It's just a little gold basketball...on a short gold chain.   For decades, it sat in a small box in my father's drawer, then in a safe deposit box in the bank.   It wasn't in the safe deposit box because it's worth a lot of money, but because of the sentimental value it holds.

In 1939, my father, John Stofflet and his fellow Watertown High School Goslings were the WIAA Class B State Champions.  They defeated Neenah by a score of 33 to 28 at the U.W. Fieldhouse, finishing the season with a 22-1 record.   Each player received a gold ball necklace denoting they were state champs.

My father often told the story of how his parents reacted to the championship when he returned to Watertown that night from Madison. Back in 1939,  a trip into Madison was apparently a fairly big undertaking.   My grandparents were not at the tournament and were sleeping when Dad came home and woke them up.   He shouted, "We won the state championship!  We won the state championship!"   Ever the stoic German-American, Grandpa replied, "That's good son. Now get to bed."   (It was not exactly an all night party, to say the least).

My father died back in 1995 when my son John Taylor was just five.  Mom gave me Dad's little gold ball necklace, thinking perhaps one day I'd want to give it to Taylor. With Taylor's basketball team banquet approaching, and with the excitement of the WIAA State Basketball Tournament in the air, it seemed like a good time to pass Dad's keepsake along.   Just before the banquet, I gave it to Taylor along with a note saying how proud my father would have been of him....how proud he would be of what an outstanding student, athlete, and young man he is.   

Taylor seemed excited to be receiving the little gold ball, and proudly showed it to some of his teammates.  He said he'll use it as a good luck charm in his future athletic endeavors as a college athlete.  (He's been recruited to play soccer for Edgewood College next fall.)

There are many times I wish my Dad were alive to see how his grandchildren have grown....and many times I tell myself a part of him is will always be with them, in a way.    Now, Taylor has a keepsake of his grandfather's that perhaps he'll pass on to his child some day.  It's just a little gold ball, but sometimes the little things have the biggest meaning in our lives.

                                                                                    Taylor Stofflet

John W. Stofflet - Watertown Goslings
Circa 1939