Bobby Chavez stopped by the other day, back from Tacoma, Wash., for another coveted visit to his hometown.
When he comes home, it’s like he’s never been gone, says Bobby, 57. He hopes someday to return for good, although children and grandchildren living in the Pacific Northwest are a complication to work through.
Just how taken is he with Iola?
When a soldier in Hawaii, Bobby marveled at the mountain peaks that grace the islands; in Japan he was taken aback by the beauty of Mt. Fuji, as well as the Alps in Germany. Same is true of Mt. Rainier near Tacoma and Pikes Peak in Colorado.
But, as sincere as he can be, “none of them compares with Shale Mound,” he said, or the thrill he gets every time he drives into Iola.
Nowadays he is somewhat retired, although he has duties at a golf course — tough as that is — and keeps closely in touch with grandkids and baseball, his first love.
That’s how I got to know Bobby, coaching him when he was a youngster and commanded the left side of the infield at Bassett Park. He was the finest young shortstop I ever coached, quick feet, soft hands and a rocket arm.
Bobby grew up at the south end of Washington, just north of Elm Creek. An idyllic upbringing: The creek teemed with fish; a brushy area to the east was a wonderful place for kids to prowl a “jungle”; baseball diamonds were near enough to provide long hours of Indian Ball.
Bobby likes to talk about the coaches he had. Right at the top is Doc Stiles, who laid the groundwork for Iola High’s high-profile track and cross country tradition that Marvin Smith next continued and made an art form. He also is kind enough to include me in his adulation.
His first day of cross country practice was in Riverside Park. It started at 9 a.m. and he arrived about five to nine, to find others running the dike.
“‘You’re late,’ Doc said, and I didn’t question him,” Bobby remembered, the veteran coach wearing his trademark cap and looking at him in such a manner his eyes mostly were hidden. “I was never ‘late’ again.” He became a very good runner. His senior year Bobby won the Spur Club’s award given to the top cross country athlete.
You can bet he still has it tucked away somewhere, another reminder of Iola, “my hometown.”
No place like home
