Mercer County Hall of Fame Notebook: Raykie regarded as the ultimate Farrell High basketball historian
Jan. 22—Not being presumptuous, but it's safe to say no one knows more about the history of Farrell High basketball than Jim Raykie. That affirmation includes former players.
This is due to Raykie's 4-plus decades as a reporter, then executive editor for The Herald, and a similarly-tenured stint with the Mercer County Hall of Fame board of directors.
It's also due in part to his DNA. Walk into the foyer of E.J. McCluskey Gymnasium and enjoy the ambience. The organization of artifacts, mementoes and photographs is a labor of love for Raykie,
"Brian Generalovich always says that the late-fifties and early-sixties were the 'Golden Age' of Farrell basketball," Raykie recently related from The Park Inn Radisson courtyard prior to his induction into the Mercer County Hall of Fame. "I was eight years-old when I saw my first Farrell basketball game in nineteen-sixty — and that's the only one I can remember. I remember sittin' there, and the players — Brian and Willie (Somerset) — runnin' across the red carpet. I can remember that.
"I tell people — and it sounds corny to them," Raykie continued, emphasizing, "but Farrell basketball formed the community fabric, and it was championship caliber. And those people who lived back then, that generation, it inspired them to be champions in everything they did — job, school. There was a HUGE amount of pride there! And whatever you did, you didn't want to let the city of Farrell down. Now when you tell people that, people who have no feeling for that, they think you're BS-ing, they think it's crazy. But it isn't."
While Raykie and his family reside in Sharpsville, he's as Farrell as Farrell gets.
"I grew up in Farrell. Saw my mom and dad go to work every day, and they taught me a work-ethic and I took that all my life and passed it on to (daughter) Jamie — she's a hard worker, and I'm proud of that," Raykie related. "Growing up in Farrell, a steel community, I carry those values with me to this day.
"My dad (Jim) was a smart guy. My dad was a mill worker for 30-some years at Jennings in Masury, where he worked 'til the day he died in nineteen-seventy-five, and he always said, 'Shorty' — that's what he called me, though I was taller than him — I want you to have a job where you get up and put a tie and shirt on every day and not go to the mill.
"A couple summers he got me a job in the mill," Raykie continued, "and I learned two things: I learned that I didn't want to do that for the rest of my life — it wasn't the work; it was boring, the same thing every day — and the other thing I learned is I got a real appreciation for those guys who worked in there — 'cause the very thing that I hated, that was their job, and they did it every day, year in and year out.
"We actually lived with my grandfather (Pasquale "Patsy" Lenzi)," Raykie continued. "My grandfather had a stroke and my mom (Mary) took care of him until he recuperated — it wasn't debilitating.
"But I grew up with my grandfather 'cause my dad worked all day. My grandfather was an Italian immigrant, had a garden (and) I was always out there pestering him. I learned a work-ethic from him, too. He worked hard. He was a 'Sharon Steel' guy all his life. Walked to work — never drove — walked down Idaho Street from Emerson every day to work.
"When I was a little guy we'd go hand in hard," Raykie recalled, "and on his payday we'd make the rounds: We'd go to the farmers' market ... we'd go to the bakery ... the meat shop. Idaho Street bustled — there were multiple bakeries, multiple drug stores, two movie theaters. Spent a lot of time with my grandfather, growin' up.
"And," Raykie emphasized, "I can't leave out Farrell schools. Farrell schools taught me a lot. The kids there were just like me: born and bred in Farrell, had a good work-ethic, and it was a great time to grow up. For those who weren't suited for college, Sharon Steel, National Castings, that was the 'safety net' for them ... and not only was it a safety net for those guys, it was a growing experience — 'cause if you were a cocky guy, when you went to the mill those guys straightened you out," he said with a laugh.
" ... And I also would like to mention a guy," Raykie continued. "There was a small marker on George Street — Schenker's Market — I worked there and I dated the owner's daughter (Betsy) in high school. (Ed Schenker) was an ex-Marine, Purple Heart guy, and he was an SOB to work for. I was datin' his daughter, and he was harder on me than anybody else who worked there. But I owe a huge debt of gratitude to him. I had the (work) ethic, but he taught me HOW to work. He taught me the organization of how to work, step by step, to get things done."
Though he did not play basketball for Farrell High, Raykie admired McCluskey. Later in life he actually became a McCluskey confidant.
"McCluskey was a great guy. He was a great teacher," Raykie recalled. "There's a saying out there that 'great teachers make great coaches.' He was a great teacher. He was a history teacher. I wrote a (Herald) column on him once. ... I was a gym rat. I would to to practice just to watch him. And I learned twelve things, and I used to give a speech about him — for example, being on time. When he'd run his zone (defense), you had to be at a certain place at a certain time; if you were late, there was trouble. And I learned organization — he had such organization. Not a minute wasted at practice ...
"I tell my friends, like Jerome Nixon (a fellow 2022 Mercer County Hall of Fame inductee), I didn't have to endure that on the court, so I got to appreciate (McCluskey) in real life. Those guys (former players) did, later on. But I got to appreciate him 'cause I didn't play for him. He was a dynamic person. I never heard the man swear — never once! ... But he was more superstitious than anybody I ever knew.
"I was at Penn State, it was the seventy-three/seventy-four season," a smiling Raykie reminisced. "(Farrell is) playin' Sharon at Farrell. So I drove home for the game ... It was snowin' like crazy. So I get to the game midway through the second quarter and Farrell's gettin' its clock cleaned, I mean, Sharon's beatin' 'em bad. So (former faculty manager) Joe Duich, my buddy, sees me and says, 'Where ya been?' And I told him, 'the weather's bad.' So he says, 'Come over here; I'll put you behind coach.'
" ... So, Farrell comes out for the second half and changes defenses and killed Sharon during the second half, ended up winnin' the game. A kid who had, like, twenty points in the first half, didn't score in the second half," Raykie continued. "So after the game I go into the locker room, and they're jubilant back there. And McCluskey tells Duich, '(Raykie) sits right there for the rest of my coaching days.' And I ended up sittin' there forty years — the same seat. When I was a kid I'd hear stories about Farrell people sittin' in the same seat for forty years, and I'd sit there — as a kid — and laugh. Then it dawned on me one day, 'Wow! I'm that old guy that I used to laugh it.'"
Besides the best basketball a youngster-adolescent-adult could hope to watch — 7 PIAA (big school) championships — another invaluable life lesson was imparted. Raykie, speaking specifically on the fabric of Farrell, recalled,
"Growing up in the (Shenango) Valley ... almost everybody had the same work-ethic. If they were the rich snobs, you didn't hang around them. But you could find people whose parents were mill workers, grew up just like you did, and appreciated the same things you did.
"Also, growing up in the valley — and I talk to my friends about this — we never, with all the race stuff (civil rights of the 1960's) goin' on outside, we never knew Black-White. Never. Jerome Nixon and I, we have been friends since we were twelve years-old. There was never any mention of Black, White in the valley. Really. Especially in Farrell. And in Sharon, too," Raykie said. "We would sleep over everybody's house. We would eat: My mother would serve Italian, and those guys would eat Italian; we'd go to their house and we'd have smoked-neck bones and smoked chicken and all that stuff. It was the cultural blend of people that was terrific."
Not surprisingly, only Raykie could compile a comprehensive list of former Farrell High basketball players, coaches, administrators who have been enshrined in the Mercer County Hall of Fame:
Jerome Nixon (2022); Judson Flint and Jerome Thomas (2020); Brian Sanders (2017); Nick Cannone and Ralph "Dutch" Dresch (2016); Larry Prince and Bobby Stewart (2015); Walter McKeithan (2014); Danny Stewart (2012); Lou Mastrian, Vernon Stewart and Randy Crowder (2010); Billy Capitol (2007); Marion Lampkins (2006); Dave Sudzina (2005); Albert Campman (2004); Bill Samuels (2003); Willie Alford (2002); Dave Johnson (2001); Sammy Iacino (1998); Brian Generalovich, Jack Marin, Don Jones and Willie Somerset (1997); Johnny Hammond (1995); Frank Sincek (1993); Jimmy McCoy and Sam Jankovich (1992); Russell Phillips (1991); Dr. James Kollar and Henry P. Campman (1990); Steve Skendrovich (1986); Bobby Hoffman and Mike Smith (1984); Joe DeLise (1983); Tony Knott (1982); Julius McCoy (1980); Steve Marin (1979); Tudor Lewis (1977); William "Kitty" Hyatt (1974); Ed McCluskey (1973), and John Hetra (prior to 1962).
Though he never suited up for the Steelers, Jim Raykie's name now can be added to that list.
"It feels kind've weird 'cause I never got on the board (of directors) to be recognized like this. I'm really humbled by it. It's weird, 'cause I've been coming here all these years — honoring inductees — and here I am, one. Actually," Raykie related "(wife Janice and daughter Jamie) are more excited than I am. ... They've put up with this. There's a lot of sacrifice there ...
"I've never been big on awards. I just never have," Raykie added, admitting, "But I appreciate the fact that people respect my work. I do respect that, and that's the biggest thing I get out of this. Not being up on stage, not getting a plaque, not getting another citation from (State Rep.) Mark Longietti. I guess (his Hall of Fame induction) is not a personal thing that makes me feel good; it's the fact that people respect my work, and respect what I've done."
To the best editor a guy could hope to have. To a man I respect and love like a big brother. Congratulations, Rake.
ED FARRELL is sports editor for The Herald. E-mail him at efarrell@sharonherald.com. Visit the Mercer County Hall of Fame website at mercercountyhall.org.
