Residents from the Williams Valley and Tri-Valley school districts packed Gerry Stauffenberg Field at Viking Stadium in Tower City on Nov. 17 as the backyard rivalry now had a District 11 Class A championship on the line.
The Vikings defeated the Bulldogs 48-0 to capture the school's first District 11 Class A title, and the teams often meet in championship games.
"Probably every time we play them it is the biggest crowd of the year," Williams Valley athletic director Randy Russelavage said. "People from both areas have a lot in common and have been friends over the years."
About 2,500 paid spectators attended the District 11 title game, Russelavage said, noting that the regular season game between the schools bring about 1,500.
"It's just two small schools that have hard-working people and tight-knit communities that look forward to that game each year," Mike Kogut, Tri-Valley football coach and athletic director, said. "It's a friendly rivalry that has become part of each school's tradition."
The rivalry extends into the other programs at the schools, as they play each other in every sport. However, Williams Valley and Tri-Valley students also enjoy playing alongside each other on Legion baseball and travel teams.
"On the field and off the field, there are still great relationships between the kids and families," Kogut said. "I really do think there is a mutual respect there."
Russelavage agreed.
"It's just a real intense rivalry, but a rivalry with respect," he said. "The schools, the players, coaches and the fans have a lot of class and there is never any problems after the games, no matter the outcome. There's a lot of sportsmanship."
Russelavage said Tri-Valley showed the ultimate sign of respect before the teams' first meeting on Oct. 12 in Hegins. A moment of silence honored Gerald Stauffenberg, former Williams Valley head coach and assistant coach, who passed away two weeks earlier on Sept. 30 at the age of 74.
"That's about as classy as it gets, but I wouldn't expect any different from them," Russelavage said, noting that many Tri-Valley coaches also attended the funeral. "A lot of people in both valleys work together and are very close friends. I think that may be a big reason why they respect each other."
Although Williams Valley's Tower City and Tri-Valley's Hegins and Valley View have vastly different origins, they have similar history in being hardworking and tight-knit communities.
Attorney starts town
Tower City's name comes from its founder, Charlemagne Tower. According "Joseph H. Zerbey History of Pottsville & Schuylkill County" published 1934-35, the firm of Munson and Williams in Utica, N.Y., sent the New York lawyer to Schuyl-kill County in 1846 to settle land claims with large coal and mineral deposits.
Tower located his practice in Orwigsburg, the county seat at that time and moved the practice to Pottsville in 1850, shortly before the city became the new county seat. He remained there until 1875, during which time he secretly purchased and cleared liens to 8,000 acres containing large anthracite deposits as part of a scheme with Alfred Munson of Munson-Williams. This created an estate 65 miles by 4.5 miles in southwest Schuylkill County, according to the history. In return, Tower was to receive ownership of half of the land after Munson settled the cost or Tower paid him half the value of the total land purchase.
Tower made the purchases and conveyed the titles to legal dummies to hide the actual ownership. By 1858, Tower and Munson owned 11,000 acres and anyone with a partial claim to the land began to litigate. However, Tower's skill as a lawyer kept the whole enterprise together.
In 1868, Tower became the owner of the section of land in Williams Valley now called Tower City. After he was unable to find a buyer for the land, Tower instead decided to establish collieries on the land. He leased 1,503 acres in March 1868 to two independent coal companies for 15-year terms at 30 cents per ton of coal.
The companies placed two collieries on the land, the Brookside and the Tower, later known as East Brookside. A small town started to develop around the collieries and was identified as Tower City when first surveyed. Tower laid out the town and rented land to settlers.
With the railroad supplying the coal and manufacturing industries, Tower City boomed by the mid-1870s and was officially incorporated as a borough, separating it from Porter Township in 1893 after the Schuylkill County Clerk of Courts accepted the petition from 144 dissatisfied township residents.
Nearly 100 years later, a movement to reunite the two municipalities made its way to the primary election. According to Republican-Herald archives, Porter Township voters shot down the idea but Tower City voters approved the proposal to reorganize as Tower Township in 1995.
At that time, the borough had 1,700 residents and the township had 2,600. Had the proposal reached approval, Tower Township would have had a population of 4,300 and operated under a township government. The motive for the merger was economic benefit for both communities, according to the archives.
Education
An education system in Tower City began in 1868 when The Reformed and Lutheran Church conducted a church school in a one-room log cabin where St. John's Lutheran Church now stands. Schooling continued in similar one-room structures until the first high school was established in 1885. The first graduating class was in 1888.
Tower City is part of the Williams Valley School District that covers communities in both Schuylkill and Dauphin counties. It also includes the borough of Williamstown in Dauphin County as well as Schuylkill County's Porter Township and Dauphin County's Rush, Williams and Wiconisco townships. The district has one elementary school and a combined junior/senior high school near the Schuylkill/Dauphin border.
Tragedy befalls town
While mining flourished in Tower City's early years and continued over the years, tragedy struck the borough's mines within a decade after the borough's incorporation.
On Aug. 2, 1913, two explosions at the East Brookside Colliery killed 20 workers, injured two and entombed about 50 more. According to The Republican archives, dynamite detonated by accident was believed to have caused the first explosion. A second explosion occurred shortly after a rescue team went into the mine and was believed to have been caused by gas liberated by the dynamite.
Years later, on March 1, 1977, the borough endured the worst single mining disaster in Schuylkill County since 1943. According to The Pottsville Republican archives, nine men died in Kocher Coal Co.'s Porter Tunnel when the tunnel filled with water after workers broke into an abandoned mine. Three suffered injuries in the accident and one was trapped for a few hours before being rescued.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the map used by mine management was inaccurate. Management suspected that the tunnel was nearby and established a program drilling 26-foot-long test holes to probe for water, but workers testified that the practice stopped before the flood.
Famous face
Tower City isn't just home to mining and the Williams Valley Vikings, it's also near the birthplace of big band leader and composer Les Brown.
Born March 14, 1912, in Reinerton, Lester "Les" Raymond Brown was a son of Ray W. and Hattie Brown. An accomplished saxophonist, composer and band leader, he eventually formed the most well-known and successful big band, Les Brown and his Band of Renown. The group toured with Bob Hope and became a favorite with servicemen during USO trips from Korea to Vietnam.
Brown died in 2001. For the past six years, his native community has celebrated a Les Brown Weekend in honor of his legacy. This year, a Les Brown Centennial Weekend was held in March on what would have been his 100th birthday.
"I always tell my students that no matter where you come from, no matter how small a community, if you set your mind to it you can do it. Les Brown is the best example of that," Joel Guldin, Williams Valley Elementary band director and event organizer, said. "That is something we stress to the kids, not being famous but to set your mind to it and be successful."
Guldin said the annual weekend event is to make more people aware of Brown and where he came from. While most people in the community already know his story, Guldin said more people from out of the area come to the festival each year.
"There's a lot of support of Les' children, grandchildren and the rest of the family," Guldin said. "They are thrilled that we are keeping his name and music alive."
Guldin said Brown's music and the music of the valley, is also being preserved in the school.
"We celebrate the uniqueness of music in the valley," he said. "That's one of the things I try to stress in the music history courses I teach. It's something that is theirs. Nobody else has this. It's theirs and theirs alone."
Looking ahead to the weekend event in 2013, the event marks the 75th diamond anniversary of the formation of Les Brown and his Band of Renown. The festivities start March 22 with the Les Brown Dance at Kevin's Place, Lykens.
On March 23, the Les Brown Festival continues at Williams Valley High School with special guest Les Brown Jr., leader of the Band of Renown and host of The Music of Your Life radio network, and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, grandson of Les Brown Sr. and co-creator of Disney's "Phineas and Ferb." Performances will also feature The Moonlighters Big Band, Steve Rudolph, Williams Valley "Cool Blue" Jazz Band, Pine Grove Area Cardinals Middle School Jazz Band, Williams Valley Elementary Jazz and The Town of Renown Alumni Jazz Band.
The weekend will conclude with a non-denominational service featuring sacred jazz music by area musicians March 24 at a location to be announced.
Hegins Valley
Originally part of Lower Mahantongo Township in the early 1800s, the area now known as Hegins Township and Valley View's first settlers referred to it as "Das Schonen Rine Tal," or The Beautiful Pine Valley, according to the "Joseph H. Zerbey History of Pottsville & Schuylkill County."
While few records date back further than Schuylkill County's formation in 1811, scattered settlements appeared in the area by 1800 with German names like Otto, Diedrich, Klinger, Stutzman, Osman, Kuntzleman, Heberling and Dinger as land owners. Eventually, roads connected these scattered communities and they became a small farming community isolated from the rest of the county. Few stores existed, as residents produced all that they needed. Farming in the area produced wheat, corn, potatoes, fruit, dairy and poultry.
By 1820, the population of Lower Mahantongo Township was 837, with less than 300 living in the present area of Hegins Township.
In 1840, the southern part of Lower Mahantongo Township formed Porter Township, named after Schuylkill County's first President Judge, the Hon. Robert Porter. In 1853, the western part of Lower Mahantongo Township became Hubley Township.
What remained of Lower Mahantongo Township became Hegins Township in 1854, named for the Hon. Charles W. Hegins, Sunbury. Hegins was Schuylkill County's first elected Judge of the Courts. Prior an 1850 amendment, the judges were appointed.
The western part of Schuylkill's Foster Township was annexed to Hegins Township in 1858, bringing Hegins Township to 30 square miles along the county's border with Dauphin County.
The area in Hegins Township known as Valley View was originally called Osmantown for Joseph Osman, who owned a tavern there in 1827. The area was also called Germantown. The name was changed in 1874 to Valley View for the area's visibility from all parts of the valley.
Education evident
Early education in Hegins Township started in the 1800s in local churches. High school studies joined educational efforts in the 1900s. By 1911, seven independent schools existed in the rural area.
In 1917, the schools began consolidating, a process that ended in 1920 with Hegins Township High School. The first class to graduate under the new name was 1922.
The Tri-Valley School District now serves students in Eldred, Hegins, Hubley, Barry and Upper Mahantongo townships. Two elementary schools, Mahantongo Elementary in Klingerstown and Hegins-Hubley Township Elementary in Valley View, and a combined junior/senior high school in Valley View serve the district.
State rep native
State Rep. Mike Tobash, R-125, grew up in Hegins.
"I am proud to say that I have grown up there," he said.
Tobash has been a state representative for the 125th Legislative District since 2010. The district includes areas of Schuylkill and Berks counties. He ran against Democrat Tim Seip in November 2010 and Dennis Baylor of the No-Party of Pennsylvania.
Tobash now lives in Pottsville and is a Tri-Valley High School graduate. He obtained a degree in business administration management and marketing from Elizabethtown College. His family includes his wife, Amie, and daughters, Lexi and Mikaela.
Tobash said when he was delivering Thanksgiving meals in the valley last week, his daughter kept pointing out how beautiful the area is.
"When I drive through the Hegins Valley, I can always say how beautiful it has remained and continues to be a nice residential community," he said. "I certainly think it is a warm and friendly community with welcoming people."
Park place for many events
Hegins Township is home to Hegins Park, the site of myriad activities and festivities throughout the year.
Residents and those from surrounding communities come to the park for recreation and swimming during the summer. On the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, the park is the site of the Schuylkill County Wine Festival.
In its fourth year, the festival drew about 3,000 people Sept. 5, according to Republican-Herald archives, up from about 2,300 in 2011. Proceeds benefit the Hegins Park Association for maintenance of the park.
The wineries present at this year's event included Red Shale Winery, Hegins; Benigna's Creek Vineyard and Winery, Klingerstown; Long Trout Winery, Auburn; Stone Mountain Wine Cellars, Friedensburg; Shade Mountain Vineyards and Winery, Middleburg; Spyglass Ridge Winery, Sunbury; Armstrong Valley Vineyard and Winery, Halifax; Brookmere Winery and Vineyard Inn, Belleville; Stonekeep Meadery, Birdsboro, and Galen Glen Vineyards and Winery, Andreas. It has various food and craft vendors, live entertainment, wagon rides and table decorating with special prizes awarded.
September also brings the annual Hegins Craft Faire and features hundreds of craft vendors displaying and selling their wares. A variety of food is also available.
For decades, people had also flocked to Hegins Park on Labor Day for the annual Fred Coleman Memorial Pigeon Shoot. The event raised money for various local civic organizations and maintenance for the park.
Pennsylvania is the only state that still allows live pigeon shoots, and the annual event became highly publicized nationally in the 1990s. The Fund for Animals, a nonprofit organization based in California, started protesting the event in 1989.
The 65-year-old tradition was discontinued after the 1998 shoot as event organizers decided it was too expensive to defend lawsuits and pay state troopers to keep order among protestors during the shoots. However, pigeon shoots remain legal in the state, with the focus of animal activists now on events in neighboring Berks County.
Hegins Park now holds a community fair each Labor Day.