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Jul. 16, 2008
AT PAHRUMP VALLEY School grows, so does success
By DON McDERMOTT
The 1974-75 school year produced many story lines. * Pahrump's new $1.2 million high school -- after a year's delay -- opened with 205 students enrolled in grades 7-12, including 128 in the upper four grades. The overall valley student population was at a record 425. * The football stadium behind the new school was finished and Richard Travis, a former collegiate standout at Cal Poly-Pomona, was the Trojans' coach, replacing Hank Wohle. His assistant was Al Giannotti, who would go on to be the school's most successful football coach and is a charter member of the PVHS Athletics Hall of Fame. * Girls basketball was added to the extracurricular activities schedule, with Donna Travis the coach. * Rod Poteete was named coach of the first PVHS baseball team, which for everal years played its home games at Community Center Park. * And named to succeed Pat Inch as the boys' basketball coach was Joe Peterson, a graduate of Northern Michigan University. Thus began what would become the ultimate story of triumph and tragedy. The Trojans' 1974 team produced the school's first football victory -- a 24-22 victory against the Class 2-A Boulder City Eagles' junior varsity in the season opener. Halfback Rory Smith scored three touchdowns and Bruce Floyd added one for the Trojans. Pahrump Valley would not win again that season, falling twice to Tonopah and once each to the Las Vegas Bishop Gorman JVs, Virgin Valley, Moapa Valley, Lincoln County and Indian Springs. "Football," said Travis, "is one of the most difficult sports programs to build. Most players who come out have had little or no experience with organized football. "New programs usually draw from a small pool of natural talent," said Travis, who had coached for four years at Burney High School in California. "It also takes money for equipment plus time to build a winning tradition. "Our football team is progressing faster than most new schools," said the coach. "Virgin Valley did not win its first game until its third year. Their worst loss was to Moapa Valley -- 106-0." Pat Fielding, who was named an all-league defensive player, had 101 tackles through six games; Rory Smith averaged 40.1 yards per punt. Butch Neth-to-David Petrack was a successful passing combination. "Pahrump Valley High School has a lot of potential for all sports, since we have a lot of spirit," said Travis. Travis, at the end of the season, sought $1,500 to start a Pop Warner football program for boys 12-14. The plan was approved in fall 1975, with $2,500 being allocated. Ironically, Travis coached the Trojans for just one more season; in April 1976, Giannoti was named his successor. -- In its first edition of 1971, the monthly Nevada West Pahrump Valley Times reported: Money for a Pahrump Valley High School is one of the main projects which Tim Hafen, Nye County's sole assemblyman," has set for the 1971 legislature. "We have a need for a high school right now," said Hafen, "and the future needs may become drastic. If we got the appropriations today, it would be two years before a school could be built. By then, we should have over 100 students. This is based on the present growth rate and I anticipate our rate will continue to increase. "It will take at least $1 million for the school," said Hafen, "For the (Nye) county alone to pay off the bonds would take more than half of its entire income. Of course, that is not feasible." Hafen feels "the proposal will come under attack," but that it "has a chance" in the legislature." Incidentally, at that same time, Hafen believed that Las Vegas was "going to be looking at Amargosa Valley, Fish Lake Valley and the Pahrump Valley, and even east of Tonopah, for future water supply. Which led Hafen to propose legislation to prevent that threat to become a reality. Hafen, then 38 years old and a resident of the valley since he was 19, said, "We think to protect the quality of living, it might be better off to move people to where the water is ... instead of stacking them up in a city." -- Pahrump Valley's first girls basketball team, coached by Donna Travis, included Lacie Ward, Lynn Berkley, Jolie Pallan, Susan Turner, Steffi Angell, Laura Cook, Merlin Turner, Kelly Costley, GayeLynn Costley, Dawn Smith, Terry Sears and Kim Maus. The Lady Trojans won their first game ever, 50-19 against Lincoln County; their first loss was to Virgin Valley, 22-10. The PV girls ended their inaugural season 8-6. with Turner named the most valuable player. The Trojans were 2-0 against Tonopah and Beatty and 0-2 against Virgin Valley and Lincoln County, while splitting with Indian Springs and Moapa Valley. The boys' basketball team won its opener in the new PVHS gym, defeating Death Valley's Scorpions 60-35; it was also Peterson's first game as coach. The Trojans won their first three games, but finished 9-9, 7-9 in the league. Ron Allison averaged 12.5 points and 12 rebounds per game, with Roger Kendall at 13.3 and 8.3 and Bob Hodges 11.0 and 2.6. Also on the team were Jathan Ward, Ron Thrailkill, Rory Smith, Butch Neth, Dave Petrack, Rich Ortiz, Pat Fielding, Roy Oxborrow and Toby Smith. Basketball already had a feeder program, and a successful one at that. The junior high team (the Mustangs, coached by Richard Travis), finished 13-0, with Tim Worden averaging 11.6 points and 12.9 rebounds per game. -- Three major business moves were transpiring in June and July 1975. * Two long-time Las Vegas residents -- Larry Little and Art Schmidt -- were working on plans to bring the first movie theater to the Pahrump Valley in 1976. The four-acre site was at the corner of 5th and West, diagonally across the street from Tomken's. One plan was to build a 150-seat theater and snack bar. The second plan was more ambitious; it called for a combination indoor-outdoor facility with 100 outdoor parking spots, plus 75 to 100 indoor seats, both viewing the same screen. The snack bar would be located close enough to the street corner to serve as a drive-in to non-theater patrons, while also serving customers inside the theater. * A decision was made in early July on Valley Bank's application for a charter. Valley Bank would become the first such financial institution in Pahrump (The charter was approved and the first Valley Bank location was in the Calvada Inn.). *Reported the Times in its July edition: New plans calling for all Las Vegas television signals to be beamed into the Pahrump Valley have tentatively been agreed to; the improved and expanded service is expected to start in December. The cost of a previously discussed four-channel plan was $676 per month, including maintenance, while the expanded five-channel services is expected to cost about $925 per month. In August, a plan to build a recreation-oriented building at Calvada North, the former Wilcox Ranch, was announced. The facility would include two indoor tennis courts, a six-lane bowling alley, and other facilities. The master plan called for 1,350 acres for homes, 170 acres for mobile homes, 249 acres for schools, churches, parks and other community-oriented buildings. Prominent on that site now is Desert Retreat, an upscale RV park, located on Highway 160 north. ---- In the spring of 1975, a plan was presented to the town board to allocate $15,571 for the installation of lights on the community park baseball field; it was approved a month later. Another group had lobbied for the construction of a tennis court in the park; the project was completed, with Tom Bird and a group of volunteers doing the work. Rod Poteete's first baseball team started 1-5 and finished 4-11, but one of its wins was a 5-3 conquest of Virgin Valley. Ron Allison pitched a five-hitter and slugged a two-run double to spark the victory. The Trojans finished 1-9 in the Southern 1-A League. In track, Lacie Ward, for the second straight year, won a Nevada 1-A state title, claiming the victory in the mile run in 5:55. ---- Three Petrack brothers -- Timothy, 15; Jeffrey, 13, and Bryan, 11 -- died June 28, 1975, when a camper they were riding in overturned and caught fire in an accident near Provo, Utah. The Petrack family was headed to their former home in Winneconne, Wis., when the accident happened. The parents, Emerman and Shirley Petrack, survived, as did David and Greg Petrack. The boys were all involved in school activities and athletics. In fall 1975, the Petrack Memorial Fund was started. ---- Girls basketball was moved to the fall in 1975, with the Trojans winning the 1-A league title, the first for any PVHS team. They won 11 and lost once to Moapa Valley enroute to the championship. On the team, coached by Donna Travis, were Julie Pallan, Lynn Berkeley, Laura Cook, Shari Longden (mascot Kari Raper), Lacie Ward, Kelly Costley, Terry Sears, Fawn Briscoe, Janelle Ward, Linda Cook, Missy Augustine, Cindy Wulfenstein, Shelly Cooper, Kim Maus (and manager Wanda Schwenck). Pahrump Valley defeated Lincoln County 48-42 and Moapa Valley 40-37 in the league tournament. Donna Travis and her husband Richard moved to Carson City in December 1975. Donna resigned after Richard was fired after his teaching contract had been terminated. ---- In January 1976, a plan to build a junior high school was unveiled by the Nye County School Board. "A pressing need for additional classroom space, especially in the Pahrump Valley, has led the Nye County School Board to place before the voters May 25 (1976) a school bond issue for $1.6 million," a Times story reported. "Priority needs at all county schools would be met by the money, with the greatest portion -- about $750,000 -- going to Pahrump Valley, where both the grade school and the two-year-old high school are already operating over their designed capacity. "Most of the funds for the Pahrump area would go into an eight-classroom middle school for grades four through six or five through seven. The new school would be built south of the high school parking lot and would contain classrooms and administrative office space." Principal Don Worden said additional academic courses and other programs, possibly band, would be added if additional space was available. Beatty was to get a shop building, floor covering and removal of an old building. Tonopah was to get drainage system work, floor coverings and auditorium facilities in the gymnasium. |
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