The Bulldog Century

Mike Marsh, director of the Sikeston Historic Depot, looks through some of the Sikeston Bulldog football memorabilia with past coach Charlie Vickery. In honor of the team's centennial this year, the Depot will have a special display and is looking for items to help show the history of football, the band, Red Peppers and Bleacher Bums (Photo by David Jenkins, Staff)

Depot plans special display to mark 100th anniversary of Bulldog Football

SIKESTON -- In October 1908, students at Sikeston High School played football against Chraleston -- the first football game in southeast Missouri. The game, which the team that later became known as the Bulldogs won, was played in a sandy field behind the old South Grade School, right off the 300 block of West Malone Avenue.

This year, Bulldog football will turn 100. And the Sikeston Depot is planning a special exhibit to showcase "The Bulldog Century."

"One hundred years is special ... 100 years is history," said Mike Marsh, director of the Depot. "It's just a special event for anybody, for anything."

Marsh wants the exhibit to chronicle Bulldog football through the decades and is urging participation by the public viewing and contributing to the exhibit. It will be on display Sept. 3 through the end of October.

"We want to show how important football has been throughout the history of Sikeston," said Marsh. "Young kids can come in and learn about how their fathers and grandfathers played football."

The Depot is requesting the loan of uniforms, helmets, letter jackets, commemorative footballs, photographs, and any other related items as well as artifacts from the Red Peppers, cheerleaders, the band and Bleacher Bums.

"We want this to be a great display, but we're going to need a lot of help," said Marsh. "We need loans of memorabilia from former players, fans and friends of the program to make it a truly memorable event."

The display will be up from Sept. 3 through the end of October.

The Depot already has some items previously donated -- including programs from the Sikeston-Charleston Thanksgiving game, letter jackets and photos from the Baugher Studio Collection. But officials are looking for more.

"We're not asking people to give it to us -- we're asking them to loan us the items," Marsh continued. He said he hopes to be swamped with too many items to be displayed at once -- and if that happens, the memorabilia on display will rotate.

Marsh said the display will be located in the Depot's main gallery, and likely take up about half the space.

Charlie Vickery, who was head coach of the football team from 1978 to 2003, said he hopes the display generates a lot of items, and interest.

"Football has been such a big part of Sikeston schools, and really the town itself," he said. "Everybody rallies around the football season. Especially in the '60s and '70s, because that was all you had in the fall."

Vickery estimated that, in those years, games generated a crowd of 6,000 to 7,000. "It's an event instead of just showing up for the football game," he said. Marsh noted that, years ago, the town practically shut down on Friday nights, because "it was the thing to do" and everyone went out to watch the game.

"We're here to remind people about the way things were," said Marsh. He said he hopes the gallery will be a learning tool, and maybe even re-ignite that widespread interest in cheering on the Bulldogs football team.

One of the biggest changes Vickery said he's seen over the years is the facilities. "They were always good," he said. "But now they are great. The facility now is as good as a lot of small colleges."

And there has been quite a bit of talent shown on the field throughout the years.

"Sikeston had a lot of good football players, and a lot of good athletes come from here," said Vickery. Former standouts James Wilder and Brandon Barnes even went on to play in the NFL.

Marsh asked that any loans be brought to the Depot by Aug. 29. For more information, call 481-9967.