Lou Holtz and Barnesville
The announcement Wednesday of the passing of legendary college football coach, Lou Holtz, at the age of 89, is a reminder of his visit to Barnesville in April 1987 when he was the featured speaker at the annual Barnesville Chamber of Commerce Spring Banquet.
The event took place Sunday, April 5, in the Elks Ballroom after some questioned if the event would even take place.
A major late winter snowstorm that began Friday night and continued through almost all of Saturday dropped over a foot of snow on the Ohio Valley.
Sunday temperatures moderated, the snow melt began and the banquet went off without a hitch.
Why did Holtz, who was born in Follansbee in 1937 and grew up in East Liverpool, come to Barnesville? Well, a school classmate of his was Bob Dorsey, local pharmacist. In addition to going to school together, they were college roommates at Kent State University.
At that time, the late Barnesville Enterprise editor and sportswriter Bill Davies wrote in the short front-page piece featuring this photo:
After Notre Dame head football coach Lou Holtz, left, had wowed ‘em with an entertaining and dynamic presentation at Sunday night’s annual Barnesville Area Chamber of Commerce and Development Council Banquet, an old friend, Barnesville resident Bob Dorsey, right, had the honor of presenting a gift of appreciation to the personable grid boss of the Fighting Irish.
Dorsey, a local pharmacist, and Holz were high school classmates at East Liverpool, and later roommates at Kent State University.
It was Dorsey who was instrumental in bring Holtz to Barnesville for the Chamber event, and early in his remarks the highly successful coach said he couldn’t turn down his old buddy.
Prior to presenting Holtz a set of “Dallas” glasses, hand-decorated by Lotus Glass in Barnesville, Dorsey turned to his friend of long-standing and said, “Lou, I guess I owe you a big one.”
Some 300-person sat spell-bound as Holtz worked his special magic, turning from moments of laughter to periods of rapt attention as he offered a tribute to the late Woody Hayes, and spelled out his rules for success. He left no doubt of his ability to motivate and to inspire, and as to why he is so highly successful in his chosen profession.
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For those of the younger set who do not know who Dorsey was, he went on from Kent State to graduate from the School of Pharmacology at Ohio Northern University in Ada. He owned and operated Dorsey Professional Pharmacy located at the Barnesville Medical Center for many years. After selling the business in the early 1980s, he worked alongside fellow pharmacist Bill Finnical at Finnical Drug Store on West Main Street.
Like Holtz, Dorsey was born in 1937 and passed away in 2013.
While researching this piece at Barnesville Hutton Memorial Library today, it was shared that Martha Sanford Wells, longtime Barnesville resident and East Liverpool native, also went to school with Holtz.
In fact, her twin brother, Mark Sanford, played with Holtz on the East Liverpool Potters football team. Martha’s daughter Diane Wells Burga, an employee of the library, shared a photo of her uncle in the team photo seated near the legendary coach.
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