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Some Stuff I Wrote (2001) H. Morris Williams

A ‘Long’ Quiz

February 22,1994

Who is this well-known CHS grad and Lake City resident? Here are your clues. His middle
brother played major league baseball for the Washington Senators. The Rotary Club’s academic and

athletic award is named after him. He never played high school baseball but he captained the 1937
Gator baseball team at University of Florida where he also had a 3.7 grade point average. He was

CHS’s first All-Southern football player and played football and baseball at UF, and coached all
sports at Jasper and Palatka. He got his well-known nickname as a child because he was the

youngest of four children. The answer to this “long” quiz is, of course, Eddie Joe “Tiny” Long,Sr..
OPEN HOUSE. •. The School Board’s Administrative Complex at 528 West Duval Street

will hold an open house from 3-6 p.m. on Friday, February 25. Here are some highlights of the
building’s history. In January 1923, the building officially opened for classes (more than 70 years

ago). The first graduation ceremony was held May 8,1923. Current Lake City residents Christine
McClinton Pennell and Nell Dickens Skinner were members of that first graduation class. In June

1959, the last CHS class graduated there. The president of the class of 1959 was local attorney Tom
Brown. Two months later, in August, the building became known as Lake City Junior High School.

P. A. Browning served as principal from 1959 to 1976. Then in August 1980 the building became
the seventh grade center and was known as Junior High West Campus. In June 1990, the school
bells rang for the last time. The building was closed to student use and those students moved to the

new Lake City Middle School. More currently, December 1993, marked the completed renovations
to the new Columbia County School Board Administrative Complex.

A FAREWELL TO JAKE . . . Longtime Florida A&M football coach, Alonzo Smith
“Jake” Gaither died last Friday at age 90. His 25-year coaching record was legendary: 203-36-4

(.842). Even more remarkable was his fantastic influence on thousands of FAMU students who
knew him as a father figure and friend, including many right here in Lake City who were lucky

enough to come under his influence. One such man was Richardson High School coach John
Burgess who played at FAMU for Coach Gaither. When Coach Burgess died, Coach Gaither came

to Lake City to speak at Coach Burgess’ funeral service and to support the Burgess family. A
scholarly man, Coach Gaither spoke at the funeral without benefit of notes and recited, from

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