There are those who would tell you that you can’t go home again; that what’s gone is gone. And that past glories, now faded with time, can never be recaptured.
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However, they never bothered to tell that to the ’66 Michigan City Elston team members who showed up at the LaPorte County Family YMCA on Wednesday night, to square off against their historic rivals, the LaPorte Slicers.
The Red Devil gymnasium was packed nearly full, as family and friends came out to watch and cheer on their favorite team.
What started out as a friendly re-visiting of old times quickly became a heated competition, as the exhibition game sharpened the competitive edge of the veteran players who took to the court.
Half-time saw a special visit from Al Whitlow, assistant coach on the 1966 Championship team, who gave a brief speech, then led the crowd in a rousing cheer for the players.
Michigan City was the first to put points up on the board, but the Slicers were quick to answer, with a series of shots that put them up over their rivals, propelling them to a lead which they would cling to until the final buzzer sounded the end to the match, with LaPorte winning over Michigan City, 50-40.
After the game was done and the boards were cleared, we had a chance to catch up with Cindy Berchem, Executive Director of the LaPorte County YMCA and one of the board members who worked so hard to put tonight’s game together.
“We organized this event as a fund raiser, to help support our scholarship fund,” said Berchem. “Since this is the 50th anniversary of the Red Devil championship year, we felt it would be a great idea to revisit the old rivalry between these two teams, to bring some people into the building and to show them what we’ve been working so hard to achieve since we moved into the new facility here. It was really wonderful to see these players come out here tonight – some of them even wearing their old letterman jackets from the 70s – and pick up the ball and play the way they did. It was really just an amazing thing and we’re just so glad that everything came together so well.”
The scholarship fund, Berchem told us, is a fund that ensures that no one who wants to join the YMCA is turned away due to an inability to pay. The fund was created to help offset the cost of membership, allowing everyone the chance to join and become a member here.
“The guys really played hard here tonight,” said Berchem. “It was a great evening and an amazing game. We had some really good players here tonight, and they really played an intense game.”