Pine Prairie High School is restoring their old trophies back to their original glory. Above are three of the school’s oldest trophies. From left to right are: 1st place trophy won by PPHS at the Fullerton High School basketball tournament in 1927; Southwest Louisiana Basketball Championship trophy, which was won in 1925 and 1926; and Tri-Parish Fair Basketball Cup, which was won in the year 1927.
Pictured are three of the school's oldest trophies before being polished. (Photo courtesy of Wayne Dardeau)
Wayne Dardeau worked this past week on preparing PPHS’s trophy cases to hold many of the school’s trophies that have been in storage for 15 years. (Gazette photo by Elizabeth West)
By: ELIZABETH WEST
Associate Editor
PINE PRAIRIE -- Pine Prairie High School is bringing their old trophies, which Wayne Dardeau said “a lot of sweat went into earning,” back to life after being buried in storage for more than a decade.
In 2001, major renovations began at the PPHS campus, which involved remodeling the school’s gymnasium named in honor of PPHS hall of fame basketball coach Leslie Gaudet.
Before being stored away, the trophies that provide a glimpse into the success of the school’s athletic programs since the 1920s were trashed during the renovation process. Luckily though, employees at the time and former graduates noticed these treasures in the school’s dumpsters and recovered them before they would be lost forever.
From there, the trophies made their way into what is referred to as the “dungeon,” which is a storage area in the school’s gymnasium, until people began to question where some of the school’s most prized possessions had disappeared to.
Dardeau, who is the Evangeline Parish School Board President, said, “People had talked to me about where all of the trophies were because they enjoyed being able to come to games, look at the trophies, and reminisce with their children and grandchildren. I was upset with how the trophies had been kept for so many years, because the people that earned all of these trophies have a lot of pride in their school, and they deserve to have them on display for visitors to see.”
Since the journey through PPHS’s sports history began late last year, Dardeau, along with the help of PPHS Head Principal Anita West, Bradley Ardoin, who is a 1972 graduate of PPHS, and the school’s former boy’s basketball coach Chris Guillory, three of the school’s oldest trophies dating back to the mid-1920s and the school’s trophy that sets them apart from any other school in the parish; the 1965 women’s basketball state championship trophy; have been restored back to their original glory.
Along with repairing some of the school’s oldest trophies, Dardeau has also spent the last week cleaning the other “eight or nine boxes of trophies,” which includes six state track titles, some of which were earned during the reign of one of the school’s beloved coaches, Clyde Vidrine. He has also been replacing broken figurines on the trophies with new ones that Guillory has supplied the school with.
Dardeau’s plan originally was to have a variety of trophies from each decade on display to showcase, but unfortunately at this time there will only be one to showcase from 1950 to 1959.
As Dardeau glared at a picture in the trophy case of the 1953 boy’s basketball team, which is the only decade that no more trophies have been found from, he said, “The work ethic of the players that won all of these trophies was just unbelievable, and what they were able to accomplish was amazing. I’m still hoping we will find more trophies from the ‘50s stored somewhere so that we can put those in the trophy case as well, because that was some of our best basketball teams in school history.”
Putting the trophies back on display is something that Dardeau hopes will not only restore pride, but also enlighten former graduates and current students of sports that once existed at their school, like volleyball, which PPHS won a state title many years ago.
Dardeau said, “In 1963 we had a volleyball team that won state, but today most people don’t even know that we even ever had volleyball here. Putting that in the trophy case is going to allow a lot of people to learn something new about their school, and it’s those kind of things that will help people have more pride in the school.”
As the effort to preserve trophies and restore pride continues, the 1964 PPHS graduate is hoping to use the past to restore the want, determination, and drive that he remembers students having during his years as a student.
Dardeau said, “While we are in the process of repairing trophies, we are going to also work on having a board with the names of those who have set parish track records in particular. I’m hoping that students will see that and the trophies and think ‘what do I have to do to get my name up there,’ or ‘what do I have to do to be apart of winning a trophy that everyone will see.’ Maybe this will increase our student participation in extra-curricular activities, and allow our students to have great pride in the same school that I have always had so much pride in. There is a lot to be proud of, and I want our students to see that.”