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Friday, Oct. 09, 2009

Devotion is a Trojan ‘hoarse’

FORT VALLEY — By the time the sun rises over the peach orchards this morning, and flags have run up every flagpole in Fort Valley, Tim Wilson will already have on his game face.

He will be a clock-watcher all day, counting down the minutes to tonight’s kickoff. He will be feeling the butterflies because, yes, he still gets nervous, even after all these years.

When Tim leaves his job at Kay’s Community Service Center, where he works with developmentally disabled adults, he will wander downtown to catch the pregame buzz. Football is what everybody talks about on Fridays such as this one, especially those motor mouths over at Wilder’s Garage.

Tim will allow himself plenty of time to go home, fetch supper and put on the black T-shirt with all those battle-tested spirit pins.

Tonight, the second-ranked Peach County Trojans are hosting defending state champion Cairo, a team with a nickname — the Syrupmakers — that tends to stick with you.

Tim will follow his own hallowed tradition of parking in the same space at the stadium — the sixth spot on the right, near the drain pipe. He will take his place in seat K-22 in the bleachers, next to friend Grady Walton.

He is not a chair-weather fan. He doesn’t even really need a seat, just a place to stand and holler longer and louder than anyone between the goalposts.

He’ll try to spare enough of his voice to lead the singing Sunday morning at Chamlee Memorial Baptist, where he is the minister of music. He pushes his vocal chords every football season with the true definition of a Trojan “hoarse.”

Fort Valley, the land of those yellow Bluebird school buses, is also home to a 47-year-old man who just might be the most devoted high school football fan in America.

Tim Wilson hasn’t missed a Trojan football game — home or away — in 35 years. Tonight will mark another milestone, his 400th consecutive game.

Forget death and taxes. The “streak” is as sure as it gets. Tim and his wife, Alicia, changed their wedding date 17 years ago, then rushed back from their honeymoon in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., so he wouldn’t miss Peach County’s season opener against Perry. Even when his father, Merrill, was in a coma a few years back, Tim managed to keep both the streak and his dad alive.

“When he came out of the coma, I told him I had been to a game,” Tim said. “He said that’s what I should have done. He didn’t want me to miss one on account of him.”

The streak was born when Tim was 12 years old. The Trojans have won 275 of those 399 games, including 10 region championships between 1992-2006 and back-to-back state titles in 2005-06.

“I am there to support the school and these young people,” he said. “I don’t have any children of my own. I like to think I’m there to represent all the parents who aren’t able to attend.”

He graduated from Peach County in 1981. He never played sports but holds the distinction of being the school’s first male cheerleader. In 1996, he was issued his own letter jacket in appreciation of his dedication and support.

“Sometimes, I think I must be crazy,” he said. “But I love it.”

It has its way of loving him back.

Reach Gris at 744-4275 or gris@macon.com.