To the editor:
Editor's note: The following letter was submitted to the Mifflin County School District Board of Directors and a copy also provided to the Sentinel for publication. According to information posted on the school district's website, www.mcsdk12.org, an auction will be held on July 22-23 at the new Mifflin County High School to sell sports memorabilia from the previous area high schools. The website states that profits from the sale are intended to benefit the Mifflin County Huskies Athletic Program.
To the Directors:
It has come to my attention that the Mifflin County Board of School Directors has scheduled an auction on July 22 and July 23 of items that document the history of athletic achievement in the schools of Mifflin County.
How was this decision reached? Was it discussed openly at a board meeting? Did you ask any of the coaches and participants of high school sports, past and present, for their input? Did you consider the impact, positive or negative, of this decision? Do you believe our sports history is an important element in the lives of the participants, their families, and the community? Do you believe that we can put a price on this sports history and sell it to pay for things we couldn't afford in the first place?
However, the big question is by what authority are you selling items that have been awarded to individuals and teams for their athletic achievement? You are not the owner of these items. You are the custodian; therefore, you have no right to their disposition, period.
Let me give you an example. My lifelong friend, Terry Wade, won a trophy for being the Mountain League Basketball scoring champ for the season 1956/1957. He has allowed that trophy to be housed in a trophy case in the Lewistown High School so that visitors could see and appreciate it. But it is his, not Lewistown High School's. They are only the custodians.
If there was to be any disposition of trophies, plaques, banners, pictures or medals, etc., they should be given to the individuals who earned them or their families. If it was a team achievement, then give it to the team and let them decide what they want done with them.
But the better solution, and those individuals and teams would absolutely agree, is to place these items where they belong, and that is in the "halls and walls" of the new Mifflin County High School! Otherwise, the history of all local high school athletic achievement will be destroyed, gone forever. Is that what you want?
Please be reminded that the custodian has no right to sell anything they do not own and this auction should be canceled and plans for display in the Mifflin County High School started immediately. If not, you will be remembered as those responsible for the destruction of high school sports history in Mifflin County!
In closing, can you look anyone in the eye and say we are doing what is in your best interest?
Ken Schucht
Lewistown
