I remember the first time I went to a football game at Watkins Field. I was in the fourth grade at Dora Elementary. It was a Friday night in September…..we never started back to school until September…and we had to park down the road and walk. As I we approached the field, the lights were as bright as day and I could hear the cadence of the drum squad and my heart raced with excitement. I could smell popcorn and cotton candy. I ate so many hotdogs that Oscar Meyer had to put on a shift of overtime to catch up. Blue and Gold banners and crepe paper hung from fences and goalposts
But that facade pictured above looked as big as the Parthenon.
I was in awe. As the game started, I didn’t know a lot about football, but I knew that we were supposed to beat the crap out of Cordova….Which we did that year.
That stadium was packed and I recall seeing people in trees outside the fence. Times were tough then and even though it only cost a quarter (I think), there were those who could not afford admission.
The event was like a carnival and it instilled a love for Dora High School Football and indeed football in general. But as I stood in front of Watkins Field this week shooting this photo, the stadium looks so small. The field is now being used as a soccer stadium……I had never even heard of soccer until the Olympics in Atlanta.
One of our out of state alumni sent me a note last week asking if the Watkins Field was still there. I will say that yes, it’s there, but not as big as I remembered.