Old Cove Gyms Still Revered

Late last year Don Appleman of Williamsburg sprang into action when it was determined by his local school board that the “old high school gym” would be reconfigured to serve as a dining facility and to accommodate other school functions.

He offered to buy the two basketball hoops that hang in the gym and have them moved and preserved in some other venue in the community, perhaps the town counsel’s building. Appleman has an acute appreciation for history and doesn’t want the memory of so many athletic achievements made in that gym, and thru those baskets, lost in the fog of time.

The old gym was built in the late 1930s and was the home floor for the Blue Pirates until a new court was inaugurated. The old gym’s finest hour may have been during the 1957-58 season when the team won its first state title.

It was also the home for numerous Juniata Valley League championships that Williamsburg High garnered thru the years. Appleman has a special reason for remembering the hoops. He poured many field goals thru them enroute to becoming the leading scorer in Blair County before graduating in 1962.

There are other “old gyms” in the Cove area, built in the 1930s, that still exist today, but are no longer used for basketball. In addition to Williamsburg, gyms at Roaring Spring and Bean Hill (Morrison Cove High) still stand. All, except Roaring Spring, were built as depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects. The Roaring Spring gym was a community endeavor.

The former school/gym at Smith High School is remembered in a memorial near its original location.

Today, the gym at Bean Hill is used by Central High School as a practice facility for several sports. At Roaring Spring, the nearby American Legion post took responsibility for the gym and had it refurbished to its former luster.

The small gyms amplified the crowd noise, making it almost unbearable to same ears. The late Grace Hall of Williamsburg loved watching her son Galen play, but found her head throbbing from the cheering at the end of the home games. Cove High’s Coach Frank Moore remembered the demeanor of the gym crowds around the Juniata Valley league.

“In spite of our intense rivalry with Roaring Spring, it was fun coaching there. The fans, although partisan, were friendly. Not so at Bellwood, which could have some pretty unruly crowds.”

I have my own personal memories of playing on the old basketball courts in our area. The American Legion at Roaring Spring gave me access to the old gym, where I played on visiting Cove High teams for four high school years, never winning a single game there. Bummer.

At the old Cove High gym I recently stood at various spots on the court, looked at the same hoops of my playing days, and fantasied about sinking shot after shot. Bliss.