The days of the Pep Club

Since the 1970s, girls have had almost an equal opportunity, with the boys, to participate in athletics, usually competing against other girls, but occasionally, in some of the smaller schools, as a member of the football, track, or wrestling team. It has certainly given opportunity to girls to compete for their schools, but it has come at a price. Girls' sports have revolutionized athletic budgets, by bringing in more coaches, updating facilities, and providing transportation to out of town games. Music teachers throughout the country despair that girls do not have time to practice their piano lessons after they begin participating in athletics, which begins at younger and younger ages -- thus they are not accomplished musicians by the time they enter high school. High school girls no longer accompany music groups, no young organists at churches, the school band has lower numbers, and there is no longer a Pep Club.

Today, cheerleaders are chosen to lead the entire crowd at games, to instill school spirit and encourage the team. The cheerleaders are wonderfully outfitted, and have practiced until they present their cheers in choreographed precision that would do a Broadway musical proud. But they do their cheers without the nucleus of that spirit group, which was made up almost entirely of girls, which used to be known as The Pep Club.

For many years one of the largest and most popular of the campus organizations, in both high schools and colleges, was the Pep Club, known by various names in the individual schools, names such as the Red Peppers in McCook High School, Lady Pirates in Plainview.

Belonging to the Pep Club was really a big deal. In the early years the organization was quite exclusive, and it was an honor to be chosen for membership. In McCook, in 1945 it was voted to expand the Club to 50 members, so that more girls would have a chance to belong. By 1948 the number had grown to more than 100. (At the same time the Girls' Athletic Association, which promoted intra-mural sports for girls, had 20 members.) Pep Club members were chosen on their school spirit, their grades, their appearance, and their dependability. A member had to be voted into the organization by all of the members. And once she was voted in she had to pass a period of probation to become a permanent member. If a member had more than 10 demerits (demerits were issued for poor grades, tardiness, dirty shoes, or being out of uniform, etc) she was voted out. In McCook, The Pep Club had a Pep Club Cabinet as well as officers. They ran a tight ship, and were responsible for a number of activities. The McCook Pep Club sponsored the Annual Color Day, with the crowning of the Football Sweetheart and the Man of the Year, a weekly snack bar, bake sales, rummage sales, and a banquet for the boys who participated in athletics.

But instilling school spirit was, of course, the main thrust of the Pep Club. They did this with their presence at the games. At the games, especially basketball games, the Pep Club sat in one section, exactly lined up in rows, one behind the other, dressed in sharp uniforms -- red skirts and sweaters with a white "M" for the members, red skirts, white sweaters with red "M" for the cheer leaders. All members wore white and red saddle shoes. They cheered when directed, exactly in unison, and kept their minds on the game. They also participated in parades and pep rallies before the games, which often included large bon fires.

Pep rallies, at the gym, included pep talks by the coach and some of the players, and skits, sometimes quite elaborate ones. One time, at Plainview, one of these skits almost led to the expulsion of some of the students.

In this skit it was imagined that each of the schools in the conference tried to pick up the Conference Championship Trophy, but one after another failed to do so. Then the Plainview Pirate (the mascot) lifted the trophy with ease and walked off the stage to thunderous applause.

It was a lovely idea, and the Pep Club girls enlisted the boys in "Shop Class" to help them with their props. The boys were happy to oblige. They came up with a fine looking trophy, almost 6 feet tall, made out of cardboard boxes. They painted it a nice gold color and it looked as if it were worthy to put in the trophy case. That part was well and good. And the boys were more than willing to bring it over to the gym and set it up in the center of the stage awaiting the skit in the afternoon. But, as boys are sometimes wont to do, they thought it would be funny if they smeared the bottom of the "trophy" with shop glue before they set it in place.

The skit went off well. Each of the conference teams, as portrayed by a Pep Club girl, "tugged and tugged" on the trophy, but it wouldn't budge. Finally, the girl representing Plainview came over and tried to pick it up, easily, as the script called for. She tried again, and again. No luck. With a mighty heave she succeeded in tearing the top off the trophy, but the base never moved. Instead of thunderous applause, the gym exploded with laughter. The Pep Club sponsor exploded with rage. Finally someone dropped the curtain, ending the fiasco.

In the golden age of Pep Clubs card sections were common at University games. In the card section each seat bore a stack of numbered cards of various colors. At a signal, everyone raised card No. 1 over his head, and so on through the stack. The result was that the hundreds of individual cards portrayed a colorful scene or spelled out a message, visible to the fans on the other side of the field. This was considered quite a spectacular feat in its day.

The cheers that came from the Pep Clubs in those days were sometimes imaginative, sometimes crude, and sometimes totally politically incorrect, by today's standards. For instance:

This popular yell ended with the cheerleaders making a quick twirl of their full skirts,

Big Apple, Little apple, Susie Q

Come on boys, Truck on through!

After a touchdown,

Two, Four, Six, Eight, Who do we appreciate?

Team, Team, Team! Or Riggety Raggety Russ, We're not allowed to cuss,

But nevertheless, we must confess,

There's nothing the matter with us! Or Don't give 'em roses, Give 'em bloody noses!

From McCook High School in the 40s,

N----- N----- Whole potater, Half Past alligator

Boom Boom Boomagator, Chicka who dah

MackCook High School Rah Rah Rah!

From McCook Junior College in the '40s,

MCJC Better than the rest, MCJC Do your best

Booma Lacka Booma Lacka, Bow Wow Wow

Chicka Lacka Chicka Lacka, Chow chow chow

Booma Lacka Chicka Lacka, Who are we? We're the squaws From MJC! Reminders of Days Gone By. Good fun at the time, but perhaps better left as relics of the past.