My brother-in-law, Ervin Koehn of the Rose Haven Nursing Home in Marengo, turned 90 the other day, and he showed up at his birthday party wearing an appropriate T-shirt.
The message on the front said: "I'm out of bed and dressed; What more do you want?"
Obviously, Erv -- who is shown in the photo at the lower right with my son, Mark, and me -- still knows how to have fun.
There are plenty of other pictures from the party displayed above. The good-looking guy at the lower left is Gerhard "Gary" Hinrichs, an 85-year-old brother-in-law of Erv, and I'll get to him in a few seconds.
I always have a good time at Erv's birthday parties and the Koehn family reunion picnics that are held every July at Danny's home with the swimming pool in Cedar Rapids.
Those occasions are when I get a chance to talk sports with Todd, Craig, Kevin, Ross, Rick, Ed, Ken and the other guys, and gorge myself with the food prepared by Betty, Mary Jane, Diana and the other girls.
Todd had a cigar for me at a recent reunion picnic, and I was hoping he'd have one at Erv's 90th birthday party, but he didn't. Instead, Todd [an attorney] kept me busy talking about whether the NBA playoffs are fixed or not.
I told you about Gerhard "Gary" Hinrichs a bit earlier, so I'll get back to him now.
He was telling me he thinks he was an honorable mention selection on Jack North's 1942 Des Moines Sunday Register all-state basketball team.
Gary played for Guernsey High School in those days, and he was a 6-foot 1-inch, 160-pound guard.
"Were you a point guard or a shooting guard?" I asked him.
"Shooting guard," he said. "We didn't have point guards then."
Jack North picked the Register's all-state teams for many years, and he knew every good high school basketball and football player in Iowa.
Even though he's 85, Hinrichs still reports at 7 o'clock in the morning three days a week to work at a grocery store in Marengo. He stocks shelves in aisles 3 and 4.
When Craig York found me during Erv's birthday party, he wanted to talk about a couple of things.
A few years ago, I signed a copy of my book, "Tales from the Iowa Sidelines," for him.
Somewhere along the line, he loaned the book to a friend of his. After reading the book, he told Craig, "That's the best book about Iowa football I've ever seen." that he'd ever seen."
"Tell your friend thanks," I said.
"My friend also has a question for you," Craig said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"He said he wondered if [former Iowa football coach] Hayden Fry ever coached a team with the nickname of Mustangs," Craig said.
"He sure did," I answered. "Hayden coached the Southern Methodist University Mustangs [from 1962 through 1972], then he went to North Texas State in 1973, then to Iowa in 1979."
"Well, that might help answer my friend's question," Craig said. "He wonders if there's any truth to the story that Hayden got a new Ford Mustang when he was coaching the Mustangs."
"I'll ask Hayden the next time I see him," I told Craig.
Craig, his friend and I don't have to wait for the answer.
When I got home, I checked the book, "Hayden Fry--A High Porch Picnic." that was co-authored by Fry and George Wine, the former sports information director at Iowa.
In the book, Fry writes about SMU opening the 1963 season with a 27-16 loss at Michigan. Ironically, the Wolverines were then coached by Bump Elliott, who later was the athletic director at Iowa when Fry was hired there.
After SMU's loss at Michigan, Fry writes in the book, "I was talking to my team in our dressing room when one of my managers interrupted to say there were some men from the Ford Motor Company outside who wanted to see me. He said they were persistent. So I went through the door and met Lee Iacocca, Ford's CEO, and some of his aides. He said he had an important announcement for my football team and asked to come in.
"He climbed on top of a training table--he's a big man, so he really towered over the group--and told the team that Ford was about to introduce a new sports car that was small, sleek and fast, with great acceleration and maneuverability. He said that several names for the car were under consideration--among them Cougar, Bronco, Cheetah and Colt.
"But today, after watching the SMU Mustangs play with such flair, we reached a decision," he announced. "We will call the new car the Mustang. But it will be light, like your team. It will be quick, like your team. And it will be sporty, like your team." He said we shuold be proud that Ford had selected the SMU nickname.
"My players were proud and happy with Iacocca's decision. His announcement was a real mood elevator after after the loss to Michigan. It was a great tribute to the SMU players that of all the names he could have picked for the new sports car, he chose ours. When Ford began producing Mustangs, I received one of the first to come off the assembly line. And, of course, we had it painted in SMU colors--red, white and blue..."
So there's the answer for Craig York and his friend.
