SPORTS
winter 2014 | St. Lawrence University Magazine 7
On Campus
6 winter 2014 | St. Lawrence University Magazine
Travel for women’s basketball
wasn’t so easy 80+ years ago
The following is extracted from a long
letter women’s basketball player Marion
Brown Blaisdell ’32 wrote to her mother.
The letter was provided by Peter Van de
Water ’58, later her son-in-law, who
surmises that it was written in the winter
of 1931-32. If so, she describes one of the
last women’s road trips for many years, for
the University abolished women’s intercol-
legiate competition after that season and
did not reinstate it until the early 1970s.
“Miss Sansom” is Martha Sansom, St.
Lawrence’s first director of women’s athlet-
ics, and presumably the coach alluded to
in the first sentence.
Compare the methods of travel and ac-
commodation Marion Brown experienced
with the hotels and heated buses with
lavatory and wi-fi that St. Lawrence
student-athletes enjoy today. –NSB
Sixteen of us, including coach, manager
and assistant manager, started Thursday
at two o’clock in taxis for Ogdensburg,
ferried across the St. Lawrence (to
Prescott, Ontario), and then took taxis
to Brockville where we ate and waited an
hour for the International Express (train).
(In Canada, the team was beaten in
Toronto by Margaret Eaton School,
24-14, and, the next night, in London
by the University of Western Ontario,
30-19. The next day they traveled by
train and taxis back to Prescott.)
Here is where the fun begins. Two taxis
were to meet us in Ogdensburg but on
the (Canadian) side they said all roads
were blocked because of a big storm. We
were all prepared to stay in Ogdensburg,
but lo and behold there were the two
men at the dock.
Miss Sansom said that if there was any
danger of our not getting through not
to try it, but Dodger (the taxi driver)
said that although it took them an
hour and a half to come over they were
behind the snow plow, and that was
pretty slow.
It took us from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30
(a.m.) to go eight miles. That meant
10 more to go. By that time we were all
soaking wet, after helping to push cars
ahead so we could go. There were about
four other cars in the procession with
us. Finally they gave up and we knocked
on the door of a farm house.
Yesterday afternoon there had been a
head-on collision in front of this same
house, and the ones that didn’t go to
the hospital were still in the house.
That meant one room for all of us. The
farmer didn’t know what to do with us
for there weren’t chairs enough, so his
step-mother who lived next door took us
(the 16 girls) in. She had two beds and
a cot so we drew cards to see who would
get them. The eight highest won—I got
a four spot. We played cards awhile and
finally parked on the floor to sleep.
At 3 a.m. the snow plows came and
the taxi men wanted to start on behind
one. We were all set to go when we were
informed that a plow had covered one
car all up and we couldn’t get out until
daylight. About that time even the floor
felt pretty good and I guess I slept about
an hour or two.
At 7 this morning, we started again
and at 9 we were (in Canton). I’ve never
been so dirty in my life. What’s more,
we all smelled barny. After writing all
this, I’m ready to sleep.
Lovingly, your daughter,
Marion
Homecoming wasn’t just for alumni in 2013. Fall Fest took place on campus on the same weekend, and offered visitors, students, local
residents and anyone else pumpkin-carving, cider-pressing, horse-drawn wagon rides around campus, and more.
Road Trips Back in the Day
In this portrait of the 1931-32
women’s basketball team, letter-
writer Marion Brown is second from
the left in the first row. The sister
of eventual St. Lawrence President
Foster S. Brown ’30 and mother of
Becky Blaisdell Van de Water ’60,
she majored in psychology, married
Thomas Blaisdell and became a
schoolteacher and 4-H leader in
South Westerlo, N.Y. She died in 1989.
New Residence Hall Progresses
Construction of the new campus residence hall, on schedule for occupancy by up to
155 students in August 2014, progressed well through the fall, thanks to generally
favorable weather. The structure was enclosed by early December, allowing interior
work through the winter months. Geothermal well-drilling has been completed; the
24 wells, each about 450 feet deep, will heat and cool the new residence hall and
“demonstrate St. Lawrence's commitment to sustainability,” Chief Facilities Officer
Daniel Seaman said. “St. Lawrence signed the President's Climate Commitment and
is working to become carbon neutral by 2040, (and) the geothermal wells are a big
step toward that goal.”
For up-to-date information on the project, go to
.
Scary Face or Smiley Face?
Here
We Go,
Saints!
Keep up with your
favorite St. Lawrence
sports teams.
For schedules, scores,
statistics andmore, visit
saintsathletics.com
