BRANSON MO NEWS:
By Mike Tupa | mtupa@examiner-enterprise.com
Dwight D. Eisenhower lived in the White House; Bud Wilkinson eyed his upcoming 14th campaign at Oklahoma, with another four football seasons to follow after that; and “The Battle of New Orleans” topped the song charts, with “Put Your Head On My Shoulder,” coming in at No. 12.
The year was 1959 — World War II and the Korean Conflict appeared to be a long ways back in the rear view mirror of history and the bright skies of optimism and continuing prosperity loomed ahead.
That summer, a young Bartlesville American Legion baseball coach named Glen Winget decided to add a home tournament to the schedule.
As the Bartlesville newspaper explained at the time, Winget’s primary motivation for instituting the multi-day event was to keep local residents in town on the holiday off the crowded — and dangerous — highways, as well as add another event to the celebration of patriotism.
Known simply as the Bartlesville Fourth of July Tournament, Winget’s tourney drew 12 teams in double-elimination competition, including the Doenges Ford Injuns, coached by Winget, and a Dewey team.
Two years later — during the summer of 1961 — Winget would be dead, a victim of acute leukemia.
But, …
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