Wabash Valley Dartball 1936-2009

The weather yesterday was just about perfect for late October....we hit in the mid 60s with plenty of sunshine and just a slight breeze...today some clouds with a 30% chance of rain mid 60s again. The rest of the week looks to be in the mid to upper 60s with maybe a shot or two of rain.

Nick and I decided to leave for Michigan a bit early. Since he has a day off from Crown, we no plan on taking off for Oscoda/Tawas City around noon Thursday if we can get things around...we still plan on returning Monday afternoon.

Dartball 2009/2010____

I have mentioned Dartball before on this blog...I've been tossing for St. Johns Lutheran Church for a number of years now...Sam and Hal, although both living out of town these days, have been members as well. In fact Sam, back when he was 1o or 11, got things started in the Wabash Valley Dartball League for the family.

Being an old time bar room "darter" it took me about a season to get used to the underhand tossing of the heavy medal tipped wooden darts with feathers...since that time I have known some success, as has our team.

The Wabash Valley Dartball League was formed by a group of Lutheran Churches back in 1936, and was called simply "The Lutheran Dartball League, according to the books the League became "Wabash Valley Dartball League" before the 1947-48 season. One of our top players, Martin Fancke, was an original member of that charter season before WW2, some 74 seasons ago. Martin has reached 90, still plays weekly, and still "bats" over .300 most seasons.

The 74th season kicks off November 9th with 8 teams, some Lutheran, some not, these days....St. John's is the host Church, meaning we will host the Tournaments, Playoffs, and the end of season Banquet. As luck would have it, Sam takes off for Ohio State, so Dad{ME} is saddled with being the League President...so here I sit this morning, looking over the cash box, old records, and getting ready to type out the news and other information to the other team's Captains. Some interesting stuff in those old records...the books go back as far as 1945, and the Banquet and end-of-season "flyers" date back to 1953.

The Wabash Valley Dartball League, since 1936...and still counting.

Last Football of the season___

My last game of the season{not counting the Midget League Round Robin Tournament on November 7th} of the High School/Jr High season is scheduled for today....I will head north to Antwerp again for a Junior High game. Then I will finish up with the little guys on 11/7 and put away the football gear for another season...basketball scrimmages begin November 17, right after the family get away to Wisconsin.

48 hours to the Salmon/Steelhead fest...

back later>>>>

Photos-A Regulation Dartball Board{different Leagues vary in boards, distances to toss, underhand, overhand, both, etc. Wabash Valley tosses underhand from 20 feet}. Some of my "hardware" that I have won over the years. Old Books, receipts, and Banquet Flyers from the past, as far back as 1945...and the oldest banquet flyer I could find, from December of 1953.