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ON SPORTS BY GRAHAM TAYLOR Hummel working to keep U-6 afloat As a youngster at Madison High School, Don Hummel was a letter winner in track, excelling as a shot putter for coach Warren Carpenter’s Cubs. He won a varsity letter in that sport. Don also played basketball as a member of coach C.O. ‘Poodle’ Manaugh’s Little Cubs — the Madison junior varsity team, for two seasons. He never quite made it to the varsity level, however, because his mom worried about back problems that might not endure the physical contact involved in that sport. Hummel, instead, watched the Madison Cubs of coach Ray Eddy from the stands as a spectator as they made back-to-back appearances in the state finals, claiming the runner-up trophy in 1949 and the championship in 1950. Now, 52 years later, Don Hummel has undergone surgery four times since January for back problems and a fifth hospitalization is indeed a possibility. He will likely learn his fate Friday morning when he undergoes examination at the Jewish Hospital clinic in Louisville. “It’s been a miserable year for me,” Hummel, the 15-year chairman of the Miss Madison Finance & Steering Committee, said Tuesday morning at his home on Ryker’s Ridge. “This is quite painful and it really bothers me. I’m just not able to get around and tend to the business of the golf tournament and other functions of the boat like I have in the past.” The 24th annual Miss Madison golf tournament will take place Sunday, Oct. 6, at Madison’s Sunrise Falls Golf Course and Hummel plans to be on hand “if at all possible” to direct the community-owned unlimited hydroplane’s single-largest fundraiser of the year. His physical problem is a Pilonidal cyst located adjacent to his tailbone. Walking results in pain. Sitting too long is also painful. “Doing just about anything physical is painful,” he said. “It’s great to answer your questions because answering them gets my mind off the problems I have with my back for a least a few minutes.” Hummel, the son of a former Madison City Police officer, the late Al Hummel, admits everything is not financially well with the Miss Madison Finance & Steering Committee as the 2002 season ended with last Sunday’s race in San Diego. “As near as I can figure, I have written checks worth more than $200,000 since 1987 from fundraisers, and the sale of Miss Madison souvenirs like T-shirts, caps and race buttons,” he said. “Our Miss Madison Fan Club at one time had as many as 270 dues-paying members but that figure has decreased to less than 150. And we used to have an annual dance in addition to the golf tournament that provided financial help. The money just isn’t out there like it was five or 10 years ago.” He noted the balance in the Steering Committee’s checkbook is “down to about $1,100 right now, and that’s about the lowest I can remember.” Hummel mentioned that his Fan Club still has some members “scattered all over the United States and Canada,” but most members this year are located in the Madison and Detroit areas. “We still try to put out a newsletter six or eight times a year and we continue to provide each member with a Fan Club pin which I started in 1989, but it’s a difficult thing to do without the kind of support we have had in the past.” A season-ending newsletter will be mailed out soon, Hummel promised. He hopes to have reports from each of the regular contributors — Hank Bentz, Dave Taylor, Fred Farley and himself. DON HUMMEL WASN’T able to attend last Sundays’ race in San Diego because of his physical problems but he received several phone calls from hydroplane fans who live in Detroit and San Diego keeping him informed about driver Steve David and Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison’s racing activities throughout the weekend. “Next to Madison, the San Diego race is the best on the circuit,” said Hummel. “It’s a nice course, a nice city and nice people. There’s real good golf out there too. Some of us including (Miss Madison, Inc. president) Bob Hughes always managed to get away for a day of golf in Las Vegas which was a lot of fun. And, I’ll tell you this right now, the race that was held for several years on Lake Meade was not one of my favorites. It was a lousy place to race — windy, blowing sand, and the race course was 25-30 miles out of Vegas. It was a bummer of a place to have an unlimited race.” Don admits that the Detroit River is a dangerous place to race boats but he has lots of good things to say about the Spirit of Detroit event. “I saw my first out-of-town unlimited race up there in 1984 and haven’t missed one since,” he said. “I love to go to Detroit because I know so many people connected with boat racing there. We have a bunch of them who have been faithful Fan Club members for all these years.” Madison’s race course is his favorite. “I’m not alone in saying we have the best place to race,” Hummel said. “The long straightaways, the tight turns, the bridge, the fantastic viewing areas on both sides of the river, and the super hospitality provided by the race committee, our residents, and the city of Madison make our race site the favorite one of everybody — the owners, drivers, crew and fans alike.” DON HUMMEL CAN tell you everything you want to know about practically every city that has hosted an unlimited hydroplane race since he retired from The Williamson Co. on April 1, 1987. He attended “a few races” before he retired but has missed only five since then. “I made it to Hawaii three times for races at Pearl Harbor and those were not exactly short trips,” he said. “Owensboro was a nice place and I liked the races at places like Seattle, Syracuse, Kansas City, Evansville and Miami. I went to all of them and enjoyed talking about Madison wherever our boat raced.” As a board member of Miss Madison Inc. Hummel quickly pointed out that “all board members paid their own way getting to and from the out-of-town races and for hotel rooms and meals.” He said he took it upon himself to investigate the possibility of obtaining hotel and motel rooms at a reduced rate or at no cost for members of the Miss Madison crew prior to a race. “I managed to reserve seven free rooms in quite a few cities for the crew. I just took it upon myself to do it. I would usually get calls from the crew members a week or so before they would leave asking if I had rooms for them. I always told them that I’m working on it or I’ve got ’em.” Hummel, who started his 36-year position at Williamson in engineering, completed his employment there as sales manager. At the age of 71, he continues to enjoy golf but admits the Miss Madison tournament doesn’t attract the attention it once did. “It used to be the highlight of the year at Sunrise but now it’s just one of the many, many tournaments held there,” he said. “That’s the reason the number of entries has been down the last couple of years.” A total of 278 golfers took part in the 1995 tourney giving Miss Madison Inc. a fine financial boost. THE ENTRY LIST during recent years has been between 175 and 200 golfers, according to Hummel. “We work and work to get players as well as sponsors but both have been down lately,” according to the chairman of the Finance & Steering Committee. “It’s a tighter economy now and that makes it more difficult for me to get the sponsors I used to get,” Hummel noted as he listed nearly a dozen former supporters who no longer participate. The Clifty Engineering & Tool Company is the sponsor of this year’s tournament. It will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6 at Sunrise. The entry fee is a $50 donation to Miss Madison Inc., which will be used to support the unlimited hydroplane racing team. Each player entered will be placed on a six-member scramble team by a pairings committee and will play 18 holes of golf. Ten merchandise prize packages will range from $360 ($60 for each team member) for first place to $90 ($15 each) for 10th place. A hole-in-one on the No. 10 hole will earn the golfer a Yamaha golf cart. Other prizes will be awarded for longest drive at No. 13 and closest to the pin at Nos. 4, 6, 10 and 17. Hummel says golfers can pick up entry forms at the Sunrise pro shop. Businesses and individuals desiring to sponsor a single golfer or a team are encouraged to call Don Hummel at (812) 265-5501 and he will be more than happy to fit them in. If his sore back heals, Don will be out on the course swinging. More than likely, however, he will be one of the greeters when tournament players arrive at the Michigan Road clubhouse on Oct. 6. Either way, he will still enjoy the personal satisfaction he gets of doing his part to keep the U-6 Miss Madison running on the water for the city of Madison another year. It’s an enjoyment he missed in not making Madison High School’s state championship basketball team in 1950. |
