Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Mr. Dunham,
The coach of the Kinderhook Robin's baseball team. Any team that was from Valatie, knew they were up against the best team and players. You had to play your best against the Robin's, everytime. Often expecting to lose.
I remember kids from nearby neighborhoods of Westyln Grove would be on Jim's team. I would reflect and think to myself, how did they get on this team. We needed those kids to play better. Yet, magically the best kids would be on the Robin's (those light blue shirts represented dominance on the local baseball field). It was definitely the coaching.
Mr. Dunham turned kids I knew into fantastic team players. I would sit the bench sometimes in my dark blue jersey and think, this guy has a gift. I want to be coached by Mr. Dunham. The kids on my team are either fighting each other, daydreaming, or reading books/ not paying attention. By the end of each game against the Robin's, you knew who was the best. The Kinderhook boys.
Well, Bud Dunham and the Tom Maul had the chance to skate with the Valatie boys on our ponds. In the winter, as teens, we skated in and around, the Westyln Grove neighborhood. We had five staking ponds, thanks to the Apple Orchard farms. Bud seem to enjoy skating with people like Mike Dillon, the Hollester boys, and Jim Welch in his late teens and early twenties. While Tom Maul would organize a few years of weekend Hockey for all of the Northern Columbia County guys at the Frearer Park (Troy, NY) indoor rink. The spirit of Jim Dunham was within many of us to organize and have fun, as a clan of Ichabod region kids.
It did not matter which sport we played. Excellence developed from the influence of many fathers in our area. Jim Dunham influenced many kids and athletes. He taught us to have fun and play well. That I appreciated and I never was on his baseball team.
Sincerely,
Paul and Brian Sheldon
