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HomeMy Public PortalAboutLong Pin Conservation LeagueReflections Star-News March 16, 1983. The anwer to the Long Pin riddle - by Randall Brooks th rn railway along which the quite a train. I've heard some A piece of historical trivia has four towns were located. stories ' that the people used to bothered me ever since I started` At one time, the P.I.N. railroad have quite a time on those trains. writing the sports page lfor The Y had dream$ of a line from Canada But there were always two teams Sfar -News last year. The question. to Mexico, with New Meadows as at hodie and two on the train. I ,been.; asked of me several a divisional railhead before The Long Valley and PIN hit . Why the Long Pin f.eague? does Long Pin mean? High school" sports have been a part of community life in the area ` New Meadow 4ounci Cambridge and sur'roundi g_McCall for nearly as � � lon as- there have been high , 7 _ Maiale orim' ed the p��'t , ne. named �schodls: It began with school - f ';t a s -such as the Cascade :- =' Rambler_ s taking on t4xi teams e after the Pacific Idaho Northern railway like the one in Hoseberry in the early 1920s. along which the four towns were located. The competition, mainly, ' basketball, flourished and soon what was then called the Long Valley League had a regular heading downriver in either direc- leagues, according to Campbell, schedule beween the Ramblers, tion. The train never got any far - merged in the mid -19?0s while he the Donnelly Pirates and the Vik- ther than New Meadows. was going to high school in New ings of McCall. Even the "Vikin- "They used to .change the Meadows. That brought Cascade, ettes" had a regular schedule in schedule of the trains to carry the Donnelly, McCall, New Meadows, the early 1920s. teams and people to games ", said Council, Cambridge and Midvale While the Ramblers were, busy X l ampbell, who went to New together to form the original Long playing games at Hurd's Hall, the Meadows High school in 1935 -1936 Pin league. Riggins did not have a Cascade gym, teams on the 7and has stayed in,touch with high team at that time, but began railroad line from New Meadows school athletics. Campbell has entering the annual Long Pin to4eiser had lined up competi- operated a film service for high tournaments in the 19406 and tion of their own. New Meadows,. school teams from his Boise home entered the league soon after. Council, Cambridge and Midvale on for more than thirty years. During this time, the Long Pin had formed the PIN league, nam- ".In those days the train started League played six -nian football, a ed after the ' Pacific Idaho- Nor -' in Meadows," he said. "It was game "noted for its need for r i e speedy and - skillful players as opossed to the messy pileups of 11 -man football as played in Boise Valley," according to , reports from the a 1938 issue of the Payette Lakes Star. = In. 1945, Stibnite High- School was added to the league and re- mained there until the mines in Stibnite closed. The McCall Vik- ings were a dominant team in the league for many years. The con- troversial merger with -Donnelly High School in 1943 brought a new name, the Vandals, and enough ? n r.,.: w� 4� GSA J�. a1�Al..11 �.s VV 111w a♦ rr ...��. called Donnelly- McCall high school a virtual dynasty. Membership in the Long Pin League remained stable through the 1950s. The league switched to eight -man football in 1950. Even- tually, Stibnite left the league and Riggins was added. The Donnelly - McCall Vandals remained in the league until they joined the, Western Idaho Con - derence when the WIC was form- ed in 1977. Today, members of the Long Pin league are Cascade, Meadows Valley, Council, Cambridge, Salmon River ( Riggins), Garden Valley and Midvale. David Spann, Al Becker answer questions Agencies note 25 years of Conservation Tour It couldn't have been a better day to learn about the environment. The sun was shining as bright as the faces of 120 local sixth -grade stu- dents. The Long Pin Conservation League celebrated its 25th anniver- sary this May — a program started in 1970 by then New Meadows District Ranger Joe Frazier. Al Becker, coordinator of the program, has kept the tour up to date by in- cluding current issues like recycling and the threatened Chinook. Each spring, area sixth - graders come to the Round Valley Ranch, north of New Meadows, for a day of learning in an outdoor classroom. They talk with "teachers" from the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Photo courtesy Payette National Forest answer questions. Management, Southern Idaho Timber Protective Association, Idaho Department of Lands, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, and Boise Cascade Corp. Students learn to respect and un- derstand rivers, how insects and dis- ease kill trees, and that soil is the "staff of life" of the forest. This year, the students were even treated to a demonstration jump by the McCall Smokejumpers. The importance of environmental education for kids is something Al Becker doesn't take lightly. "I really value youth and sharing environ- mental education with them," Becker said. "They grow into adults pretty quickly." And that is precisely why educat- ing students is so important. They are interested in their environment and even bring their learning home. "I think the kids impact their parents," Becker said. "They go home and tell their folks what they've learned. I know one kid who taught his parents about access to the forest. Our future is in these kids."