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We have been learning about Mike Lamfers, who grew up on a farm east of Amiret and later served with the Marines in Vietnam. He attended elementary school in Amiret and at St. Mary's School in Tracy before moving to Tracy High School for junior and senior high school.
"At that time the 7th through 12th grades were all in the same building and it was in downtown Tracy. I was looking forward to that, but it was a whole different ball game again because your classes were all in different rooms. It was a big adjustment. Also, there were a lot of people. When we graduated from Tracy in '65 I think we had close to one hundred kids in our class."
Mike described the high school building.
"It was an older building. It was three stories and there was a tunnel to the shop and mechanics class. That was always kind of neat. I also took ag classes out there. The gymnasium was part of the main building. It was a big gym. They had a stage where they had class plays and stuff. Then we had what they called the little gymnasium. That's where the wrestlers worked out. That was like a dungeon. They kept it warm for the people to lose weight for wrestling."
Mike made no bones about what influenced him tremendously during those junior and senior high years.
"One thing was getting into sports. I didn't get to start wrestling until either 8th or 9th grade, but I got to play football my 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. I enjoyed the competitiveness."
He explained the deal he made with his dad to participate in sports.
"My dad told me I could go out for either a fall sport or a spring sport. Well, football (Mike laughed) was my sport of choice. Jack Garrett was the track coach my junior and senior year. He sent me home with a college shot, which was heavier than the high school shot. You had to run in three meets to qualify for the District tournament. I talked Dad into letting me go in for three meets. I threw the shot, the discus, and -- of all things -- ran the 220. The only reason I did that was they had nobody else to put in there. I did that and my junior and senior year I placed 2nd in the District in the shot put."
Mike's strongest memories, though, involved playing football and wrestling for the Tracy Scrappers.
"We had a lot of good memories from football. I played on the line both ways. I played varsity my sophomore, junior, and senior years and also wrestled. My junior year we were undefeated in football. That was the year we beat Marshall 52-0. We had Gary Sanbo as our quarterback. He was an All-State quarterback and played college ball at Augustana in Sioux Falls. My senior year we were undefeated in wrestling. I made it to state two years wrestling at heavyweight, but never placed. So, my tournament career was kind of short."
Mike remembered the faculty who influenced him during those high school years.
"The ones who stood out were more for the athletic part than the academic part. (Mike laughed) Art Marbin was our junior high principal. Our football coach and history teacher was Leo Sebastian. Both were captains in the Marine Corps during WWII. They were quite an influence on my life. Chuck Prunty was my wrestling coach and then there was Bill Bolin."
But life was not all athletics. Mike received his driver's license and his dad made another deal with him.
"In the spring I had 7th hour study hall, but they'd let you go home and farm. Dad said he would buy me a car, if I'd come home and help. We went to town and I picked out this Pontiac GTO. Dad looked at it and said, 'Wow, that's really a nice car. Let's look around a little more.' So we go shopping around Salmon's and they've got this used '57 Ford. It's a six cylinder and had overdrive. Not at all what I was thinking about, (Mike chuckled) but it was wheels and got me back and forth."
Mike and his friends also encountered the railroad trestle over the Cottonwood River near Amiret in new ways.
"As we got a little older, we had some adventures there. Some of them were a little crazy. We walked across it. Later we let a little air out of the tires on a car and actually drove across the trestle. (Mike laughed) There were no guard rails. That was quite an experience. You had to get to a crossing to get off the tracks. You knew there were older kids who had done it, but this was something new for us. (Mike laughed again) I only did it once."
Mike explained his plans after high school graduation.
"My plan from sophomore year on was to join the Marine Corps. I had two friends from football; Wally Pagel and Ted Vershea. They both graduated in '63; joined the Marine Corps; and were with the first Marines that landed at Danang in '65. They both wrote and advised me not to join the Marine Corps. (Mike laughed) The more they advised me that, the more I wanted to join. So, I joined the Marine Corps in July of '65.
The Lyon County Museum's next Veterans Coffee is 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, for veterans of any armed service. Please join us for coffee, conversation, and camaraderie.