Sweet MUMories Oral History Project - The Official Dedication of the Lynn Darbyshire Court

Title

Sweet MUMories Oral History Project - The Official Dedication of the Lynn Darbyshire Court

Description

Date

November 12, 2016

Duration

31:56 minutes

Transcription

Sweet MUMories Oral History Project
Transcript: The Official Dedication of the Lynn Darbyshire Court, November 12, 2016
Donation Record # Darbyshire.L.11082016.1
Transcribed by Erika Nisbet 08/07/2017. Approved for deposit by Marsha Robinson on 4/27/2018.
Copyright Miami University. All rights reserved.

Abbreviation guide to speakers:
CBC Cathy Bishop-Clark
CK Carolyn Kramer
CS Casey Smith
DG Donald Gilgrist
DS Dave Sauter
HK Harold Kramer
JF June Fening
JF2 Jeff Ferguson
JK Jude Killy
JS Jim Sliger
JS2 Janet Sauter
JW John Weaver
KS Kitty Snow
LD Lynn Darbyshire
LW Linda Watkins
PL Phil Lavelle
RS Richard Simmons
RY Ryan Young
SS Skip Snow
TS Terry Schraub
WH Wanita Hatton

JS Hello everyone. What a great crowd. My name is Jim Sliger. I’m a former student athlete here and coach and so on. And a MUM alumni, a very proud MUM alumni. And I’m here today to gather this crowd to honor Lynn Darbyshire. It was in 1967 that C. Eugene Bennett, Dr. Bennett, brought Lynn to the campus to build a Student Activities program and coach our men’s basketball team. And way back on December 1st, 1967 MUM defeated OSU Lima 103 to 94 at OSU Lima for the first basketball game, Middletown campus history. Of course a “W” was awesome because it was at Lima, which is just kind of a suburb of Lynn’s hometown. So that was a great thrill for him. One week later we played our first home game. The home game was across the street at what was then Manchester Junior High School, a little small, dinky gym. We had a different few home facilities back in those days. It was five years later in 1972 when this building was built and dedicated. Again, with a win. And 1973 under Lynn’s leadership, the Ohio Regional Campus Conference was built, was started. I’m on the logo right now. It included seven regional campuses then, grew to include as many as fourteen, all under Lynn’s leadership. The Middletown campus added golf and tennis that year. Also, about that time Don Gilgrist was assisting Lynn. They scoured the local high schools and, using the facilities and the conference affiliation, went out and recruited many talented young athletes. And others like myself just showed up. And they haven’t been able to get rid of me since so it’s been wonderful. Lynn coached for ten years then stepped down and became Director of Student Affairs where in that role he had a great influence on student leaders through Student Government, student organizations. We would have twenty to twenty-five student organizations on the campus. It was the envy of every regional campus in the state. Our intramural recreation program again, envy of every regional campus in the state. All under Lynn’s leadership. There are many, many alumni here today who can give you stories of the positive influence Lynn has had on their life. And there are countless more unable to attend. There are literally thousands of students that have passed through the Middletown campus that Lynn has impacted their lives positively and touched their hearts positively. So because of that some alumni decided, in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of the Middletown campus, it was fitting to recognize Lynn’s contribution by getting his name on this court. And through the wonderful support of the Miriam Knoll Foundation and many MUM alums and many of Lynn’s friends we are here today to dedicate Lynn Darbyshire Court in the Bennett Recreation Center. And at this time I’d like the dedication party to come forward as we cut the ribbon to dedicate Lynn Darbyshire Court in the C. Eugene Bennett Center on the Miami Middletown campus. Let’s go on three – 1, 2, 3.
[ribbon cut, applause.]
CBC Thank you everyone. My name’s Cathy Bishop-Clark. I am the Interim Dean of Miami’s Regional campuses. I’m going to go out here so I can see the table and it is really a pleasure to be a part of the ceremony today. We are honoring Lynn Darbyshire who has spent many, many years at this campus, on this very floor. And I had the privilege of working with Lynn for about seven of those years. And I’ve also had the privilege of talking to the many people over here that have told me in the last few minutes how they’ve touched, how Lynn has touched their life and what he’s meant to them. And I can say that I came here many years ago Lynn was one of the first people I met and what struck me then was the very same thing that strikes me today and that’s his passion for this place, for Miami Middletown, and his energy. So, I would like to, I want to point out and make sure I give thanks to the Miriam Knoll Foundation and the many friends who helped us refurbish the gym in Lynn’s name. Please join me a moment in thanking all of them. And we have a gift for Lynn. So with Athletic Director Cheryl Miller and I, we have a plaque which is a replica of the Lynn Darbyshire Court of Miami Middletown and what’s very special about this plaque is the wood is from the original gym. And so I would assume that all the time that Lynn spent in the regular gym that his foot has touched these exact pieces of wood many, many times. So, please join me in honoring Lynn Darbyshire.
JK Thanks, Cathy. My name is Jude Killy. I’m the Deputy Director of Athletics on our campus in Oxford. I’m here today representing Dr. Gregory Crawford and our Athletic Director David Sayler and I’m really thrilled to be here. Hopefully most of you know already that Lynn was a student athletic in Oxford. He ran track and lettered in track, was also a graduate, And part of what we talk about really consistently from a departmental standpoint is that we graduate champions, right? That’s what we do. It’s part of our fiber and there’s nobody that exemplifies that better than you, Lynn. I’m so happy for you about this day today. Your career at Miami Middletown from, I guess almost thirty years plus, right, as an advocate for athletics to Middletown and the region has been. And the thing that I want to add to that too is you and your family. You’re a wonderful husband and father and you’ve got great kids and grandkids. And there is no one better that they can name this court after than you. So I just want to extend, on behalf of the Oxford campus, a great congratulations.
[Applause]
LD Well, this is a very humbling experience. I’m sure you can understand that. You know, I’ve been retired for twenty-two years and probably, I thought, forgotten basically Miami and Miami University Middletown. But what an unbelievable happening. At first, I want to thank Miami University, particularly Miami University Middletown and the committee that’s made all this happen. Like I say it’s, in a way it’s embarrassing but at the same time it’s so flattering. It’s unbelievable and I really, really do appreciate that. You know, I don’t know anybody that goes into education for something like this to happen. That’s not a career goal. But the thing I found in retirement or telling other people going to retire a whole lot of the blessings in retirement from education are the rest of your life you get to see young people that you worked with or you knew that you get to watch them grow. You get to read about them. You get to interact with them. You get to have them as friends. And some of the experiences, I’ll be honest with you, are somewhat embarrassing. People say things to you about an impact you had on their life. And you know you didn’t have that much an impact and you certainly don’t think so. But what a great feeling! I mean it’s just so wonderfully rewarding to be able to hear those things thirty years later, twenty-five years later. And to have some of you people take so much of your time out of such a beautiful day to come in here and be part of this and honor me and my family. I think that it’s just outstanding. You know the other thing that really means a lot to me is a whole lot of you do and a whole lot of you don’t know C. Eugene Bennett, who this recreation facility is named after. When Gene Bennett, I was fortunate enough in 1967 I was asked to come over here and start a basketball program. “You got to be kidding.” I’m twenty-three years old, twenty-two years old. Newly married, just finished my graduate degree and I worked in Oxford four years in the school of education teaching mathematics in McGuffey Lab School with some of the most wonderful people in the world. And I had an opportunity to come over here to start basketball and then two years later and I never interviewed for that job. They hired me. It was pretty good. So anyways a couple years later they asked me if I’d like to come over here to Middletown campus and start a Intramural Recreation Athletic Program. And I remember my first question and it wasn’t an interview. They just asked me if I wanted to do it. And I said “Now, am I going to get paid for this?” And I was serious and I wasn’t…In those days I think I started in Miami University in Oxford for six thousand dollars and I took a pay cut to come over here. And because I have the most wonderful wife in the world she didn’t care and I didn’t care. So anyway, that was how it began. And then for the next five or six years I commuted over here coach and working in Student Activities, playing in Student Activities to be honest. And I remember that at that point I’m thinking, and my wife was teaching at that time, we’ve got it all. I mean what more can there be. I get to go to a situation where unlike a lot of elementary and secondary school everybody here is motivated. I mean, they wouldn’t be here paying money if they weren’t motivated so what kind of life is that. It just can be, it can’t get much better than that so anyway Dr. Bennett’s the one that made all that happen. Dr. Bennett was the most sophisticated, honorable man I’ve ever knew. He was my boss, my mentor and then became my best friend. And when we talked about planning this building, he and I walking around the grounds, I remember he said, “Put it on top of the hill.” I said, “You can’t build a building on top of a hill.” We did and we thought this was the Taj Mahal and in my world it still is the Taj Mahal. And I’m so proud of what has happened in here. You know, somebody asked us “How do you get all these championships?” Lot of our championships aren’t a result of great players. It’s a result of great people. We got people playing in our programs that didn’t play high school ball. That didn’t realize they were good enough to be an athlete at this level and if you look around at what has been accomplished by the people in Middletown, Ohio, in this facility, in this arena it just blows you away. And you know, the thing that really, a newspaper reporter asked me the other day, he said, “Why did you stay so long at Miami University Middletown?” And I’ve never been asked anything like that. I guess I was thinking he didn’t know much about what Miami University Middletown is about or he not have asked that. I thought he would say “Lynn, at fifty-one, why did you leave Miami University Middletown?” I had the best job in the world. I was working with not only student athletes but by this time I was working in Student Affairs working with Student Government, working with the Counseling Department, working with Learning Assistance, Financial Aid. And I had the best people that you can imagine. They really, really cared about what they were doing. We had so much fun and they worked so hard. My talent was hire good people and get out of the way. You know, I’m embarrassed when people tell me I deserve this. I didn’t work that hard. I played that hard. I had more wonderful experiences because of the kind of people we have here. We moved our family when my daughter was, I don’t know how old but we moved over here from Oxford to be in this community. I wanted my students to go to school in a diverse community and a community that wasn’t a utopia like Oxford sort of is. Wonderful place but I wanted my children and I interacted well with what Middletown’s all about and I still do. So, anyway I won’t keep rambling. I know if I’m the coach I’m saying “Get this old man out. I’m ready to beat Chillicothe.” And by the way, Chillicothe fans you would want me back coaching. I was like five and thirty against Chillicothe. They owned me and we had some good teams but they owned me. I’m not proud of that and I’m proud of you young ladies. I’m very proud of you young ladies and I hope I’m going to be proud of you. I’ll be proud of you no matter what. Anyway, so with that I want to thank Miami University. I want to thank everybody that’s a part of this. I want you to know what it means to me and my family. You can see I have a, oh my son’s telling me to pull the hook. He wants me off the, anyway it’s just an unbelievable experience. I’m humbled. I’m embarrassed. I’m everything else. But thanks so much for being part of it and one last thing I want to recognize Bob Rusbosin. My counterpart on the Hamilton campus, where are you Bob? And for you people that think that, keeps saying that I didn’t have a job I was right basically because when I retired Bob took over and does both campuses and I thought I was doing a big job on one campus. So, tells you that really I was not that effective. But thank you very much and let’s beat Chillicothe young men.
[Applause. Segue to entertainment.]
Ryan Young, Assistant Director of Regional Advancement, interviews several guests at the dedication.
RY Hi, today we’re here with Wanita Hatton. Wanita, I’m curious if you would share with us anything you would like to tell Lynn today on this special day.
WH I’d just like to ask Lynn if he remembers calling me “Mom”? I worked for food service and he’d come in and ask me what the special was and whatever Mom wanted him to have for that day.
RY We’ll have to ask him. Well, Wanita thank you so much for sharing with us today.
WH Oh thank you.
RY Hi, today we’re here with Interim Regional Dean Cathy Bishop-Clark. Cathy, would you mind sharing with us something that you’d like to tell Lynn on this special day.
CBC I would. So Lynn, you and I met when I was twenty-five years old and I can still remember meeting you and as I mentioned in our presentation today what I remember about you is the passion that you had and the energy and the positive attitude. And that stayed with me over the years. And initial impressions are I think lasting and yours was a very positive one so. You know I’m still here twenty-seven years and you know you were here for a long time. Thank you for everything you’ve done. You’ve made it a better place for me. So thank you Lynn.
RY Alright, here we are with Janet and Dave Sauter. Janet and Dave, do you mind sharing something that you would like to tell Lynn on this special day?
DS First of all, congratulations Lynn. You are the reason the Sauter family moved to Middletown, Ohio, in August of 1984 but we closed on our house in November. You called me when I was your counterpart up at Ohio State Newark. You called me one day and said, “Dr. Bennett and I have this job we’d like you to look at.” And the rest was sort of history. Before we closed on our house, I had to live someplace Monday through Friday. And so I think Greg may have just gone off to school but we stayed at your house and some other places and so we owe our Middletown start to you. Best of luck for all the rest. We’re proud for you and happy to be part of today.
JS2 Thank you, Friend. Thank you, Friend.
DS Cheers.
RY Today we’re here with Harold and Carolyn Kramer. Harold and Carolyn thanks for joining us today. We’re curious if you could tell us what you would tell Lynn today on this special day?
HK Well, he’s a very deserving individual. Deserves everything he gets. Very hard worker. A wonderful person. We know him business-wise and socially.
CK His family is just as nice as he is. We love all of them. They’re great people.
RY Thank you very much.
RY Today we’re here with John Weaver. A man who played for Lynn for four years. John, would you mind sharing with us what you’d like to tell Lynn on this special day.
JW Well, I would just like to thank Lynn for everything that he’s done in my life as well as for the community here and for Miami University Middletown. If it wasn’t for him, none of this would be here today. At least in the way that it is here so I want to thank him for that.
RY Alright, today we’re here with Skip and Kitty Snow, roommates and friends of Lynn Darbsyhire. Skip and Kitty, can you share with me what you would like to tell Lynn on this special day?
SS Well, first of all he’s been a wonderful person for a long, long time. Meant a lot to us and I couldn’t be happier that he is being honored in this way. Very deserving and it’s just a great honor for us to be here and to celebrate with him.
KS I’d also just want to congratulate “Darb.” He’s been a great friend. He was the first friend of Skip’s that I met when we started dating at Miami and he and Stef have just been wonderful friends of ours for years and this is a well-deserved honor and we’re really happy for him. Congratulations.
LW/JS/JF Remember “Love Shack.” [Linda Watkins, Jim Sliger, and June Fening]
RY Hi. We’re here with Phil Lavelle a four-year basketball player for Lynn. Phil, I’m hoping that you can share with us something that you’d like to tell Lynn on this special day.
PL Well, I’ve known Lynn now for a long time since ’72. There’s so many good memories it’s tough to say. Lynn’s been a huge part of my life here at Miami Middletown when I was here in ’72 to ’76. Getting through school. Promoting my first job opportunity. I hope longtime friends. Motorcycle buddies. He’s been a huge part of everything we’ve done. Me and my family and I really just can’t say enough. I could go on and on.
RY Hello, today we’re here with Richard Simmons, longtime friend of Lynn Darbyshire. Richard, can you share with us something you’d like to tell Lynn today?
RS I’d like to tell him congratulations. He was one of the founders of this facility and then came on and was a wonderful teacher and mentor to a lot of people here at Miami Middletown. And I want to wish him the very best in all he does in his retirement. Our children, his daughter Jamie, my daughter Lisa were born four days apart in Oxford and they ended up, Jamie went to Middletown High and my daughter went to Talawanda and then they ended up rooming together all through undergraduate and then on through graduate school and they’ve remained very close friends. So we’ve got a close connection to families and just I’m very proud of what Lynn’s done and he’s just done wonders. He’s definitely a people person and that’s what I appreciate as well.
RY Today we’re here with Jeff Ferguson, three year player for Lynn during his time here as coach. Jeff, can you share what you’d like to tell Lynn on this special day?
JF2 Well, I’d like to congratulate Lynn. He ran a first-class program out here and we had a really great time playing for Lynn. We enjoyed everything we did out here. Kept us in great shape. Had to run a little extra sometimes. I still feel like I’m in good shape today because of that. So congratulations Lynn and first class program you ran out here and looks like they’re carrying on the tradition.
RY Today we’re here with Don Gilgrist, another Assistant Coach under Lynn during his time coaching here. Don, can you share what you’d like to tell Lynn on this special day?
DG Well, I’d like to thank him for everything he’s done for me as a friend, as a mentor. I just have thoroughly enjoyed being with his family and being part of his family and the years we spent coaching together were fabulous years for me and unforgettable.
RY Today we’re here with Terry Shraub, a three year player for Lynn during his time as head coach. Terry, do you mind sharing with us what you’d like to tell Lynn on this special day?
TS Well, I mentioned to him a little bit ago, he doesn’t know, you know what he has meant to myself and my family. You know, he’s been a very positive influence. And you know, the things that he spoke about when the court was dedicated to him were very true in terms of, you know having people come up to him and tell him what he meant. It was a special time for me and I enjoyed the time that I was over here. I’ve gone on to teach and be the Athletic Director over in Hagerstown for a number of years and have had a number of times when I thought back to my time here and, you know what Lynn may have done. And that’s influenced a lot of things that I have done also. And the plaque that he received, I used to take charges when Lynn was a coach and my butt’s probably been sliding on that plaque that he received many times. That’s probably why it has a shine to it as I polished it for him.
RY Today we’re here with Casey Smith, Lynn’s oldest grandson. Casey, can you share with us what you’d like to tell your grandfather on this special day?
CS Well, Papa, sorry I call him Papa. Just want to, this is such an amazing day and it means a lot to our whole family and I’ll always remember this. I captured this on camera for you. You’ve taught me so much and today especially just the connection to people and the importance and value of relationships. And it’s just, I mean it’s true to all give everyone that came, you know your connection with people and how you moved people in such an inspiring way and one day I hope I can do the same. I love you.

Indexing terms for the finding aid:

Athletes
Athletics
Bennett Recreation Center
Bennett, C. Eugene
Bishop-Clark, Cathy
Chillicothe
Counseling Office
Crawford, Gregory
Darbyshire, Lynn
Darbyshire, Stefanie
Fening, June
Ferguson, Jeff
Financial Aid Office
Gilgrist, Donald
Golf
Grandchildren
Grandfather
Hamilton Campus
Hatton, Wanita
Intramural sports
Killy, Jude
Kramer, Carolyn
Kramer, Harold
Lavelle, Phil
Learning Assistance Office
Lima, Ohio
Lynn Darbyshire Court
Manchester Junior High School
McGuffy Laboratory School
Middletown High School
Miller, Cheryl
Miriam Knoll Foundation
Motorcycle
Ohio Regional Campus Conference (ORCC)
Ohio State University – Newark
Ohio State University – Lima
Oxford campus
Rusbosin, Robert (Bob)
Sauter, David
Sauter, Janet
Sayler, David
Schraub, Terry
Simmons, Richard
Sliger, Jim
Smith, Casey
Snow, Kitty
Snow, Skip
Student Activities
Student Government
Talawanda Schools
Tennis
Watkins, Linda
Weaver, John
Young, Ryan

Interviewer

Ryan Young

Interviewee

Cathy Bishop-Clark
Carolyn Kramer
Casey Smith
Donald Gilgrist
Dave Sauter
Harold Kramer
June Fening
Jeff Ferguson
Jude Killy
Jim Sliger
Janet Sauter
John Weaver
Kitty Snow
Lynn Darbyshire
Linda Watkins
Phil Lavelle
Richard Simmons
Ryan Young
Skip Snow
Terry Schraub
Wanita Hatton

Location

Lynn Darbyshire Court - Bennett Recreation Center - Miami University Middletown, Middletown, OH

Citation

“Sweet MUMories Oral History Project - The Official Dedication of the Lynn Darbyshire Court,” First to 50 - Miami University Middletown Digital Archive, accessed March 29, 2024, https://mum50.omeka.net/items/show/1015.