By Bob Davis
For The Tribune
That rustling sound you have been hearing recently might not have been the leaves of fall, but rather the sound of the turning of the last closing pages of a chapter in our Trussville history and the turning of the first pages of a new chapter.
The new Hewitt-Trussville Stadium has been opened and is now writing its own history. Jack Wood Stadium has gone dark and will soon succumb to the wrecking ball.
While thinking back and remembering what this stadium has meant to our community, county, state, country and the world, I am reminded of a quote from almost 100 years ago by Douglas MacArthur when he was the superintendent at West Point. He had this posted on the gymnasium: “On the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other days and other fields will bear the fruits of victory.”
When those “other fields” are taken to mean athletic fields, we have had Huskies who have played here, win at the highest levels on other fields. One former Husky played on a team that won a Division II national championship. Another Husky played on an SEC Championship team that was undefeated and won a split national championship. He was named an All-American and drafted by an NFL team. A former Husky quarterback was on a World Series team in baseball. A former Husky quarterbacked his team to a Division I national championship and played in the NFL. One former Husky with his NFL team won two Super Bowls.
Former Huskies who have gone on to play football at colleges, universities and academies across the country are too numerous to list. There have been former Huskies who have coached with great success at different levels.
When those “other fields” are taken to mean battlefields, former Huskies who toiled and learned life lessons in this stadium served with distinction in every war, in battlefields all around the globe, from the Korean War on. Some didn’t survive. We will forever be indebted to them. There are parallels that can be drawn between football and war. Casualties are counted as either death or injury. Huskies have been victims of death and injury on the football field and the battlefield. A Husky in the Class of 1969 died from a head injury sustained in football practice. Others on the football field and battlefield have sustained injuries that they have carried throughout their lives.
Besides football players, this field in this stadium has been a training ground for marching band members color guard, majorettes, drum majors, cheerleaders, high steppers, managers, coaches, track and field athletes, officials and baseball players. Yes, Hewitt played baseball on this field in the 1950s and early 1960s. Home plate was located close to the Cherokee Drive intersection with Parkway Drive.
The stadium has hosted many other events throughout the years, such as cancer society relays; Special Olympics; remote control airplane air shows at Dog Daze; Cow Chip Bingo; powder puff football games; rodeos; and of course graduation ceremonies, where thousands of high school diplomas have been awarded to graduates from all over northeast Jefferson County.
This stadium has been a fixture in the community since it was built shortly after World War II. It will be sorely missed. The population of Trussville has grown over tenfold since the stadium was built, and an upgrade to the facilities after all these years was inevitable. Even though the price tag of the new stadium caused some initial sticker shock, if it will serve us for 65 years as well as Jack Wood Stadium has for the last 65, then it will be the best money we ever spent.
Nothing can unite a community like a high school football stadium. What adolescent boy growing up in small town Alabama didn’t attend a Friday night high school football game to see his first heroes and dream of scoring the winning points for the home team? Or make a game-saving tackle when he was old enough to take the field? What young girl who attended a game and reveled in the pageantry didn’t dream of growing up and being one of the beautiful high steppers, majorettes or cheerleaders? This is who we are and what we do.
R.I.P. Jack Wood Stadium and thanks for the memories.