Going “Greene”?

NO WAY, JOSÉ, IT’S “LINCOLNWAY”!

Is there something that Tommy Birch down at the Des Moines Register knows that we don’t?

Tommy put together a nice recap of East Greene’s big Homecoming win over Charter Oak-Ute in a prep wrap-up in Sunday’s Register sports section Sept. 18 with a subhead entitled, “GOING GREENE.”

Earlier that weekend, some swag bags were handed out at the East Greene Homecoming Parade in GJ emblazoned with that awful beak-nosed bird they used for the [current] school logo and the words, “GO GREENE.” Hmmm? Twice in the same weekend with this mono-syllabic “GREENE” shows up. No longer “EAST,” cuz we’re headed west? Coincidence? I wonder. If this is someone’s idea for a new name for a possible reorganized East Greene and Jefferson-Scranton school district in the near future--something like Greene United or Greene County—I vote No . Without Paton-Churdan in a “reorg” it is only two-thirds to three-fourths or so of Greene County.

I suggest something that truly unites us across the board and helps this area stand out from the crowd: Lincolnway Community School District. Yes, the Lincoln (highway and president), with the statue of honest Abe on the courthouse square—on the county-owned side!—as our rallying point for all of Greene County, or at least all the towns and townships that would be inclusive of a reorg of the current J-S and EG districts.

Lincolnway cleanly ties together the three largest towns of the [proposed] district which are also the three largest towns of the county—Scranton, Jefferson and Grand Junction. The school district and the Lincoln served by the three towns also embrace these townships: Scranton and Kendrick Townships and the city of Scranton; Bristol, Jackson, Hardin and Grant Townships surrounding the city of Jefferson; and the super-size Junction Township and the city of Grand Junction, the second largest town in Greene County with Scranton being third, both trailing Jefferson, the county seat and proposed site of the high school.

Well, that will be then and this is now, so let’s give some applause to the EG Hawks for their showing in GJ at Homecoming on Sept. 16. Tommy Birch wrote:

“GOING GREENE: East Greene had a pair of strong performances in 66-28 victory over Charter Oak-Ute. Reed Ostrander hauled in five passes for 99 yards and three touchdowns. He also had two carries for 50 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown. He had a 51-yard punt return for a touchdown. Quarterback Tory Beger completed 20-of-29 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns. Beger also rushed for two more scores.”

The following Monday, Sept. 21, the “Little Hawks” of the EG Junior High School in GJ posted a big 44-6 win over Adair-Casey in a game suspended in the middle of the third quarter as AC ran out of players. They started with 10 but injuries whittled that down to 7 which is one less needed to play 8-man football.

EYE ON GJ SAYS: Take it or leave it Paton-Churdan, or be on your “way.” If you don’t want to be a part of a county-wide school system, then don’t. But don’t expect any panting, open door “we’ll give it a name you can use too” reality going forward. And since you rebuffed the outreach from EG for any sports sharing, don’t expect us to hold some gild-edged invitation for sports sharing along the likes of Lincolnway/Paton-Churdan. It will be Lincolnway and Lincolnway only. Period. You had your chance(s). You took a pass.

Come on, folks! We need to market that Lincolnway. Make it educational….President Lincoln, early day highway transportation, Floyd Mahany and his legacy with the tower, and our beautiful historic courthouse…. emblematic of our pioneer forebears. Hey! There’s a great team nickname….the Pioneers….Lincolnway Pioneers! Green and Black school colors….green of East Greene and the black of Scranton’s black and gold and Jefferson’s black and red. Honor the heritage….