Unforgettable
Characters I Have Known When
I transferred to Moorehead State College back in 1960, I lucked into
meeting a truly unforgettable character, George Gloege. He looks a lot
like Adam Sandler and comes from that well-known family in Glenwood
that owned Gloege Chevrolet, a very popular place to buy a Chevy. Most
of his brothers worked at the business, but George, true to his nature,
had other plans: designing and owning a golf course topped his bucket
list, but fate had other plans fore George. Well
on a lucky day early in fall quarter, I happened into Comstock Memorial
Union and who should I see entertaining a captivated lunch time audience
but George, telling the group about his adventures in trying to shoot
a deer with a bow and arrow. He told of crouching under a pucker brush
bush in a swamp near Glenwood, watching a trail leading out of the swamp.
Soon, along came a fine buck; but George hadn't taken into account that
it is impossible to lift up a longbow to shoot an arrow into a deer
when one is crouched under a pucker brush bush. So with the deer standing
in a perfect position for a heart shot, George was only able to pull
the bowstring back about ten inches. He launched his arrow which made
a feeble arch and planted itself in a log directly under the buck's
legs. The buck looked down just in time to see George's arrow lever
itself down an inch at a time and then lie harmlessly on the ground.
The deer looked at it quizzically, then gave a snort of contempt and
began to walk away. Undaunted, George leaped up and sent another arrow
into a bough a foot above the deer's head. The deer looked up at it,
looked at George, snorted, and sauntered off. George's conclusion? “Never
try to shoot a deer sideways from under a pucker brush bush. Anyhow,
George had this talent of being able to tell a story so fantastically
that he would have his audience rolling with laughter in no time at
all. The upshot of all this was that both George and I found ourselves
teaching at NDSSS back in the mid-sixties. George had spent a year teaching
in Williams, Minnesota. In the largest wood frame school house in North
America. And at a party George told about this eccentric superintendent
who had this obsession about saving money by utilizing government surplus
items he could get dirt cheap. He finagled George into the job of coaching
the basketball team, which hadn't won a game for 15 years. Instead of
drapes or curtains Superintendent Baumgartner, had all the gymnasium's
windows covered with parachutes. During practice George noticed that
the whole team had been issued ugly olive green tennis shoes, and many
of his best players had a heck of a time running in a straight line.
They all tended to veer off to the left. Come to find out, all the shoes
Baumgartner had ordered were for the right foot, and they made weird
crescent moon black streaks all over the floor. No lie, I have George's
word on it. But
George nearly became a legend for what happened in the first game of
the season against their arch enemies the Baudette Hocky Pucks. At half
time the game was tied, and the fans were going crazy, and the second
half was going the same way—nip and tuck. Then, with two seconds
to go George's best player launched a desperation shot. While the ball
was in the air the buzzer sounded, but the shot was good. George leaped
off the bench, ran out on the floor and began hugging and dancing with
the hero. “I knew you could do it; we're finally winners!”
“But coach Gloege, this is just the end of the third quarter.”
said the shooter. Gene
Pinkney 2/27/20 For the Daily News
He'll spread the word and in no time the whole herd will treat you with
contempt.
Well, George slunk back to the
bench. But his grand gesture had struck a note of victory The team went
on to win by ten points. Its first win in the memory of most of the
kids in the stands. Then Baumgartner came running over, slapped George
on the back and said,”Great job, Gloege; I knew it was the coaching.”
Well that was George's crowning achievement as a B-Ball Coach; they
never won another game all the rest of the season. Well, George taught
Government at Science for a year and then went on to pursue his dream
Gloege's Crow Wing Canoe Outfitters out of Nimrod Minnesota. Today,
the place has a golf course that George designed himself. We've been
there often—always a hoot and a joy.
edited html update 08-15-2021