Man for all seasons: Peach County’s Tim Wilson hasn’t missed a high school football game — home or away — in 45 years

The most loyal high school football fan in America lives in the land of peach orchards. He shares the same tough turf with the yellow school buses that roll off the assembly line over at the Bluebird plant.

Tim Wilson has worked with developmentally disabled adults at the Kay Center in Fort Valley for 33 years. He and his wife, Alicia, celebrated their 28th anniversary last week. For the past 32 years, he has served as minister of music at Chamlee Memorial Baptist Church, where he also has taught Sunday School and served as a deacon.

Loyalty and longevity have been with him in all his life’s callings.

Tim has not missed a Peach County High School football game — home or away — in 45 years.

Lord willing and the COVID don’t rise, the streak will march on Friday night when Trojans host Northside.

“There’s not a Friday night that goes by during football season that somebody doesn’t ask me: ‘What is the number tonight?’’’ Tim said. “It has become a source of community pride.’’

For the record, it now stands at 543 games. His dedication has endured floods and droughts, sweat and frigid temps, church revivals, honeymoons and high fevers.

Peach County boasts one of the premiere high school programs in the state, a perennial playoff contender. But there hasn’t always been glory days. Tim can remember sitting on cold bleachers when about the only folks who attended Trojan games were those with children in the band. He has scarfed down dozens of burgers on road trips to remote corners of the state. Yes, the iron man has an iron stomach.

If he punches his ticket for every Trojan game this season, he will have not missed game for 46 of the 50 years Peach County High has been in existence.

The “streak” began when he was 12 years old. His parents, Merrill and Carolyn Wilson, took him to every game. It was the year before Jimmy Carter was elected to the White House. Now, time has marched past so many mile markers that, in another four football seasons, Tim will be old enough to draw a social security check.

“When we married, he only wanted to get to 200,’’ Alicia said. “And you see where we are now.’’

Tim graduated from Peach County in 1981 with the distinction of being the school’s first male cheerleader. Although he never played football for the Trojans, the athletic department later issued him a letter jacket for his unbridled school spirit.

Alicia got her first page out of her husband’s playbook when their wedding date was moved so not to conflict with the 1992 season opener against Perry. The Wilsons made the five-hour drive from their honeymoon in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, just in time to pull up at the stadium, their suitcases still in the car.

On Football Fridays, Tim dresses in his traditional black-and-gold outfits. He is decorated with so many spirit buttons he looks like a decorated war veteran. Or a pin cushion.

“The pins are one of my trademarks,’’ he said. “Some of them go back 40 years. A lot of them have been torn up in the heat of battle.’’

Fans from other schools have gotten to know Tim over the years. If they don’t know his name, they call him “Mr. Peach County” or “Mr. Trojan.’’

For Tim, it is a badge of honor.

When Peach County plays at home, he enjoys his good-luck pregame meal at the Eighteen36 restaurant downtown, where a hot dog platter – with ketchup, relish and fries – has been named in his honor.

He has his own special parking spot at the stadium, and he traditionally arrives 90 minutes before kickoff. His season tickets are on the 40-yard line with his long-time bleacher mate, Grady Walton.

His loyalty extends beyond the football field. For more than three decades, he has umpired baseball at the local recreation department and has kept the scorebooks for the high school basketball teams.

“Tim has a unique devotion,’’ Alicia said. “People think it’s just football because that’s where they see him and hear him. When he umpired Little League, he was on his third generation of players. People would stop him for a picture because the parents had played or the grandparents had played under him.’’

He has been a bedrock at his church, a dedicated servant who usually is there every time the doors are open. Friday nights in the fall, however, are non-negotiable.

Chamlee once had a minister, Buford Tanner, who would schedule church revivals on weeknights through Friday. Tim could live with that — except for the time the church had a revival in the fall, and the Trojans were playing a big game in Bainbridge.

“I told him, ‘Preacher, I’m going to be your most faithful attendee through Thursday night. But, on Friday, I’m going to be in Bainbridge because the Bible doesn’t say anything about Friday … except Good Friday, and that’s not in the fall,’’ Tim said. “He said, ‘Brother Tim, one of these days you’re going to have to miss a game.’ And I said, ‘Yes sir, one of these days somebody is going to die mighty inconveniently.’ ’’

In the South, football practically counts as a religion. Tim looks at it that way — and also through a different lens.

“I once asked myself why I do this, and the Lord revealed to me I am doing it for the parents who cannot go or will not go,’’ he said. “As I have gotten older, it has developed into a ministry for me in a lot of ways.

“When you go to a high school football game, no matter where you are, you are supporting the young people at both schools. Even though you are pulling for one school, you can have an impact on both. If I died today, I feel like I would have led a full life.’’

Ed Grisamore teaches journalism at Stratford Academy in Macon. His column appears on Sundays in The Telegraph.