Tom Keefe ’66 recalls a cheer routine called the “Panther Locomotive.” “It was pretty simple,” he shared. “Guys were down on one knee; first facing left, then facing right, then straight ahead. All the while, their right arms were chugging along while they chanted P-A-N-T-H-E-R-S in each position. Then they’d spring to their feet and extend the left arm, then the right, while yelling each time PANTHERS! Finally, they’d bend forward at the waist, rotating their hands and muttering, “yeaaaaaaahh” … then spring into the air and touch their toes as they yelled “PANTHERS!” It was not an exercise for the out of shape or faint of heart, but we were young then!”
The highlight of the cheering expeditions may have been chartering a train to the Wenatchee football match-up with buddy Larry Gatter ’66. Tom commandeered his mother’s electric griddle to feed students on the trip, pulling electricity from the train wheels. “Those burgers didn’t get much heat on the way up the mountain, but once we reached the pass, ‘Watch Out! They were well-done in sixty seconds.” It wasn’t until years later that Tom learned from Fr. Williams, SJ that Fr. Goebel, SJ took a lot of heat from the priests down in the Faculty House for letting those “two lunatics” charter a train. “But it was a memorable trip and a great game!”