Postcards: Congratulations, CCHS Class of 1926

Since the early 1900’s, the Fallon newspapers have devoted a good share of space and ink to the local high school students’ comings and goings—their sports victories, their academic achievements, their artistic endeavors, and, at times, their mischievous antics. 

One of the most exciting stories in the spring of 1926 was the triumph of the Churchill County High School women’s basketball team.

The team launched its winning streak on January 9, 1926, defeating Lovelock 19-53. Following were January victories over Tonopah, Reno, Carson City, and, again, Lovelock. On Feb. 10, Fallon played Sparks in a home game for Fallon, with Sparks predicted to win. The CCHS high school yearbook of 1926 includes this colorful account of the game: “Sparks, accompanied by half the population of that city, visited Fallon, intending to return home covered in glory…. But Sparks met her Waterloo and returned home threatening revenge.” The “revenge game” was held on Feb. 23 in Sparks. 

A special train was chartered by the members of the Fallon Rotary Club to take Fallon rooters to Sparks. The 1926 CCHS yearbook reported that “The largest crowd ever assembled in the Sparks gymnasium witnessed this exciting game. Amid cheers and applause, Fallon added another scalp to her belt.”

The state tournament was held in Reno on March 3, 4, 5, and 6. On March 3, the “Fallon Standard” carried this item: “Reno, March 3—Special to the Standard. ‘With more than twenty teams representing every part of the state in readiness for playing off the annual state high school basketball tournament starting today and concluding on Thursday and Friday, interest here is ringing at a high pitch this morning.

Arrangements have been completed to house the visitors [players, teachers, coaches and followers] in various fraternities, Lincoln Hall and Manzanita Hall [part of the University of Nevada campus] and to provide them with plenty of entertainment during their stay in Reno.’” 

The games were played in the University gymnasium. The Fallon girls won every time they took to the floor.

The CCHS debate squad also captured both newspaper headlines and hard-won trophies in the spring of 1926. Led by seniors Melville Hancock and Alan Bible (then student body president; later a U.S. Senator), the debate team tackled both sides of the question of whether the Child Labor Law Amendment to the Constitution, as passed by Congress in 1924, should be ratified in Nevada. Twelve high schools and forty-four speakers competed, and the final debate came down to CCHS vs. Reno High. The “Fallon Standard” reported that the “decision was unanimous in favor of CCHS.” George McCracken, Principal of CCHS, was told by university faculty members in Reno that “the debate, as far as Fallon was concerned, was of university caliber.”

The Fallon squad also took first in extemporaneous speaking, the trophy awarded to Mary K. Morris, who dominated her competitors with a speech on the subject, “Mussolini, the Italian dictator.” 

Principal McCracken boasted to the “Standard” that Lieutenant Governor Maurice Sullivan had told him at the tournament, “Miss Morris is the finest woman speaker I have ever heard.”

More is coming your way about the CCHS Class of 1926.

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