LIFE The Art of the Game
10 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011
OVER THE MOUNTAIN
JOU RNAL
Left: Homewood High School’s Lettermen change up their body painting each game, but they always spell out Homewood. The Vestavia Hills High School Lettermen typically Journal Photos by Lee Walls Jr. paint their chests white and spell out “#Go Rebels!.”
the lineup
Vestavia and Homewood Lettermen were in full force this past Friday night for a key Region 6 game between the two schools. Members of the Letterman include:
• Andrew Mims • B.J. Houston • Johnny Simpson • Robert Smith • Luckie Kaufman • Trey Melazzo • Holton Deatherage • Ryan Smith • Jack Bryan • Allen Bates
• Graham Spencer • Michael Lummis • Ben Ferren • Nolan Stevens • Matt Qualls • Spencer Smith • Whit Joseph • Jack Smalley
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Schools’ Lettermen Shed Their Shirts, Show Their Spirit BY LAURA MCALISTER
JOURNAL EDITOR
T
hough their rituals are somewhat different and their allegiances at odds, the Lettermen at Homewood and Vestavia Hills high schools have the same goals – to support their teams and ignite their fans. The tradition of the Lettermen dates back further than either of the schools’ current members can recall, and most anyone who has been to a high school football game has seen fans like them. They’re the young, shirtless men on the sidelines painted in their school colors, each bearing a letter on his chest which, combined, spells out their team names. Whether the weather is stifling hot or freezing cold, they are at all the football games cheering on their teams and rallying their fans, and on a recent Friday night, Homewood and Vestavia’s Lettermen came face to face. While both agree it’s a fun way to cheer on their teams, they’ll also tell you it’s much more than that. “This is really just a great tradition,” said Graham Spencer, head of Homewood High’s Lettermen. “We’re looking for guys to be leaders for our student body. We set the tone. It’s really a great honor to be selected.”
We’re looking for guys to be leaders for our student body. We set the tone. It’s really a great honor to be selected.
– Graham Spencer, head Letterman at HHS
The selection process varies at the two schools. At Homewood, students decide who gets to wear the letters and bare their chests each Friday in the fall. Eight Lettermen spell out “Homewood.” Each year, the group includes five seniors, two juniors and one sophomore. The sophomore, who’s chosen by the head Letterman, will go on to be the head of the group his senior year. Graham said great care is given in selecting the Lettermen. This year’s sophomore is Ben Farren. Junior Michael Lummis, who was selected as a sophomore, will be the head Letterman next year.
“Ben is a leader in his grade, and Michael, he’s probably one of the top three smartest people in his grade,” Graham said. “I trust Michael. I think he’ll be a great leader, and I think Ben, he’ll be as good or better than me.” At Vestavia, only seniors have the honor of being Lettermen. Students used to be in charge of choosing them. But this year, the selection process was changed to allow students to sign up for the group, and teacher and cheerleading sponsor Kim Whitten officially took charge of the Lettermen. “In the past, no one was really over it,” she said. “This year, we decided to let them sign up for it. We also have them all wearing red shorts this year instead of just whatever they wanted. I told them just to get a cheap pair of red shorts because they’re going to get paint all over them.” Vestavia has 10 Lettermen this year. The group spells out “#Go Rebels!” and sits at the front of the student section each game. While there have been changes to the structure of Vestavia’s Lettermen this year, they still carry on the longstanding traditions of those before them. “At the games we actually run the flags,” said Letterman Johnny Simpson. “We do pushups every time we score. At Thompson we had to do