St. Elmo Celebrating 75th Anniversary Friday

During Senior Night festivities at St. Elmo/Brownstown Friday evening, there will be another celebration. It was 75 years ago on February 17 that the first game was played in St. Elmo's Gymnasium.

That first contest, on February 17, 1942, saw St. Elmo High School host Shelbyville with Shelbyville prevailing 56-33.

A special observance is planned as part of the broader celebration of Senior Night.

National Trail Conference historian Kurt Becker came up with interesting facts that occurred in this gymnasium.

QUICK FACTS -- 75th ANNIVERSARY OF ST. ELMO HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM
 
-- First game: Feb. 17, 1942, resulting in 56-33 loss to Shelbyville before a crowd of 1,100

-- St. Elmo’s center, a lad by the surname of “Jenkins,” scored the first field goal in the game

-- Shelbyville principal G. W. Bedell addressed the crowd prior to tipoff and spoke of the honor of playing in the first game in St. Elmo’s new gym

-- Shelbyville was hand-picked as the opponent because Shelbyville coach Dave Anderson had been a classmate of St. Elmo coach Bill Lenich at the University of Illinois
 
-- Cost to build gymnasium: $20,000

-- Total cost to build school (gym included): $175,000

-- Reason for new construction: Influx of students from Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas, due to Fayette County oil boom, boosting enrollment from approximately 100 students to 170; by 1945, enrollment had surpassed 200

-- Oil corporations invested in the area which enhanced the St. Elmo tax base: Owensboro Corp., Allied Oil Co., and Carter Oil Co.
 
NOTE: The new school building and gym were originally scheduled to open in the fall of 1941, but a fire on July 31 of that year caused $100,000 in damage. A “heavy brick wall and a favorable wind” were credited with sparing the gym, according to local media reports. Cause of fire was attributed to “excelsior, removed from newly purchased furnishings, being draped across exposed electrical wiring.” The gym was thus used as a classroom facility until the damage to the rest of the building could be repaired.  
 
MEMORABLE PERFORMANCES/MILESTONES IN THIS GYM

-- St. Elmo won its first National Trail Conference Tournament championship here, in December of 1942

-- St. Elmo went unbeaten at home in 1944-45 as part of a 27-3 campaign overall and a 14-0 slate in the National Trail Conference

-- Bob Olson, future Eastern Illinois University MVP, led that 1944-45 squad in scoring and tallied 45 points in a game in the gym against Neoga on Jan. 23, 1945 -- which happened to be his 17th birthday

-- The late Gary Shirley, an IBCA Hall of Fame coach, realized a milestone on Dec. 20, 2008, when his South Central squad defeated Beecher City in the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament and gave Shirley his 500th win

-- This gym has been host to IHSA boys’ basketball regionals on 28 occasions, with St. Elmo (1988) and Nokomis (2013) both using championship victories as a springboard to the Final Four

-- Ramsey (1942), Altamont (1947), Brownstown (1949), and Patoka (1974) each notched their first regional titles in this gym

-- Vandalia has won 13 of its 28 regional championships in this gymnasium

-- This gym has been host to one of the oldest holiday tournaments in Fayette and adjoining counties, with the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament having recently completed its 57th season  
 
COMPLETE LIST OF IHSA BOYS’ BASKETBALL REGIONAL CHAMPIONS IN THIS GYMNASIUM
 
1942 Ramsey
1944  Vandalia
1946 Vandalia
1947  Altamont
1948  Vandalia
1949 Brownstown
1950 Vandalia
1954 Vandalia
1972 Vandalia
1974 Patoka
1975 Vandalia
1979 Vandalia
1981 Vandalia
1983 Vandalia
1985 Vandalia
1987 Kinmundy-Alma
1988 St. Elmo
1989 Patoka
1990 Vandalia
1991 Vandalia
1992 St. Elmo
1994 Brownstown
1996 South Central
2004 South Central
2009 Altamont
2011 St. Elmo
2013 Nokomis
2016 Patoka
 
NOTE: In addition to current St. Elmo High School faculty and staff, others who may be willing to share memories of games played in this gym include —

-- Current Charleston CUSD 1 Superintendent Jim Littleford, who scored 36 points for Vandalia in a 1972 regional championship in this gym

-- Current Patoka High School assistant coach Scott Cain, who scored 42 points in this gym in a 1989 regional semifinal game

-- Former Farina LaGrove and Mulberry Grove coach Tom Jackson, who coached some memorable games in this gym in both the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament and in postseason play. (Jackson, who can be reached by inquiring at the Mulberry Grove school offices, might also be able to put you in contact with Steve Soldner, who played for Jackson at LaGrove before becoming captain of a Big Eight championship team at Kansas State)