ED BROSS - GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
ED BROSS – GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
It’s funny how your perspective on things changes over time. When I was a kid going to high school sports events in the sixties, I kept seeing one man in attendance at all of the games. Eventually I found out that his name was Ed Bross, and that he was Ann Arbor High’s official scorekeeper. I figured that ANYONE who was associated with AAHS sports had to be a very important person, and assumed that the job of official scorekeeper was undoubtedly a much-sought after position.
Over the years I came to realize that the scorekeeper’s job was a voluntary position, and that it was largely a thankless task that usually fell to whoever the coach or athletic director could con into doing it. Not only did this realization not diminish in my eyes the work that Ed Bross had done over the years, it actually made me admire him even more.
It’s hard to imagine now how long Ed served in that capacity, and just how long ago it was. He started keeping score for the Pioneers in 1932 – that’s two years before my Dad would enter Ann Arbor High as a sophomore. Ed continued as the scorekeeper for the next 33 years, until his death in the fall of 1965.
My most vivid memories of Ed are from attending Ann Arbor High baseball games in the early sixties, just after the school’s home field was moved from West Park to Veterans Park Diamond #5. On a cold, windy early spring day when the number of players on the field outnumbered the spectators, there would be Ed in his overcoat, sitting in his little folding chair up behind home plate, holding the scorebook in his lap.
Imagine what he must have endured through those 33 years – the frigid late afternoons at the ballpark, the frosty nights at the old hockey Coliseum, and driving through ice and snow to get to a distant gymnasium on a mid-winter night. Obviously, although he wasn’t paid for his work, he must have got a great deal of satisfaction from what he did, or he wouldn’t have stayed at it for as long as he did.
What is even more astonishing is that he didn’t take the summer off! Once the school year ended, he took on the task of overseeing scorekeeping for the dozens of baseball and softball teams that participated in the Ann Arbor Recreation Department leagues.
When Ed died, there was a nice write-up about him in the paper. I cut out his picture, and taped it up on the bulletin board in my bedroom where it remained for a number of years. Ed did not have any children, and although he touched the lives of many young people through his volunteer work at the high school, it seemed that within a very short time after his passing, he had all but been forgotten.
Fortunately, there was one person who never forgot him, and that was me. A few years ago when visiting the Pioneer Athletic Department website, I saw that the Pioneer Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame was taking applications for “Volunteer of the Year.” Even though it had been many years since Ed had done his volunteer work, I felt that no one was more deserving of the award than Ed Bross, so I nominated him.
Earlier this year, I got the wonderful news when the phone rang one morning, and I was told that Ed would be honored at the annual Pioneer Hall of Fame dinner. Thank you to all of the members of the Pioneer Athletic Foundation Committee for choosing Ed for this award. If it had not been for this decision, the memory of Ed Bross and his many years of service likely would have been lost forever. Instead, now he will always be remembered for his many contributions to Ann Arbor High School Athletics.
It’s funny how your perspective on things changes over time. When I was a kid going to high school sports events in the sixties, I kept seeing one man in attendance at all of the games. Eventually I found out that his name was Ed Bross, and that he was Ann Arbor High’s official scorekeeper. I figured that ANYONE who was associated with AAHS sports had to be a very important person, and assumed that the job of official scorekeeper was undoubtedly a much-sought after position.
Over the years I came to realize that the scorekeeper’s job was a voluntary position, and that it was largely a thankless task that usually fell to whoever the coach or athletic director could con into doing it. Not only did this realization not diminish in my eyes the work that Ed Bross had done over the years, it actually made me admire him even more.
It’s hard to imagine now how long Ed served in that capacity, and just how long ago it was. He started keeping score for the Pioneers in 1932 – that’s two years before my Dad would enter Ann Arbor High as a sophomore. Ed continued as the scorekeeper for the next 33 years, until his death in the fall of 1965.
My most vivid memories of Ed are from attending Ann Arbor High baseball games in the early sixties, just after the school’s home field was moved from West Park to Veterans Park Diamond #5. On a cold, windy early spring day when the number of players on the field outnumbered the spectators, there would be Ed in his overcoat, sitting in his little folding chair up behind home plate, holding the scorebook in his lap.
Imagine what he must have endured through those 33 years – the frigid late afternoons at the ballpark, the frosty nights at the old hockey Coliseum, and driving through ice and snow to get to a distant gymnasium on a mid-winter night. Obviously, although he wasn’t paid for his work, he must have got a great deal of satisfaction from what he did, or he wouldn’t have stayed at it for as long as he did.
What is even more astonishing is that he didn’t take the summer off! Once the school year ended, he took on the task of overseeing scorekeeping for the dozens of baseball and softball teams that participated in the Ann Arbor Recreation Department leagues.
When Ed died, there was a nice write-up about him in the paper. I cut out his picture, and taped it up on the bulletin board in my bedroom where it remained for a number of years. Ed did not have any children, and although he touched the lives of many young people through his volunteer work at the high school, it seemed that within a very short time after his passing, he had all but been forgotten.
Fortunately, there was one person who never forgot him, and that was me. A few years ago when visiting the Pioneer Athletic Department website, I saw that the Pioneer Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame was taking applications for “Volunteer of the Year.” Even though it had been many years since Ed had done his volunteer work, I felt that no one was more deserving of the award than Ed Bross, so I nominated him.
Earlier this year, I got the wonderful news when the phone rang one morning, and I was told that Ed would be honored at the annual Pioneer Hall of Fame dinner. Thank you to all of the members of the Pioneer Athletic Foundation Committee for choosing Ed for this award. If it had not been for this decision, the memory of Ed Bross and his many years of service likely would have been lost forever. Instead, now he will always be remembered for his many contributions to Ann Arbor High School Athletics.
posted by Jim Heddle at 11:14 PM
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