Darkness has fallen. Stealthily, a group of teenaged boys make their way up the concrete slopes of the dam. With green paint as their palette, they quickly begin their homage to the Mighty Cougars. A lookout is posted, instructed to whistle a warning for a fast getaway. The letters, as tall as the boys themselves, spell out the alma mater and the long anticipated year of freedom - graduation. Someone has brought some hooch - Everclear - for inspiration and refreshment. A carlight flashes far down on the gravel-covered turnoff to the dam. With a quick, barely audible whistle, the frightened sentry takes off running through the night and never looks back. He runs with the wind, a star track athlete, and covers several miles before stopping. Did his compadres hear him? Did they have time to scramble off the dam and seek cover in the sparse vegetation growing nearby? Perhaps the car just turned around?
Back at the dam, the boys admire their handiwork and disappear into the night. Sworn to secrecy and knowing they have made their claim to fame, a pact is made between them. A code of honor: "One for All, and All for One" is their unspoken motto.
Alas, underclassmen, jealous of the tribute to the class of '72, deface it, make it their own. So intent on their mission, these brilliant thieves add their names to the concrete canvas, their bravery shall be known. Oh yes, indeed. That week, Barney Fife with his posse in tow, comes knocking on the high school principal's door, the infamous names written on a warrant. The price of fame is never cheap, and the brief moment of glory is soon erased with a cruel blast of sand.
Once whispered in the hallways, the story lives on only within the memories of those young boys, some of whom will see a half-century mark this year. This holiday, I will raise a glass in toast of those brave lads; a remembrance of an evening long ago and of spirited young men who could conquer the world.
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