The Duke of Wellington claimed the battle of Waterloo was won on the field's of Eton. It was probably a bit much to attribute Bonaparte's defeat to Rugby, but it makes for a nice metaphor.

No world shaking events will ever be attributed to the Fields of Carpy-or more precisely, Carpy Field. But it is not an overstatement to say the lives of individual children have been deeply affected there every year since 1936 when Mr. Carpy started the Carpy Gang.

I was reminded of the Gang's great contributions when I heard Artie Carr's voice on the message machine. He was calling to remind me that Carpy Gang time is nigh.

This year's Carpy Gang season will be bitter sweet. It will mark the first time since 1936 that St. Helena kids will take the field without Bimmer (ne: Robert Sculatti) either playing, coaching or watching.

Bimmer was only nine years old on Mr. Carpy's original squad. He starred with the little guys, then moved on to be a great high school athlete. He was not the last graduate of Carpy Gang to go on to later athletic glory. In 1944. Bimmer's 80 yard TD pass to Matt Spear was a record for years and is still talked about in certain circles (mostly sewing) today.

What separated him and Artie from many of the others was that they returned to coach the kids the way they had been coached by Mr. Carpy. For over 40 years, Bimmer tried to teach the kids what Mr. Carpy had taught him. Oh sure. There was blocking and tackling-kicking, passing and receiving. But anyone can teach those. What Bimmer taught-what he had learned at the feet of the master-were the traits, which added up together, developed a young boy's character and turned him into a man.

Bimmer was one of five Sculatti Boys entrusted to Mr. Carpy by their father, Frank. Frank, who was Big Louis Martini's foreman, somehow knew that to raise boys in an agricultural community they had to learn discipline, the virtues of hard work, team play, sacrifice, and physical toughness. Without these qualities, how was a boy to know the importance of getting up at 3:30 am to light smudge pots in an attempt to ward off frost? Or be willing to get down on his knees and pick walnuts for eight hours a day during the harvest season? How was a kid to have the confidence that he possessed the ability to do a man's labor when the occasion demanded?

No kid goes from playing "PlayStation" on the couch to lighting smudge pots before dawn without some kind of mental training and physical practice. That's where Carpy Gang shone.

Ostensibly, it was just an after school activity. Clearly, the town fathers knew better.

Football is not like piano, volleyball, or soccer. It's not necessarily better-but it is different.

For unlike other after school activities, fear and physical intimidation are central to football. Learning to overcome those psychic monsters is what separates football from other sports.

As opposed to today today, where tree committees rail at the loss of trees that kids might have a skateboard park, back then the town folk cut down hundreds (if not thousands) of trees to provide wide open grass fields upon which children could hone their skills, and learn the basic character building traits which would stand them well, not only in adulthood, but in the cultivated fields which provided their livelihoods on a day to day basis.

(As a sidebar, the beautiful redwoods at St. Helena High were planted by Mr. Wight's class of '41. They cared about trees. They just knew where to cut and where to replace.)

Today people laugh at me when I talk about football and character. Talking about it seems not only anachronistic, but the language of a Luddite. No doubt they are correct.

On the other hand, I know a young father today who can't see me without telling me how Carpy Gang changed his kid's life. He's not alone.

"I always figured you were full of hot air"--(how right he was)--"Especially when you wrote about Carpy Gang."

"But my kid saw the article and begged to go out for the team. We were against it. To us, football was barbaric and physically dangerous."

"But we gave in, knowing that after a day or two of sweating in those heavy pads, he'd come crawling back begging to return to the swim parties and croquet matches." (Ok. I made up the part about croquet).

"It changed his life. Suddenly he was standing taller, was more confident, studied longer, and was so much more disciplined than before." (No. I didn't make any of that up).

True, the town lost Bimmer last year. But Coach Artie Carr is still there and the current coaches, Navone, Heywood (Mr. Carpy's Grand-son-in-law), Bertoli et al. all played for Bimmer as kids. So what do you think they are teaching?

Apparently it is working, for last year, Artie's B team went undefeated, as did Coach Navone's varsity.

However, Carpy Gang has never been just about scoreboards. It is about young boys leaving the nest, being separated from hovering, helicopter parents-- and being taught initiation rites by men, who challenge them (like Indian elders of yore) to rise beyond their limits.

It's poetry in motion.

(Of necessity, there is a fee. James Warren & Son will (happily) pick up the tab for any child who wants to play but can't afford it. Just call, 963-2748).

To Sign up, call Artie (963-7425). Practice starts Aug. 1st.









Jeffrey Earl Warren
James Warren & Son
1414 Main St.
St. Helena, Ca.
94574
707-963-2748