“I heard a Mount Union player say, ‘I wish we had fans like that.’” –SCOTT OLMSTEAD
of varying styles wander between tables loaded with fruit, pasta, buns, chips, and Carol Runge’s famous Carolina barbeque. The place smells like a backyard cookout as grills sizzle with hot dogs, brats, chicken, and hamburgers. The more experienced tailgaters set up canopies with red Wabash flags attached, set out coolers, and turn up the music. This first game of the season is a reunion. “I love how at these tailgates we see all these friends we’ve made over the years,” says Kathy Buresh. She and her husband, Bob, have sent four sons to Wabash and have traveled with the team for nearly a decade. “You really go through withdrawal at the end of the season, and you can’t wait for the first scrimmage so you get to see all of your friends again.” “We’ve been coming to games since the early 1980s,” says Sherry Ross, administrative assistant to the Dean of Students since 2000. “It’s like a family coming together. It’s such a good group of people who love Wabash.” Her husband, Gary, explains why he and Sherry attended games long before she worked at the College: “I can’t imagine anyone not falling in love with Wabash football. You can approach our players; you can approach our coaches. We get to know families and alums. There is no better place to be on a Saturday afternoon than at a Wabash game.” “There is an intimacy about this,” says former Dean of Students and Athletic Director Tom Bambrey ’68. “I think that reflects Wabash’s sense of community, that strong sense that we are all in this together, that our current students deserve our support. “When it comes time to play an away game, our players and coaches look out at our stands and see all these people. It’s crucial, and it’s a tradition that’s been here for generations.” “Our opponents know that we travel very well,” says Cal Black ’66, a retired FBI agent who grew up around Wabash, where his father was director of admissions. “They’ll even comment that we usually bring a crowd that is as big or bigger than the home crowds. That’s a lot of incentive to come and support the team.” FA L L 2 0 1 6 | 2 5