Gorin's Timepiece

As the final sixty-seconds ticked away each quarter, the eyes of the players and spectators would surprisingly gaze up towards the scoreboard in the old Gorin, Mo. high school gymnasium.  It was hard not to stare up at the old scoreboard clock as it beamed bright red and only when the buzzer sounded did the glow fade and everyone's attention would be directed back to the game.  At least that is how I saw it those many years ago as a fourth grader.

When I first began to play organized basketball in 1986, our Kahoka traveling team played many games in Gorin's gym. The gym was home to Gorin High School basketball until 1982, when the high school closed and its students attended Scotland County R-1 Junior - Senior High School. The gym, now the elementary school gym, is unique due to a variety of reasons. It has elevated bleachers on its west side and a stage within the east wall. The barrel roof also dates it, as well as having to pull a string that lights a bulb at the raised score table so the official scorekeeper and scoreboard operator know there is a player checking-in below.


Old Elementary School and Gym

Although the gym's blueprints are similar to other small community gyms in Northeast Missouri, the unique feature that I came to appreciate and enjoyed seeing over the years was the vintage scoreboard that hung in the gym’s southeast corner.  It was a rarity and one that I would not forget over time.

The vintage scoreboard was much different than the modern electrical scoreboards that were fixtures in most gyms at that time and still today. This one had a white clock face that contained the numbers 8 through 1, representing the minutes of each quarter.  It would turn bright red during the final minute of each quarter as a beacon to each team that time was running out. Occasionally the clock hands would confuse a player to how much time was left.  I think most kids focused on the clock's red face or the minute hand and not on the second hand.  As a result, a player would shoot the ball a handful of seconds before they intended to.  It even happened to our team once.



Gorin's vintage scoreboard clock

In the short time I had played organized basketball, I had never seen another like it. Time has passed since that day, but no other piece of local basketball had intrigued me more as a kid. My last grade school traveling team game played in Gorin would come in 1990, and it would be over a decade until I would see its familiar face once again.







Close-up of the old scoreboard clock

After returning to my hometown in 2003 following college graduation and conclusion of an internship, I had a conversation with a friend who had recently hung a vintage scoreboard in his basement.  While he was telling me where he found it, my thoughts quickly drifted back to the old Gorin scoreboard. What happened to it?  Was it still being used?  If not, where was it? 

I liked the idea that my friend was hanging his own vintage timepiece in his man cave as a decorative or conversational piece but I recall my thoughts being more concentrated on preservation. I had a personal connection with the Gorin scoreboard since it was used during my first ever organized traveling team game. 

You may delay, but time will not. - Benjamin Franklin

Many times, schools throw away old equipment to make room for new since they don't have the storage capabilities.  I didn't like the fact that something that was a rooted part of the game for so many years could easily be tossed.  It should be preserved or restored and proudly displayed.  Over the course of time, a vintage item may get lost, misplaced, thrown away, damaged or become inoperative. As a result, my curiosity got the best of me. I had to make a call.

Front of the old Gorin Elementary School

A few days later, I was on the phone with the Gorin elementary school to inquire about the old scoreboard.  We knew that a modern scoreboard had replaced the older one in the early 1990s since my father remembered seeing a new model hanging on the wall when he took his Luray Jr. High teams to Gorin to play basketball. 

But what had happened to it since? 

I was thrilled to learn that the vintage scoreboard was still in the elementary school's possession.  It's condition was now the lingering question.  We traveled the twenty miles west to Gorin to talk about the old scoreboard.  When we asked where it was, my father and I were led out to a small white storage shed next to the school.  When they opened the doors, there set the old scoreboard leaned up against the left wall as we entered. Having been exposed to weather elements, the scoreboard was covered in dust and the clock face may have had a small tear and a few dents in it.  A portion of it was covered with other accumulated materials and equipment so it was hard to tell its overall condition. The scoreboard needed to be removed before the weather, small animals, etc. ruined the old parts that would be extremely difficult to replace today.





The old Gorin scoreboard was stored inside this building for many years

After we examined it, we asked the principal if the school would consider selling it.  She didn’t think it would hurt if we just wanted to take it since it was just collecting dust, taking up room in the small storage shed and not it the best of conditions. We recommended that she speak to the school board first about our request to buy it.  We just didn't feel right taking it since it is a part of the school's history.

Within a few weeks we were told that upon discussion, the school board felt that it should go to auction so everyone had an opportunity to buy it.  We agreed, but I knew then that I didn't have a chance to own it.

Gorin is the Home of the Bulldogs

Lost time is never found again - Benjamin Franklin

As I launched this blog about the basketball hidden gems that our family have come acrossed over the years, my thoughts would once again drift towards the old scoreboard.  Last July, almost a decade after the auction, we decided to contact the owner, Jim McQuoid, to see if we could stop by, see it and take some pictures.

When we arrived, he pointed to a barn that stood a very short distance from his residence. In the back of the barn, secured against the side set the scoreboard.  Jim had mentioned on the phone a few days earlier that it hadn't been restored yet.  I had looked forward to getting a close look at it since I was used to looking at it from afar growing up.



Gorin's scoreboard years later

Over time, many of the light bulbs had been damaged or lost when it was owned by the Gorin elementary school but Jim had tried to replace them over the years. Although the "Home" and "Visitor" name plates are missing, he plans to replace them with "Gorin" and "Memphis" nameplates someday as a way to remember the basketball glory days and the county rilvary between the two schools. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate any manufacturer plate with a name or date on the scoreboard. This would have aided in learning when it was built and by whom although this model looks similar to the scoreboards built by Naden Industries, Inc. of Webster City, Iowa, which was established in 1933.

After we examined the scoreboard over for a few minutes and got some of our questions answered, our conversation shifted to his memories of the scoreboard and Gorin basketball.  



We immediately began to talk about the once basketball rivalry between Gorin and Memphis High Schools.  Jim's eyes lit up regarding this subject.  Before Gorin High School closed in 1982 and students began to attend Scotland County R-1 Junior - Senior High School (formerly Memphis High School), these two schools had a heated rilvary since they were in the same county in northeast Missouri.  Jim remembered many of the hard fought games because he too had played in Gorin's gym in the late 1950s and in 1960.

I would learn that Jim attended Memphis High School and had played in those competitive games.  His son had played elementary school basketball for Gorin in the 1990s so his family had a connection to the scoreboard, much more than I did. He had purchased the scoreboard for his son to hang in his basement once he graduated and had a place of his own. Although the scoreboard is stored in their barn, it will be restored and displayed one day.

While my father and I traveled back to Kahoka, I mentioned that I was thrilled that the scoreboard had found a home.  I was also content that I would not own this piece of local basketball history.  After we talked to Jim about how much basketball meant to the Gorin community before the high school closed, I realized that one of the only mementos remaining from that era, meant much more to Jim and his family since they had much deeper ties to it.

As Jim's face had glowed when we began to talk about the days of old and the basketball rilvary that once graced the Scotland County countryside, I began to look forward to my next visit, when I would see the familar scoreboard once again. Maybe then, its clock face will too glow bright red.


A familiar face