1984 Gymnastics Homeshow, "Let's Have A Birthday Party"

1984

A video of the 75th gymnastics Homeshow at Springfield College in 1984. It was also part of the 100th anniversary celebrations of the founding of Springfield College in 1885. The show begins with head coach Frank Wolcott introducing athletic director Ed Steitz. Steitz then introduces the master of ceremony, Art Linkletter. Linkletter introduces the theme for the Homeshow, "Let's Have a Birthday Party," and goes on to welcome special guests that are in attendance. He begins with honoring Springfield College alum and Olympic gold medalist wrestler Jeff Blatnick, along with Olympic gold medalist gymnast Tim Daggett. Both Blatnick and Daggett competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The show continued on and Linkletter led the crowd in singing happy birthday to Springfield College, as the performers added 100 candles atop a large cake on the floor. Linkletter also gave a brief history of the college, including Naismith inventing basketball and Morgan inventing volleyball. He also honored Robert Windglass, class of 1957, for being the highest ranked Marine Corps officer ever at Springfield College. Others that were honored included men's soccer coach Irv Schmidd, the grandfather of modern gymnastics Leslie Judd, U.S. Congressman Edward P. Boland, and Mayor of Springfield Richard Neal. The show continued on with a performance by NCAA champion and olympic gold medalist Tim Daggett on the pommel horse and Springfield College NCAA champion Jeff Coehlo on the rings. Some other events that gymnasts performed included the balance beam, floor exercise, rings, vault, parallel bars, uneven bars, and horiztontal bars. There were also performances by the dance team and clowns, which have a rich history as part of the Homeshow. Linkletter also discussed the start of the parachute and pyramid building that Wolcott started in 1962. In addition to the performances, Linkletter announced the 1984 inductees to the Hall of Fame. These individuals honored were Karl Kurth, Richard Redding, Alan Schutts, and Robert D'Agostino. The show ended with the tableaux, which began with Leslie Judd who coached the team from 1921 until 1956. Tableaux, essentially, means living picture. It is a scene performed by costumed actors who remain silent and motionless as if in a picture. The Tableaux have been used throughout theatrical history, but was transformed by Judd to use by gymnasts during performances. The Tableaux as performed by Gymnasts at Springfield College, cover their bodies in a silver formula make-up. Each tableaux expresses an ideal or commemorates a moment. For biographical information on Frank Wolcott, see: https://springfield.as.atlas-sys.com/agents/people/54. For biographical information on Edward S. Steitz, see: https://springfield.as.atlas-sys.com/agents/people/110.