Yesterday, on the way home from dropping my son off at the bus, I passed a house which I have driven by thousands of times. However, today, there was a pile of trash out at the road (presumably preparing for heavy trash pick up). On the side of the pile of trash, sat this…a red & white cheerleaders megaphone. As I slowed down and proceeded to pass by, I caught a glimpse of the red and white lettering, that we’ve all become accustomed to, “GO COUGARS”
I pulled over, picked it up & put it in the truck. Not knowing just what would come from this day. A day that had started just like so many others. Upon arriving home, I noticed the back side of the megaphone… “PATSY” was inscribed on it, underneath an old PEPSI-COLA logo.
I wasn’t sure if this was truly a UH item, or if it might be a high school which also goes by COUGARS…so I started to research. Finding some interesting leads, I decided to type up a letter, stating I had taken the megaphone from the trash, and asking if the person might have ties to UH, or have any other items pertaining to UH. When I took my lunch break, I drove back to the house, and clipped the letter on to their fence. Not knowing if this might be a dead end, or possibly even cause me to receive calls/texts/emails about digging through their trash, and harassing them lol.
To my joy, about 2-1/2 hours later, I received an email from a lady, stating that the megaphone had belonged to her while she was a cheerleader at UH (1968-1970), and that she was shocked that anyone would want that “old thing.” She said that if I would like to stop by, she had some other stuff that I might be interested in. As soon as I got out of work, I went straight back to her house, where she was waiting on the porch, with several yearbooks, magazine article, and a couple other items which I ended up taking home.
The ladies name is Patsy Kelly (then Clark). What an amazing lady! She was overjoyed at the fact that someone was interested in her story, and interested in her old items. She told me, “my husbands been trying to get me to get rid of that thing for 40 years!”
She told me stories of getting to cheer (using this megaphone) at the “Game of the Century”…getting to have sit ins…getting to be a small part of a large cause… It was so awesome to hear her stories!
After talking with her for about 30 mins, I was on my way back home, with a new friend, new items to display in the HISTORY OF THE PRIDE, and a sense of happiness, that I got the opportunity to meet someone so amazing.
This is exactly why I do what I do. To preserve the history of the school, and the people who attended.
Below are some pictures of the megaphone, some of the other items I was so grateful to acquire from her, and a few photos of her time at UH.
