DECATUR — When Jesse Owens stunned the world by winning four gold medals during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, 16 mm cameras were there to capture those moments. When the Arkansas Razorbacks won the 1964 National Football Championship, the 16 mm camera was there. When the 1977 Decatur High School senior boys' football team played in the state championship game against Harding Academy, the 16 mm camera was there, too, to record the moments.
For nearly 70 years the 16 mm film camera was in the stands and bleachers at football stadiums, basketball courts and baseball fields to capture the big play, and game reels were used by professional, college and high-school sports programs to capture as many plays as possible to be reviewed by coaches and players after the game to work out rough spots in the team's game plans.
The process of film and developing was expensive. The film came in 50-foot reels that were extremely light sensitive. The camera had to be unloaded and reloaded on site in a dark box. Plus, the schools would either have to send the exposed film to a local processor or develop the films themselves. So the film maker would have to choose each series of shots carefully.
For years, the Decatur Bulldog Athletic Department used 16 mm film to make its own game reels. Every Monday afternoon following the Friday night football game, the coach would sit the players in front of a projector screen to watch those films. But, with the invention of the modern video camera, 16 mm film was rendered obsolete and was relegated to a paragraph in some history books. And, sadly, most of these 16mm game reels were lost in history.
The Decatur sports program was no different. Many of its game reels disappeared never to be seen again, until now.
Mike Eckels, chairman of the Decatur Historical Committee, was sitting at his desk working on articles for the Westside Eagle Observer when his cell phone rang. On the other end was John Unger, Decatur's athletic director and head basketball coach.
"Would you be interested in several 16 mm football films from 1974 for your historical society?" Unger asked.
While cleaning out rooms at Decatur Middle School to get ready to build the new gym, Doug Holly, Decatur School District employee, came across several old reels of football films from the 1970s. Like so many of their predecessors from around the country, these films were destined for the garbage dump. Holly, thinking these may have some value to the athletic department, contacted Unger.
Knowing that Eckels was interested in historical sports artifacts, Unger offered the films to the Decatur Historical Committee. Eckels quickly accepted the films and agreed to pick them up the next day.
Eckels arrived at Decatur Middle School expecting to pick up five or six canisters of game reels from 1974. He was not prepared for what he saw next. In a huge box in Unger's office were 52 game reels from 1970-1982 covering junior- and senior-high football and boys' and girls' basketball. After sorting the films out by years, Eckels found there were 40 senior-high football films, eight junior-high football and four boys' and girls' basketball films (two from 1975, one 1980 and one from 1981). Unfortunately, there were no films from 1976.
What happened to those films remains a mystery.
Eckels noticed that there was one film that was slightly damaged by humidity. It turned out to be a film that was of particular interest to many Decatur residents, the 1977 state championship football contest between Decatur and Harding Academy.
The Bulldogs lost their championship bid, 55-7.
During the June 7 Decatur Historical Committee forum in the third-grade room at city hall, committee members had the chance to review one of the junior-high reels from 1978 and a high school boys' and girls' basketball reel from 1975. After the viewing, the committee voted to recommend that the films be digitized and recorded on DVDs.
Linda Martin, council representative to the committee, passed the recommendation on to the city council during the June 12 meeting. They gave the committee the green light to have all 52 films transferred to DVDs.
It took two weeks for Nu Fangled Images of Fayetteville to transfer all the films to a six-DVD set. But the films and DVDs are now safely stored in a climate-controlled room at city hall.
The historical committee and city of Decatur are currently working on plans to market the DVD set to the public in the near future.
"These game films tell a very important piece of Decatur sports history and are a source of Bulldog pride," Eckels said. "What was once lost for more than 45 years has once again been reunited with those who lived the experience."
Rubin and Margo Barnes have also donated eight game films from 1970-71. These will eventually be turned into a seventh DVD.
If you have photographs, letters or any other artifact pertaining to Decatur history and you have no use for them, consider donating them to the Decatur Historical Committee or the city of Decatur.
Every item is a piece of history. For more information, contact Mike Eckels at 479-422-0208.
"Together, we can and will tell the story of Decatur, one piece at a time," Eckels said.
General News on 07/26/2017