Alright, so yesterday I got this wild hair to find the old football roster for Bertrand High from way back in 1962. My buddy Carl mentioned playing that year before he moved, got me curious. Figured it might be easy, right? Nope. Wasn’t easy at all.
Starting the Search
First thing I did? Slammed “Bertrand High School football roster 1962” into the search bar. Total mess. Got flooded with modern stuff, generic history sites, nada specific. Knew I had to dig deeper than just surfing.
Next step? Hit up the Bertrand High alumni group pages online. Scrolled for ages through fuzzy photos and reunion pics. Saw tons of stuff from the late 70s and 80s, but 1962? Zilch. Dead end.
Trying Old School Stuff
Okay, thought maybe it’s stuck in an old yearbook somewhere. Drove over to the local public library downtown. The archives section smelled real old, you know? Librarian pointed me to these big dusty yearbooks from the early 60s. Flipped through 1963… nothing. Flipped through 1961… nothing. 1962? Missing. Librarian shrugged – said some years just vanished over time. Annoying.
Thinking maybe the town paper would have it, I asked the librarian about old newspapers on microfilm. Pushed those reels into the machine, my eyes blurring from staring. Found a few blurry sports scores from October ’62. No roster listed. Just the coach yelling about a tough game against Westlake. Frustrating.
Finally Got Some Traction
Feeling stuck, I remembered Carl mentioned a guy on the team back then – Bobby Sims. Searched the town’s historical society contact number. Called them up. Nice old lady named Ethel answered, bless her. She said “Hold on sugar, I might have something.” Heard her shuffling papers. Came back saying they kept team photos sometimes, but rosters? Rare.
She took my number. Then, miracle! Later that afternoon, she called back. Said she dug through a box of donated stuff from the old Athletic Director’s attic. Found a team photo from Fall ’62 tucked inside a playbook. And clipped to the back? A typed list! Had the full roster.
How she helped me out:
- Scanned the photo and roster page nice and clear.
- Emailed the scans direct to me.
- Pointed out Carl’s name on the list – starting running back! No wonder he remembered.
Wrapping It Up
So yeah, this wasn’t easy. Learned you gotta be persistent and willing to do things like:
- Push buttons online till you get nowhere, then
- Dust off libraries and microfilm readers,
- Talk to real people on the phone,
- Hope someone kind like Ethel exists.
Took digging through physical stuff tucked away and bothering nice folks at historical societies. Took a whole afternoon, practically. That 1962 Bertrand Tigers roster is safe on my computer now, though. Carl’s name right there. Pretty cool bit of local history saved.