Cheerleaders: Anna Lee, Peggy and Dave

Much is being written about the integration of Williamsburg High School football players and coaching staff into the gridiron program at nearby Juniata Valley High. But, that jointure also affects Williamsburg’s cheerleaders and musicians.

Using historical precedent as a guide, they might benefit from studying the experience of Martinsburg and Morrison Cove High Schools, albeit without football being a consideration, since neither school hosted football.

In 1950, when Martinsburg High closed and formed a jointure with Morrison Cove High, the new school’s administration had a dilemma. How do you combine basketball, baseball and cheerleading squads of the two schools without dropping someone and causing hard feelings? Simple. You make every senior a varsity member of the athletic teams, regardless of skill, and make all the returning cheerleaders a member of the combined squad. By doing so the nominal MCHS cheerleading squad of six girls expanded to ten, equally divided, and consisted of Nancy Ebersole, Mary K. Kauffman, Anna Lee Over, Joyce Keiper, Audrey Teeter, Peggy Keiper, Shirley Metzler, Shirley Keiper, Doris Nixon and Peggy Replogle.

Cheerleading began in the late 1800s as a way for men to display leadership potential. It started as an all-male activity at elite colleges in the East. Hoisting a big megaphone to exhort one’s classmates to victory was a sign of high status, which might explain why Dwight Eisenhower and George W. Bush were cheerleaders. Locally, the late Frank Gazzara lead cheers at Claysburg, Will Ketner did the same at Roaring Spring, and our own Herald editor emeritus Dave Snyder at Replogle.

During WWII women replaced the men who went to war. As a result cheerleading lost status as a male activity and became associated almost exclusively with females. Today there are 3.8 million cheerleaders in the USA..

“You can learn a lot about American society through cheerleading,” says Washington State University professor Pamela Jean Bettis, co-author of “Cheerleader! An American Icon.” She thinks the activity changed for good in the late 1970s, going from graceful aerobic routines to those requiring gymnastics and tumbling ability. Bettis, by the way, was never a cheerleader, saying that she tried out for the squad in Churchland, Virginia, and “for unknown reasons” was not selected.

The musicians at Martinsburg High had a smooth transition into the Cove High program. Everyone was accommodated and the consolidated school’s band and orchestra benefitted from the added talent.

Possibly the most accomplished musician making the crossover was Martinsburg’s Carl Keim, a trumpet player who was named to numerous local band all-star groupings, marched in the Penn State Blue Band and had a distinguished career as a high school bandmaster.