DEAR EDITOR:
My name is Floyd W. Ortiz and I was raised in Gilroy and I
graduated from the high school in 1951.
DEAR EDITOR:
My name is Floyd W. Ortiz and I was raised in Gilroy and I graduated from the high school in 1951. I have a story that I would like you to publish because to this day I have a lot of bitterness in my heart for what happened to me in my junior year at the high school.
We needed some outside basketball courts. There were none at the high school. I built all the goalposts by myself. I started in September of ’49 and finished building them in spring of ’50. No one ever gave me any credit nor did any one ever thank me for this tremendous job which I did when I was 16 years old. I went by to see them recently and they are still being used.
My name was never mentioned in the yearbook of 1950 nor in the school newspaper, The Owl. These goalposts show were well built and have been in use for many years. I built them 52 years ago and they are still standing to this date.
They give a lot of joy and satisfaction when I see them, but I can’t over come the bitterness in my heart because no one ever said one word for all of the hard work that I put into them.
I am sure that very few people know who built these goalposts nor when they were built. All that I am asking at this time is to receive some recognition from the people of Gilroy for all of the hard work that this young boy of 16 did at that time.
Thank you so much for your kind attention and for all of your time.
Floyd W. Ortiz, Modesto
Submitted Thursday, Oct. 31
