got off the bus at the stadium and ready for warm-ups.  Parents, fans, and cheerleaders would greet us as we exited the bus and, as players, we always did our best to put on our tough guy face when we saw them. 

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After the game, we would take Ashworth all the way back to the school to change, shower, etc.  This time, in the case of a victory, things were much more boisterous on the bus.  Once we reached 39th Street to turn north towards the school locker rooms, we would spontaneously break-out in a song:

We are the Tigers and couldn’t be prouder, so if you can’t hear us, cry a little louder…grr raa raa grr raa raa…and so on

One time, we had Urbandale beat handily in the third quarter and lost a little bit of our focus in the fourth quarter.  We eventually beat them, but it was not without some nervous moments and we got a deserved undressing from our coaches on the way home.  When we turned the corner on 39th Street no one really felt like singing until one of the coaches piped up “you better sing that [silly] song.”  We did. 

There is no question that the new Mills Civic Stadium is an improvement, but sometimes if I am alone in the car and around Vine and 8th, I still have to resist the urge to yell “strap it up!” and travel up the hill to see that old beauty from my memories. 

John Mickelson is a candidate for West Des Moines City Council in a February 12, 2013 special election.  Mickelson returned to West Des Moines in 2010 after a twelve year absence for educational and career opportunities. Mickelson works as a banker in West Des Moines and teaches college night classes.  He is a Valley High School graduate, and received his undergraduate, MBA, and law degree from the University of Iowa, where he was also a letter-winner for the Hawkeye’s football team.  He can be reached at mickelson.john@gmail.com.  Paid for by John Mickelson for City Council. 

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