BY G.J. FERGUSON 

Note: this is a continual series from the Renewal of Friendship booklet published in 1993. The articles are about the Gloucester City football series between Gloucester High and Gloucester Catholic that began in 1948. The articles were posted last year on ClearysNotebook. And some of those same stories have been posted this past week. They will remain on the site filed in the following categories: Rams Alumni, Lions Alumni, Gloucester Catholic and Gloucester High.

The annual game will be played again this year on Thanksgiving Day.

It has been nearly three decades since the last City-Series game was played in 1965. At times, it seems like it was only yesterday. But, sadly it wasn\’t. With the final whistle, on that sunny autumn day, the City-Series passed into memory. Memories that have endured over the years. They have lived in the hearts and minds of those who remember the series and attached a special meaning to it.

It is with those in mind, that the idea for this program began. It started out as a history of the series, but a true history would require a book of several hundreds pages. What we have instead is more like a memoir of the City-Series. I hope that as you read the game stories and look at the old pictures, it will bring back the memories. Not just of the games themselves, but of old friends, old teammates, and a different time.

In the old industrial city on the Delaware, the year 1948 marked the beginning of the annual football games between Gloucester High and Gloucester Catholic. It was a time when semi-pro and town teams were still popular and attracting good-sized crowds. However, the largest and most loyal following was reserved for high school football. Across the country, in rural towns, in cities large and small, people filled the bleachers by the thousands to cheer their local school teams.

In some areas of the country, the games drew crowds of 25,000 to 30,000 or more. Closer to home, the Collingswood, and Camden High game used to attract 15,000 to 20,000 spectators. The City-Series games never approached numbers like these, but the crowds of 4,000 or more were common. For a small city of 15,000 people, it was a tremendous show of support.

If measured in length, it was not a long series. In South Jersey, many of the football series began in the 1920\’s or before. Vineland and Millville began their rivalry in the 1890\’s. In comparison, the City-Series was only played from 1948 to 1965. Nevertheless, for those eighteen years the people of Gloucester had a game that somehow, seemed to touch the very soul of their proud, old city.

In a small town like Gloucester, everybody seems to know everybody else. This familiarity made the games much more personal. Playing against a school located miles away; the opposing players were only numbers. In the City-Series games, that \”number\” had a name, and you better not forger it! If not brother against brother, surely there were cousins facing each other. Childhood friend\’s kids from around the corner and down the street battling each other for 48 minutes. It was a neighborhood rivalry in the truest sense of the word:

Like the town it was played in, the games themselves were rough and tumble affairs. It was a hard-nosed and smash-mouth football. This was literally true before the facemask came into use. They were emotional games, played in a charged atmosphere before large, fanatical crowds.

Given all this, the remarkable thing is, the emotions never really got out of hand. Not on the field, nor in the stands. For the most part, the games were cleanly played. The hard hits came before the whistle, not after. This is not to say the games were perfect, they weren\’t. Nevertheless, the minor disputes that did occur were soon forgotten.

The very nature of the series made this possible. All of the ingredients that made this a fiercely contested game worked in reverse as soon ass it ended. It was high school football the way it was meant to be.

The first five years of the series belonged to Gloucester High. The Raiders (or \”Paiseleymen\”, as they were also called at the time) won the initial game in 1948 by a close score of 18-12. Matters only became worse for the Irish/Ramblers over the next four years! From 1949 to 1952, the Raiders completely dominated the series, winning by 21-2, 56-7, 19-6, and 25-7.

In 1953, Gloucester Catholic, tired of being a doormat for their city rival, recorded there first win of the series, winning by a score of 12-7. The Ramblers must have found the victory to their linking, as they set out on a winning streak of their own. The next four years found the Maroon and Gold on top by 20-13, 52-7, 26-0, and 12-7.

With the series tied at five games apiece, the Raiders pulled ahead by winning the 1958 game 18-7. However, there were to be no more long winning streaks in the series. The following year, the Rams triumphed over the newly named Lions by 19-0. 1960 was more of the same as a powerful Catholic Eleven rolled over the Lions 34-0 to take their first lead in the series.

By Steve Flowers

My name is Steve Flowers. I played baseball for Gloucester City High School 1973 – 1974. Lived in Brooklawn for most of my life until I moved to Texas in 1982. I still receive the Gloucester City News and I am still very proud to have grown up in Brooklawn. For a living I\’m a successful heavy equipment trailer manufacturer. I am the owner of Interstate Trailers. This year the business is celebrating our 25^th anniversary; you can visit our site at www.interstatetrailers.com. Credibility is always a constant in life!

It\’s funny, I don\’t care about any \”self glorification\” for I am happy and at peace with myself. This is more like a burning desire to share with people and what gives me a sense of pride is that in 42 years my description and story have NEVER changed. TRUTH is the number one quality in good character.

In the September 6th edition of the Gloucester City News in an article about the Wiffle Ball Reunion my Brooklawn buddies were quoting stories of me and Mike Burkhardt seeing ALIENS. It is time to set our story right.

Mike Burkhardt, Larry Burkhardt and I were sitting behind the Brooklawn apartments between 4^th and 5^th streets smoking cigarettes in August of 1966. It was dark out so the time was probably 9:30 – 10:00pm, (before curfews) and all of a sudden a flying spinning saucer appeared to our right hand sides, EXTREMELY low altitude, (300\’) with red, green and white halogen color lights.

The vehicle was spinning very rapidly and virtually noiseless outside maybe a slight humming. It stopped about two houses down the street and then came back towards us. At this time we took off as fast as we could back down 4^th streets to our houses yelling \”flying saucers flying saucers!\” The McKibbon\’s and Murphy\’s were outside but to our surprise everybody that was outside did not see it. Matter of fact everybody thought we were nuts. We talked about the sighting for a few days but were ridiculed into silence.

 

Here\’s what doesn\’t make sense. We lived in the flight path to Philadelphia airport and at 9 and 12 years old had seen every type of aircraft know to man. What we saw that night I personally had never seen before or after. My family talked me into accepting the UFO as a helicopter but that never made sense. In 1979 or 1980 my father Francis Flowers, my brother Mike Flowers and I were at an electric vehicle/energy show in Toronto. One of the nights we were out to dinner with three Canadian Scientists and they mention ties to the Canadian UFO council.

Mike couldn\’t resist saying \”hey Steve tell them about the flying saucer you saw!\” Immediately I told them what I saw was probably a helicopter because of the red, green and bright white lights; all UFO\’s I had seen on TV were just white blurs. To my surprise they were fascinated, took notes of my descriptions, and then said that is the closest sighting they had ever heard outside of a remote Canadian farmer\’s sighting. Colorful lights are common in close sightings according to them. I was on their mailing list till about 1985.

As for the photos of the Alligator Snapper.

In June of 2004 I was out jogging around our neighborhood pond and lying across the road was what I thought was a giant iguana. I got up close to it and it was about 41/2 – 5\’ long with a shell on its back! The head was as big as a football and when it casually walked back into the water its legs were as big as my arms from elbow to fingers. Turned out to be an Alligator Snapper or Loggerhead but they are not indigenous to this area.

Gave the description to the zoo and they said it was probably well over 100lbs. The one pictured was over 20lbs. which took me 45 minutes to catch on August 12^th.

My point in telling you this is for three years of telling this story I\’ve put up with all these Texans thinking I\’m just another crazy Eagles fan. (Note the Eagles banner) I have been vindicated and now if that UFO would just show back up!

All I\’d like to know is has anyone else ever contacted you about UFO\’s in the area? You can google UFO\’s in Jersey 1966 and there is a lot of \”activity.\” Also, Mike and Larry Burkhardt are still alive and unlike most sightings at least there were three of us. I\’d be curious how they\’re memories of that special night would be. Got to be some type of explanation or maybe not?

Steve\’s email address: is [email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Football Helmet Chin Straps

Units: About 235,000

Manufacturer: Nike Inc., of Beaverton, Ore.

Hazard: The chin strap’s plastic cup can break as a result of contact, exposing the player to facial or head injuries.

Incidents/Injuries: Nike has received 18 reports of the chin strap breaking, including two reports of concussions, two reports of facial lacerations requiring stitches, and a report of a broken nose.

 

Description: The recalled football helmet chin strap consists of a plastic cup with a foam liner, straps and four metal snaps. They were sold in both youth and adult sizes and come in black/gray and white/gray color combinations. The Nike Swoosh trademark is printed on the outside of the chin cup and DRI-FIT™ is printed on the foam liner. \”Made in China\” and one of the following four style numbers is printed on the inside of the strap: FA0016 046, FA0016 130, FA0021 046, or FA0021 130.

Sold at: Sporting good stores nationwide and on the firm’s Web site www.Nike.com from April 2006 through October 2007 for about $20.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should stop using the chin strap immediately and contact Nike for a product voucher redeemable at www.nikestore.com

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Nike toll-free at (888) 583-6453 between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.nikebiz.com

*Ewing, NJ*… Another successful season on the field landed a handful of
players from The College of New Jersey field hockey team post-season
honors from the National Field Hockey Coaches Association. Three Lions
were named to the NFHCA South Atlantic Region First Team with two more
players earning second-team honors.

A trio of juniors were named to the South Atlantic Region First Team as
forward *Jenny Lubin (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown), *defender *Kelly
Mitchell (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape)* and midfielder *Katie Reuther (Toms
River, NJ/Toms River North)* each were selected.

Mitchell anchored TCNJ’s defense that allowed only one goal per game
this season and recorded 11 shutouts. She was previously honored as the
2007 New Jersey Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and was
tabbed All-NJAC First Team. Mitchell also chipped in with one goal and
assist.

Lubin and Reuther were also All-NJAC First Team honorees and were major
contributors at the offensive end of the field. Lubin finished with 11
goals and three assists with a team-leading four game-winning goals.
Reuther was second on the team in scoring with 35 points on 13 goals and
nine assists.

Senior *Sheri Grondski (Mercerville, NJ/Nottingham)* and freshman *Leigh
Mitchell (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape)* were also honored as they were
selected to the South Atlantic Region Second Team.

Grondski helped the Lions rank among the best defense teams in the
nation and was a key contributor on offense as well. She is tied for the
lead in the NJAC with 13 assists and added four goals for 21 points. She
is a three-time All-NJAC First Team honoree and also added a pair of
defensive saves.

Kelly Mitchell was named the 2007 NJAC Rookie of the Year and during the
course of the season was selected as the conference’s rookie of the week
on four occasions. She led the Lions in scoring with 16 goals and 36
points with three of those goals being game winners.

The Lions finished the season as the NJAC Champions sweeping their way
through conference play with a perfect 6-0 mark. TCNJ then advanced to
the NCAA Division III Regional Finals before seeing season come to a
close to finish the season with a 17-3 record.

-30-

 

It was with interest that I read the articles about the Gloucester City Fire Department and the dispute over \”Overtime.\”

During the 1940\’s and early 1950\’s there were several large industries located on Charles Street at the river. They caught fire frequently.

 

During that time my father was the Fire Chief of Gloucester City. He was a volunteer chief. A large bell was located on the side of our house. When the fire siren sounded, the bell rang out loud and clear.

 

Many times, I was awakened from a sound sleep by the alarm. I usually did not return to sleep, but spent the time praying that my father would return home safely. There were many times when he would be fighting the fire for several hours in the middle of the night. He would return home, get a little sleep, and then get up at about 4:30 a.m. to go to the market in Philadelphia where he purchased the fruits and vegetables that he would sell from door to door on his huckster route around town.

 

There were many weekends that I accompanied him on the fruit and vegetable truck. If the alarm sounded during the workday, he would secure the tailgate of the truck, and off we would go to the fire.

 

He was not paid for his efforts, but I believe that he enjoyed being a public servant. He was good at what he did. He taught fire school at Camden County Vocational, and some of you would remember how he directed the Monmouth Street school fire that almost took St. Mary\’s Church with it.

 

Each week, my father would make out a report about the number and circumstances of the fires that had occurred during that weekly period. These reports, I believe, were printed in the City Newspaper.

There used to be many false alarms because the alarm boxes were on the telephone poles, and many times an inebriated person would pull the alarm for fun. I can tell you that there were many Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners that my father left half-eaten because someone pulled in a false alarm.

There were only a few paid firemen at that time. They were there so they could drive the trucks. I remember being at Company number One on Bergen Street when an alarm was sounded. A couple of men who were sleeping slid down the pole from the second floor and jumped on the trucks.

What I would like to know is what do the firemen do when there are no fires? One can only spend so much time shining the trucks.

Have the communications systems been updated since the tragic fire that killed the three little girls and the three firemen?

Can Gloucester hear the Camden firemen, and the other local towns?

Can Gloucester talk to them on their radios without interference?

Are you ready for a disaster like a plane crash (lots of planes overhead in Gloucester), or a train derailment?

How many disaster drills do you have a year that include all the paid men as well as the volunteers?

Who is in charge when several fire companies come to fight a major fire in the Gloucester City area?

Do you still visit all the schools in town during Fire Prevention Week to discuss how to prevent and escape from a house fire?

Another item that interests many people is the salary. New Jersey Network stated that the average salary in New Jersey is $60,000 a year.

I am quite sure that most of the working men and women of Gloucester City do not make that much; otherwise, the school district would not be designated as an ABBOTT District.

My final questions to the city firemen are: Do you have a right to ask for a salary higher than what you are now receiving since most of the residents who are paying your salary are making less that the state average of $60,000?

Tell me how you can cut your budget so you can have your salary in line with the salaries of the people who are providing your paychecks?

Mary Klaus Ziegler, Glassboro