One story he told was that the University of Scranton defeated Notre Dame in a football game on field that was located on the same property as Genetti Manor. He clarified that at the time, the University of Scranton was Saint Thomas College.
At the time, there was no Internet as we know it for fact checking. Last week, this story came to mind, so I decided to see if I can verify it. An Internet search yielded the following webpage.
History of University of Scranton Football
Sure enough, for the 1932 season, the article said, “St. Thomas routed the Notre Dame "B" squad 24-6”, but the article did not say where the game was played. Further down the article says that in 1940, the team started to play at their new stadium in Scranton.
I know that there was a football field in Dickson City in the vicinity of Genetti Manor called Crystal Gardens. The Dickson City High School Black Hawks football team played their home games there.
I sent an e-mail to the archives mailbox as indicated near the bottom of the webpage to ask if the Saint Thomas Tomcats (often referred to as the “Tommies”, or the "Purple and White") played their home games at Crystal Gardens in Dickson City before 1940. The next business day, I received a response from Special Collections Assistant, Christian A. Scipioni. He replied, “It appears St. Thomas did indeed play at Crystal Gardens from 1931 until the stadium switch.” He provided the following link.
The Aquinas 1931-10-16
In the article, Tommies Lose to Quantico Marines in Night Contest it says, "The Quantico Marines placed a 14-7 defeat in the 1931 record of St. Thomas College last Friday night. The game, the first one staged by the Purple and White under the arc lights in Crystal Gardens, Dickson City, was enjoyed by approximately 2700 spectators."
So I conclude that Kenny Maloney’s story is true. The Saint Thomas College (later the University of Scranton) Tomcats defeated the Notre Dame “B” squad on a field located in the vicinity of Genetti Manor in Dickson City.
When I discussed this with my father, Joseph Klapatch, he told me that Jim Thorpe also played football at Crystal Gardens. (This will be another small research project.)
I remember the early days of the Mid-Valley School District, and the first few football seasons in the early to mid-1970s. The home football games were played at the Valley View stadium in Peckville. I asked my father if they had kept Crystal Gardens, would it have been suitable for Mid-Valley home games. He told me that the stadium at Crystal Gardens was gone by the 1950s. When he attended Olyphant High School in the 1950s, Olyphant, Dickson City, Archbald, and Blakely high schools played their home games at the stadium in Peckville. Jessup High School also played in Peckville until they got their own stadium.
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