Down on the Farm

photo courtesy of the Pittsylvania Historical Society

Hargrave was originally founded in 1909. At that time, however, it was called the Chatham Training School. It wasn't until 1925 that the school was renamed after one of its cofounders, J. Hunt Hargrave.

The predecessor to the Chatham Training School was the Warren Training School, which was led by Headmaster Charles R. Warren. After the 1908-1909 school year, a group of businessmen led by J. Hunt Hargrave purchased the Warren Training School and renamed it the Chatham Training School.

On Friday, February 19, 1909, Warren Training School's Dramatic Club put on a stage performance of the musical, Down on the Farm. The photograph from the Dr. Glenn B. Updike, Sr. Collection of the Pittsylvania Historical Society is of a wagon on Main Street in Chatham advertising a local show. That show is thought to have been Down on the Farm by the drama students from the Warren Training School. The individual standing up holding a megaphone is Dick Reid. The driver is Fletcher B. Watson, Jr.

The lyrics to the music of Down on the Farm was written by composer Raymond A. Brown in 1902. The music was written by Harry Von Tilzer.

Brasso

There are some smells that remain with you for eternity because they immediately conjure up memories of good times or bad times you experienced in the past. For example, I can't bear the smell of gin or squash. Any proximity to the drink or the vegetable make me nauseous because... well, let's just say they each came up the wrong way once.

One of the most disgusting smells out there is probably the odor emitted by Brasso, that famous metal polish. Oddly enough, though, I find the smell not so unpleasant because it reminds me of Friday nights at Hargrave preparing for inspection on Saturday morning.

As if it were yesterday, I clearly visualize me and my Colombian roommate, Fernando Manrique, sitting at our desks rubbing the hell out of our uniform buttons, our belt buckles and our metal band insignia on our hats, using an old handkerchief or towel. The smell of Brasso permeated every room on our barracks, and it remained on our hands even after several washings.

I'd never even heard of Brasso before going to Hargrave. Now, every time I use the stuff to clean something around the house, I find myself reminiscing a little about long hours rubbing in a circular motion till my wrist ached.

Mentoring graduating cadets

Cheatham Chapel (photo courtesy of HMA)

Hargrave's 2006 graduating class consists of 78 cadets. Thes eindividuals have received letters of acceptance from 117 different colleges and universities. Does anyone know if Hargrave has some sort of "mentors" program that brings together alumni and graduating cadets, so that alumni can share information and insights about the colleges/universities they attended?

Seems like this could be helpful in better preparing students for what to expect. It would also be a good additional marketing point for the school. It wouldn't take much to match those alumni who attended a particular college/university with the students who plan to attend that same institution... especially now that we have the Hargrave Alumni Forum.

For example, there are three universities on the list that I attended: American University, George Mason University, and the University of Richmond. I graduated from the University of Richmond and took graduate courses at American and GMU. There are four graduating cadets this year who have been accepted by these three universities, including Philippe-Olivier Armand, Stephen Kendall, Walter Whitt and Michael Wheeler.

I would've been glad to drive down to HMA during one of these past weekends (ideally Homecoming weekend) and spend a few hours with these cadets, fielding questions about the universities and the cities of Fairfax, Richmond and Washington, DC, where the schools are located.

It's just one more thing that Hargrave can offer its students that would give them even more of an "edge" than they already have.

Greetings from Chicago...

Hello Col. Baker, greetings from Chicago, Fred Hardman, Hargrave Military Academy, Class of 1965, and before I get started Colonel, take a look at Hargrave's site there... my good old Barracks 4, my first room at Hargrave, number 408. I'll never forget that as long as I live. View complete video letter

Legends

Joe Fratangelo (photo courtesy of Ed Berlien)

One of the great "fun" things about coming to a Homecoming is to catch up with long lost friends, and, of course, to hear the stories. I thought I'd share a couple of stories I picked up at homecomings.

Joe Fratangelo arrived at HMA from New Jersey to play varsity football. Those of you who knew him will remember that he was a helluva football player, as well as a waiter in the mess hall.

Joe was (and still is) a great guy, but being from NJ and speaking like a Soprano, he initially had a lot of trouble understanding our Southern drawl. He roomed with another football player, Larry Berry, from Morganton, NC. Joe says that when he first met his new roommate, it sounded like the guy said, "Hi, my name LahBurr." Joe said it was two weeks before he could finally understand that the guy was saying, "Larry Berry". (Of course, I'm sure Larry had a hard time understanding anything Joe said... other than "f**k, which all Yankees from NJ can pronounce perfectly and frequently!)

Those of you who knew (or know) Massie Simpkins know he was/is also a great guy, and he also played football at HMA. Near the end of his senior year in college, Massie had yet to decide what he would do upon graduation (Those of us who know him would not be surprised to learn this!). One day, while walking across campus, he ran into friend who was heading to a meeting with the Navy recruiter. Massey had no interest in the military, but agreed to accompany his friend for "moral support". His friend ended up taking the potential pilot's exam, and Massie took it too, just to kill time, as he knew he didn't have the math, physics, etc. skills needed to pass the exam.

As we all know, Massie has always had a horseshoe up his ass. The answer sheet was one of those "fill in the dot" things. Apparently the guy before Massie had beared down really hard on his answer sheet, and the impressions had come through to the blank answer sheet underneath. In other words, there were "impressions" on Massie's answer sheet, so he just blackened the dots where the impressions were. His friend flunked the exam; Massie got one of the highest scores ever recorded! But, as I said, Massie had no interest in the military.

Several months after graduation, Massie had yet to find employment, so he returned to the Navy recruiter, and ended up flying jets during Viet Nam. But the horseshoe was still there, so naturally he ended up spending his tour of duty in Hawaii. (I think that's why he still wears those Hawaii shirts all the time.) Massie spent most of his career flying for USAir, and retired a year or so ago. He is now flying for some organization in Africa. If you know of some private company in the USA who could use a well-experienced--albeit OLD stick jocky--you might drop Massie a line.

The above mentioned "legends" are still around.

Marc Axel
marc.axel@verizon.net
Class of '63

Hargrave goes to court to stop website

(photo courtesy of Henry H. Mitchell)

Hargrave Military Academy attorneys were scheduled to be in federal court today (Wednesday) to convince Judge James C. Turk to extend a temporary restraining order as a preliminary injunction. It would continue to shut down an inflammatory website about the school.

Judge Tuck's docket, however, has Hargrave's appearance listed as May 31.

Added to the mix this week is an interest by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia which filed a memorandum in opposition to Hargrave's motion for a preliminary injunction.

One of the ACLU's greatest concerns is the protection of the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, purports the organization.

The website was launched May 5 by Jerry and Melissa Guyles of Holly Springs, N.C., whose son, a Hargrave senior, was dismissed March 17 for stealing DVDs and an Ipod.

His dismissal was recommended by the Hargrave Cadet Honor Council and upheld by Hargrave president Col. Wheeler Baker.

The site attacked Col. Baker, criticizing his leadership ability and decisions and the school's operations and policies.

The ACLU says Hargrave's requested injunction restricts the Guyles' freedom of speech to an enormous degree, calling it unconstitutionally vague, overly broad and an unprecedented and unjustifiable restraint on speech.

Jerry and Melissa Guyles also sent letters to Hargrave parents expressing their discontent with the academy and threatened to sabotage recruiting efforts and school activities by speaking out.

The letter said Baker lacked courtesy, professionalism, honesty and integrity and that cadets are expelled frequently and capriciously.

The ACLU contends that much of what is in the letter and on the website is either opinion or statement of uncontested fact.

The ACLU says Hargrave seeks to shut down the entire website and enjoin further contact between the defendants and other parents.

Such an overly broad injunction, they contend, would violate both the First Amendment and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which "require injunctions to be specific in terms" and "describe in reasonable detail the act or acts sought to be restrained."

Hargrave sent a letter on April 28 urging the Guyles to cease and desist their malicious attack on Hargrave as an institution and refrain from further interfering with Hargrave's contractual relationship with parents of its students.

On May 3 Mr. Guyles sent an email to Baker, Admissions Director Frank Martin and School Commandant Mike Jeffcoat "laced with profanity and vulgarity," according to court papers.

It stated that Baker lacked "testicular fortitude" for failing to respond to Guyles' demands and advised that the letter to parents is generating "a hell of an interesting response."

Hargrave and Baker filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Roanoke Division, last week against Jerry and Melissa Guyles for libel, assault and slander.

A temporary restraining order was issued May 8.

They attempted to dissuade parents of prospective students from enrolling, to convince parents of current students not to re-enroll next year, and solicited other parents to join in their vendetta against Hargrave and Baker, according to court records.

Additional papers filed Tuesday reference allegations that the Guyles teen and perhaps his parents are destroying information the youth posted on MySpace.com that incriminated him in stealing and drug use.

The lawsuit says Baker affirmed the recommendation of the Honor Council and expelled the Guyles teen for multiple violations of the Honor Code pledge as well as violating Hargrave regulations.

In pertaining to stealing, the code provides that "any cadet caught stealing on or off campus or in possession of an article reported stolen has violated the cadet Honor Code and will be subject to punishment up to and including dismissal."

Melissa Guyles said she acknowledges her son did something wrong, but dismissal with only nine weeks left until graduation was not appropriate.

The Guyles have attempted to "vilify Hargrave as an institution in the eyes of parents and its students," according to court records and are attempting to "defame" Col. Baker.

The lawsuit contends that without a permanent injunction the efendants "will continue to cause Hargrave to suffer irreparable injury."

It also specifies that the academy is entitled to damages in excess of $75,000 to be determined through discovery and trial.

The federal court has jurisdiction because the plaintiffs and defendants are citizens of different states and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.

Susan Worley
Chatham Star-Tribune
May 17, 2006

Reborn at Hargrave

On a forgotten old sod runway, deep enough in the woods that deer scat marks its boundaries, one of the galaxy's unique football teams is about to take it to the house.

A low sun dipping below the Blue Ridge behind him, Robert Prunty, the coach, has already quoted Marcus Garvey, cited Moses and the Canaanites and, with just a few days left in the season, is working one more time to stir something within the players kneeling before him.

"Stay humble!" Prunty rumbles. "There's a reason that each of you are here. Your job is to find out what that reason is."

Generally, that reason would be to make someone else's Friday miserable. For around Prunty is the postgraduate team from Hargrave Military Academy, as impressive a collection of high school talent as the game affords.

Some are here to seek NCAA academic eligibility. Others asking for a second look by Division I recruiters. Others just chasing the big-time college ball dream. They have come from 18 states to Hargrave --- "The Grave" to the initiates --- for a crash course in, it ends up, humility.

"The first week, I was like, 'Dang! I could be in high school and going to the prom and stuff,' " Vidal Hazelton, a receiver from Virginia Beach, said. "But I'm almost over that now."

A year from now, they will be as far away as imaginable from this cold field. From a roster of 54 players, 17 have either signed with or committed to major college programs and a host more will follow come national signing day. (The school holds its own annual scouting combine Dec. 5, which is expected to draw about 300 coaches.) Over the past three years, Hargrave has placed 120 players in Division I schools.

And Hazelton, at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds and still only 17, might be the best high school receiver in the nation. Not that that will get you anywhere around here. As if anyone needs daily reminder, the team must hike a round-trip mile from the main campus to the school's unused airstrip, up a rocky dirt road that can't really lead to the SEC or Big Ten or ACC. Can it?

"We demand respect," said Dr. Wheeler Baker, a retired Marine colonel and Hargrave's president. "We demand what they do here. And I tell [the players] that's what the coaches are going to say on the practice field. They don't have time for nonsense here. You're out of high school now. You've grown up a bit.

"This is what your real world is going to look like, if you want to be in it. If you don't, that's OK. That doesn't matter to us."

Setting right for mission

Located a block off Chatham's picturesque Main Street, Hargrave's campus could pass for a small college, once you get past the cannon --- it's a 105-mm howitzer and a beauty --- that guards Camden Hall, the main building. With a 300-acre campus, a $3 million endowment and a uniformed student body of 400 (grades seven through postgraduate), the place hardly resembles the football factory some believe it to be.

Fact is, Hargrave resents the "factory" inference. Hall of Fame basketball coach Larry Brown went here. NASCAR's Ward Burton went here. The 96-year-old school's list of distinguished alumni is stocked with doctors, lawyers, politicians and even the editor of Reader's Digest (Henry Hurt).

"We are not a football factory," said Frank Martin, a 20-year Navy officer who is director of admissions. "We have a good program, but I will tell you we are an academic factory. We have 100 percent acceptance rates into colleges and universities, including our postgraduates. That should tell people something."

But since its PG football -- and basketball -- programs resumed some 15 years ago after nearly 20 years of dormancy, rosters have amazed. The St. Louis Rams' Torry Holt (1999) became the school's first first-round NFL draft pick. Three more Hargrave alums became first-rounders over the past four drafts: defensive end Charles Grant (by New Orleans in 2002), defensive tackle Jon Sullivan (by New Orleans in 2003) and cornerback Carlos Rogers (by Washington in 2005).

That Grant and Sullivan went on from Hargrave to the University of Georgia is hardly coincidental. Since 1998, Georgia has referred 11 players to Hargrave, including six current Bulldogs: tight end Leonard Pope, defensive tackle Darrius Swain, tailback Danny Ware, defensive end Ray Gant, defensive tackle Marquis Elmore and receiver Jamar Bryant.

"I think I respect football more," Ware said of his 2003 PG season, "and I cherish every minute of it."

The latest would-be Bulldog in the Hargrave pipeline is Darius Dewberry, a 6-3, 220-pound outside linebacker. Dewberry realized he would not qualify academically early in his senior season at Peach County High School, and Georgia suggested he consider Hargrave.

"It was a change for me," Dewberry said, "but I knew I had to do what I had to do to get where I want to get."

Most populous among the 2005 Hargrave Tigers are Florida State prospects. With 6-2, 320-pound tackle Callahan Bright, ranked by Scout.com as the country's No. 5 defensive tackle, Matt Hardrick (6-5, 340) and defensive end Justin Mincey (6-5, 240), line play in Tallahassee is about to get a boost.

Ole Miss has two signees on the team, as does Maryland. Alabama signee Mike Ford, a bruising 210-pound tailback, has had a solid season. In all, the ACC (Maryland, FSU and North Carolina), SEC (Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Kentucky and Tennessee), Big East (West Virginia and Syracuse) and Big Ten (Illinois) are represented among the signees. And with a starting offensive front that averages 6-3 1/2 and 329 pounds, Hargrave will get any opponent's attention.

"That's true," Prunty said. "We win a lot of [games] getting off the bus."

Playing a schedule composed of Division I freshman teams, junior colleges, Division II and III varsities and rival Fork Union Academy, Hargrave was 8-2 entering this weekend's finale at West Virginia. The Tigers intentionally play 10 of their 11 games on the road to expose the players to college campuses as well as to facilitate college scouting.

"Some teams, they dress out full-grown men," Dewberry said. "I'm like, 'What are they doing?' "

School one of 3 of its kind

What is Hargrave doing?

Though the nation's number of military secondary schools is stable at around 40, there are only three field top-flight football programs. Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pa., claims Chris Doleman ('81) and Larry Fitzgerald ('02) as alums. Fork Union, 40 miles west of Richmond, is one of only two high schools to produce two Heisman Trophy winners: Vinny Testaverde ('82) and Eddie George ('90).

Since re-establishing its PG program, Hargrave has sent 10 players to the NFL, and player response to the program has swelled annually. Prunty fields interest from between 300 and 400 players each year, which he can swiftly cut down to 100, based on quality of player, his academic bearing and his prospects for adapting to military life. Isolation is also a consideration; Chatham (population: 1,338) is located 20 miles north of Danville, Va., precisely near nothing.

"We're not in the business of qualifying kids," said Baker, the president. "We're in the business of helping the kids we think we can help out. There are some that are just so far down that they're beyond any honest help."

"Every student who comes to Hargrave has his curriculum individualized," said Walter Sullivan, the academic dean. "We don't have a cookie-cutter mold for any student, whether they be high school or otherwise."

Postgraduates report in mid-August for three weeks of practice and indoctrination. They form their own company, bunk in the same two-floor quadrant of Camden Hall, learn how to wear the uniform and even how to march. The corps of cadets marches to all three meals, drummed in by three drummers (down from 10, after neighborhood objection). Recently, the school has averaged two PG withdrawals per year, those usually quitting after the first several weeks.

The school has a zero-tolerance policy against drugs and alcohol. Cadets must sign a 10-point pledge governing conduct, appearance and achievement before their application is even accepted. Each PG cadet is issued a day planner crammed with rules and regulations when he arrives, and each is required to write down their goals for coming to Hargrave. That page gets periodic review.

"We ask them to come in with an open mind," said M.K. Payne, a 23-year Marine who serves as the PG TAC Officer (or class mentor). "We take away all the frills. No telephones, no TVs, and if there are TVs, we confiscate them. We shut it down to the point where it's sports, classroom work and getting the scores, getting what you're here to get."

Reveille is a 6 a.m., classes are completed in the morning, and lab work takes up the afternoons before athletics at 3 p.m. Chapel is held twice a week, and there is a two-hour study hall five nights a week with taps at 10:30 p.m.

As imagined, discipline is vigorously enforced, and a listing of infractions, all the way from uniform violations to missed classes, is tracked daily on a big board outside the student center. A cadet lacking his hat before formation may be asked to drop and rip off 25 push-ups. Those who accrue too many demerits are assigned "tours," which are solitary one-hour marches around a 10-yard square in a back parking lot.

Any cadet failing to complete a homework assignment is banished to a special "No Homework Study Hall" before lunch formation and cannot eat until his work is completed.

Culture shock? Asked if he ever considered leaving, Dewberry said, "Woo. Every day. Probably like three or four times a day during camp. When school started, everything calmed down for me."

Tuition is steep: $23,000 for a postgraduate year. And while the school dedicates $240,000 (or nearly 11 scholarships) in financial aid for the football team, how Hargrave manages to draw so many star prospects with such budget limitation has been subject to speculation.

"We finance a little bit for some of the kids, but the rest come and pay," Baker said. "We don't have a huge stadium here. We play on the road. We get some financial assistance sometimes --- a donation of a bus or something --- but that's about it. ... We minimize the expense here."

Prunty said he tries to limit individual aid packages to $5,000 for those students who qualify, though Ware said nearly all of his expenses were covered during his 2003 year. Referring schools may not underwrite a player's tuition, and for some families the cost is simply too high. Georgia 2005 signee Corey Moon from Decatur originally opted for Hargrave when his spring SAT score failed to gain him eligibility but could not afford to enroll. He is still in Decatur with a tutor.

"These families are taking out loans on their homes, second mortgages, everything, man," Prunty said. "They believe in their kids so much, it amazes me what people will do for their child. I would say we got 30 kids that took out mortgages or loans on their home. We also use Sally-Mae, Freddie-Mae and Fannie-Mae.

"It's a tough situation on me because with the colleges the way they are, they want me to bring in 50 kids with 11 scholarships. We're the top prep school in the nation, but I've got to bring in 50 kids on 11 scholarships. How long can that last? I don't know."

Nor are there any guarantees. Georgia signee Andre Zellner, for instance, enrolled in 2001, never gained his eligibility and wound up at Valdosta State. One-time Georgia signee Tavarus Morgan became eligible at Hargrave in 2000, only to transfer once he reached Athens.

"A lot of the kids will come in here having committed to the big schools and believe that that's all it takes," Payne said. "But once they get here, they find they're not the big fish in the small pond. Everybody here is good. So they have to swallow their pride to a degree and work with the team. And that's a little bit harder for some than it is for others."

Fork Union game biggest

It is the biggest day of the season: the Fork Union game. After a 2 1/2-hour bus ride, the Hargrave Tigers warm up in silence while a stadium P.A. plays a collection of John Phillip Sousa marches. The two PG powers meet in near seclusion. Aside from the Fork Union cadets, barely 100 fans are assembled, mostly family but also a passel of scouts. Clemson, Georgia, Texas and Virginia coaches are present, but so are others from Towson, Richmond and Carson-Newman. For recruiters, this is one-stop shopping.

While the quality of play is understandably high, the speed, even down to kick coverage teams, assures this is no ordinary prep school game. Admission is free. There are no cheerleaders. For two teams that get only one season together --- just this big rival game --- the moment is sublime.

"We're like a family up here," said George Helow, a reserve safety from Jacksonville who still awaits his first recruiting pitch. "We march together. We live together. We play football together. We eat all our meals together. ... Playing with all these guys that have scholarships, it's just making me a better player every day."

Fork Union eases out to a nine-point lead, but gradually Hargrave's massive offensive line asserts control. Running backs Ford and Keiland Williams, a bruising 225-pounder from Louisiana, accumulate 420 all-purpose yards. Hazelton scores on a 45-yard bomb. The Tigers prevail 40-34. Their only two losses --- to the Navy Plebes and Virginia Tech ---were by a total of four points.

Within two months, those committed players who have satisfied academic goals will be allowed to depart for their respective colleges and who knows where else. Others hitch their future to turning some coach's head at the December combine. For almost all of them, military life ends come June.

But the big game isn't over yet, not until the team cheer. Gathered at midfield, hopping in unison, the team from The Grave gives itself permission to stand down, chanting into the late afternoon, "At ease ... at ease ... at ease ..."

Thomas Stinson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
November 13, 2005

Col. E.A. Floyd

Cadet Fred Hardman and his father (photo courtesy of Fred Hardman)

Col. Floyd was a mainstay at Hargrave for a very very long time. I got to know him during my years there (1959-1965). At that point in time he was mainly retired and was severely crippled. If I recall correctly, his wife was in charge of the library. He took all of his meals at Hargrave at the staff Headtable -- seven days a week.

This man was a true professional and entirely devoted to Hargrave and the welfare of the cadets. As many of my era will remember, Col. Floyd was notorious for writing down notes (mostly positive things) on a small tear-off notepad he always had with him. He then pointed to you to come over to him and he'd give you the note without saying anything to you, yet with a sly smile was on his face. One of the most positive men I have ever known...

Fred L. Hardman
fredhardman2000@yahoo.com
Classs of '65