Can't imagine

There are a lot of things that go through one’s mind when you hear about the destruction of a relic or part of a community. I had a lot of feelings that went through my mind when I saw pictures of the Almira School fire that happened last week. If you’ve never been in the building then maybe it doesn’t have as much of an effect.

The one thing I remember most about Almira High School’s gym is that it was the only gym in the Bi-County that I never played in. Was it that big of a deal? Well to me it was. I often wondered what other teams had for facilities and if I wished that it was a place I wanted to play in a lot.

There are real good reasons why we never played Almira on their home court. When I was a freshman we were an ‘A’ school and played in the Northeast ‘A’ League. My sophomore year we were ‘B’ school playing in the Bi-County and Almira came to Ritzville to play us.

My junior season was the winter of 1968-69 which was cold and miserable with a lot of snow in eastern Washington. The terminology of global warming hadn’t been a part of our everyday language but if you asked any one of us how we felt about it we would have said we would have been in favor of it. Extended periods of below zero temperatures and tons of snow was not a lot of fun for even the craziest of winter lovers.

I do remember on a Saturday afternoon in January when we me at the gym to take the road trip to Almira. The bus showed up but as we got on the bus our coaches said the game had been cancelled so you can go home. I think there must have been drifting roads in Lincoln County. Since we were and independent ‘A’ team playing in the Bi-County (BC) that game would never be made up.

As a senior we were again a ‘B’ school. They made a change and added a classification and how students would be counted for enrollments. All I know is that I was happy to be back playing in the good old Bi-County where you knew your opponent and their players.

So the schedule was basically the same as it was when we were sophomores and we played Almira in Ritzville in January of 1970. It was nice playing at home but I always wondered what the Almira gym looked like.

About 20 years later I went to Almira to scout a basketball game and that was the first time I saw the inside. I’m not sure how I felt about it and it probably doesn’t matter anyway. I just would have liked to have played there so I could say I played in all of the BC gyms.

As a middle school coach for Lind-Ritzville-Lamont (LRL) I’ve been in that building four times the last time was in June when our C-19 belated season took place. It was a memorable game against ACH because it was 97 degrees outside and not much cooler than that inside since the electric fans weren’t really taking care of business.

We had good success playing in the old gym winning 3 out of four games that we played there. I shouldn’t call the gym old since I found out last week that the Almira School was rebuilt in 1952 the same year I was born.

I’m really not sure how I found out about the fire but when I looked at the photos that were posted on Facebook and the Spokane news sites I felt really bad for the people of Almira and the area.

After one of our games about 4 years ago they had a fund raiser baked potato dinner. The few kids that rode the bus home that night dined with me in the Almira School cafeteria. It wasn’t that big of a deal then but having had the opportunity to walk through the halls of that school it is now an important moment. The kids attending school there had an identity and a sense of community. Schools have an important place in any community and once you lose it often times the community is lost as well.

I hope that a new school can rise above those ashes and as soon as possible. I can’t imagine how devastating the loss of this relic has been to the fine people of Almira.