Brookville’s football team will mark the 60th anniversary of its program prior to the start of tonight’s game against Rustburg, with eight players from that year’s team and eight of the program’s 12 head coaches expected to be on hand.
In addition, five principals, including Jim Whorley, who has served in that capacity since 1994 after coaching the Bees from 1972-79, will be introduced starting at 7 p.m., following a reception for all of the former players and coaches at 6.
Rudy Stinnett, father of Brookville bookkeeper Pam Stinnett, and Harold “Dolly” Johnson, the two captains for the inaugural 1948 team that went 2-5, will be honored along with teammates Herman Garbee, Rudy Garbee, Walker Hill, Austin Salmon, Ed Maddox and Layton Wood, who scored the school’s first touchdown in its first win, over Robert E. Lee of Bedford. Bobby Torian, the manager of that team, also will be there.
Coaches planning to come include John “Bunker” Hill (1963-69), who still teaches driver’s education at the school, Whorley, Kenny Alderman (1987-89), Kenny Higgins (1990-92), Mark Lineburg (1992-96) and Robert Johnson (1998-2001), who guided the Bees to their only state title in 1999. Eddie Martin, who coached from 1979-86 and is now deceased, will be represented by his son, Sid.
The only ones who won’t be in attendance are inaugural coach Winston Milem (1948-49), who died this past year, Bill Kidd (1950-52), Lloyd Goode (1970-71) and Glenn Jenkins (2002-04), who was succeeded by current coach Jeff Woody.
“It’s always inspirational when you’ve got great history coming back to see you play ball,” Woody said. “It’s good to recognize and honor the former teams in our program. We need to learn from our past.”
The 1948 team, which wore leather helmets, could learn a few things from watching the contemporary Bees, ranked No. 1 by The Associated Press among Group AA teams in the state, as they take on the Campbell County rival Red Devils.
“The program had a meager beginning,” Woody said, noting besides the win over the team from Bedford, the Bees’ only other victory in their inaugural season came against Amherst.
Next year will be the 10th anniversary of the team’s first state title, under Johnson, and the year after that will be the 15th anniversary of its third state final appearance, when Woody was a senior in 1996. This is also the 35th anniversary of the first state title showing in 1973.
“It should be a festive occasion,” Woody said of tonight’s ceremonies. “I hope the rain doesn’t kill it.”
Many former Bees players and coaches still attend games on a regular basis anyway.
“A lot of our fan base is made up of ex-players and guys that have been around the program,” said Woody, who still holds receiving records at Brookville and went on to star at Hampden-Sydney. “Brookville football here is something special, and when you leave here having played football, you take memories for the rest of your life.”
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