One of the most popular and strongest parts of our school is the athletic program. Year after year, students make their way down the court, the field, or the diamond, supporting the vikings and the school they represent. But we would not have the program or the opportunity if it were not for the encouragement from our great community. Each season many people come out to cheer on our fantastic student athletes. The teens on the court can conjure up quite the unique crowd as well, every year our bleachers see many familiar faces. Probably the most familiar belongs to a man named Dubi.
Dubi has been coming to Orcas Vikings games for 32 years now, and year after year he has shown a tremendous amount of support. You can always count on him being there. During the game, feel free to head on over to his side of the bleachers and get yourself a tootsie pop, not a lollipop, free of charge.
“It’s a tootsie pop, not a lollipop!” He said before the opening game of our Vikings basketball season. “I don’t give em to people who call them lollipops!”
Picture by: Melanie Flint
When we asked about where the idea of the tootsie pops came from, he said it was part of his childhood. There were a couple of older people he would walk with each morning that would fill his brain with wisdom. In their pocket they would always have little pieces of candy to hand out to kids on their way down the street. Dubi said he asked one of them later about the candy, and in reply the man said, “because learning is sweet.”
Now Dubi carries on the tradition, coming to support our athletics and the growing brains of today’s youth. Along with the tootsie pops, another fun tradition comes. When you get your pop, be sure to check out the wrapper! If you find the little indian man shooting his bow and arrow, bring it back to Dubi for a “silver teepee”.
“Most people think of them as Hershey’s Kisses,” he said, “but they are silver teepees for the little indian man. And the white wrapper sticking out of the top is the smoke from the fireplace inside of the indians home.”
When we asked what his favorite sport to watch was, he did not hesitate to tell us. “I’m from Texas, you know I love football!”
So as the game was about to start we finished up our interview with one last question, why school sports? Why not just watch football on your DVR? He said of course, he loves to come out and support the athletic program, but to him it is more than that. With school sports comes growth. Dubi has watched many young children grow into fantastic and mature athletes. That is the promise that comes with the sports program, you learn just as much on the court as you do in a classroom. You learn time management, listening skills, and to love and support your fellow teammates just as much as they support you.
“From school comes value,” Dubi said, “and generation after generation I have watched kids grow.”
So we thank not only Dubi for coming and supporting us through our high school career, but also the community. The same community that will be cheering us on as we sprint into the end zone, shoot for the three-pointer, and whack the baseball as far as we can. That is why only on Orcas can you find a community that loves and cares about us just as much as we love and care about the game. Thank you to Dubi, the athletic program, and the people of Orcas Island.