Shattered glass, once lights from 60-foot-tall stanchions, litters Booster Stadium in a prank that school workers, students and officials find hard to believe.
By JOHN SCHWARB
Published September 16, 2004
SPRING HILL - George Welling recalled his younger days long ago, when overturning outhouses was a pretty simple, yet innocent, schoolboy prank.
What he saw Monday, however, was anything but innocent. Or easy, for that matter.
Someone late last Friday night or early Saturday morning sneaked over the fence into Springstead High School's Booster Stadium, climbed two light stanchions on the stadium's east side and removed nearly all of the lenses and bulbs, throwing them onto the field.
The end result was countless shards of glass from shattered bulbs, requiring a massive cleanup. The lenses, roughly 18 inches in diameter, were thrown like Frisbees all over the stadium.
The Hernando County Sheriff's Office is investigating.
"I can't visualize someone climbing up that tower," said Welling, Springstead's head groundskeeper. "They had to be really happy about something."
"Happy" would be the last word to describe Springstead athletic director Bob Levija, who first discovered the mess Saturday morning.
"I'm beside myself, I'm so upset," Levija said. "I've been picking up glass."
Levija said 10 school employees came in Monday to clean up the bigger pieces; smaller fragments have been kicked up with lawn mowers.
"It's not like writing graffiti on a wall, where you say, "Oh well, paint it or clean it up,' " Levija said. "This could hurt somebody, if somebody goes down. ... This just really bothers me."
Welling said 27 bulbs were broken. Levija estimated the damage at $10,000, and is offering a $500 reward to whoever provides information leading to the culprit.
"This is "too cool,' so some of these kids are going to be talking," Levija said. "I'm going to find out who did it."
School officials would not venture a guess on whether it was a student from Springstead, from another school or not a student at all. The football team plays at Central on Friday night and opened the season Sept. 2 with a home game against Hernando.
"If it's an in-school prank, it's sad because of the lack of pride. If it's an out-of-school prank, it's a classless thing," football coach Bill Vonada said. "You're dealing with kids' safety, and not even Springstead's kids' safety, but the opponents of Springstead, any of the youth league kids or outside organizations that use the field."
Some students were incredulous about it all. The light stanchions are about 60 feet tall.
"I wouldn't go that high. I'm too afraid," Springstead football player Phil McGuire said. "I've never heard of someone climbing up a light post and breaking all the lights, throwing them on the field. It's just stupid."
John Schwarb can be reached at 800 333-7505, ext. 1407. Send e-mail to schwarb@sptimes.com
