Sibling Assignment #190: Kellogg vs. Wallace

Bill gave the following assignment this month:

"The other night at the Inland Lounge, I got into a conversation with a couple of Wallace High
School grads about the Wallace/Kellogg rivalry. How did you experience this rivalry back in
high school? The people I talked to Friday night thought the rivalry had weakened over the years.
Had it started to weaken when we were in high school in the 1970s and 1980s? Or did you
experience things that were evidence of the rivalry being very much alive when we were in
high school? "

You can find brother Bill's here and Carol's here.

Kellogg and Wallace are neighboring towns in Shoshone County in Idaho. When we were growing up, there was a big rivalry between the two towns. I have no idea how it originated, but in junior high I remember our cheerleaders always performing a favorite cheer, "Beat Wallace" and getting the stands riled up.

The rivalry seemed to revolve more around boys sports that were played in school. Girls didn't particpate in school sports except track, but I don't remember a big track rivalry with Wallace. The high school boys played American Legion baseball together in the summer and didn't seem to have any rumbles in the alley after the game.

I know lots of girls from Wallace early in elementary school from Campfire Girls and Camp Neewahlu and Camp Awahkeeah. No rivalaries with us. Our friendships continued with Girl's State and Rainbow Girls. When we traveled to a basketball game in Wallace I remember sitting on our side of the gym watching girls I had known a long time performing as cheerleaders or sitting in the cheering section. It seemed like we didn't really talk to each at these events. Did we really have to uphold that rivalry? Did we think we would be traitors?

The rivalry I remember more vividly from high school was when Kellogg girls dated Wallace boys. I had crazy crushes on lots of boys from Wallace, but I never acted on it. I had friends that "crossed that rivalry line" and dated them. I remember talking to my Wallace girl friends outside of school and how that idea of crossing over and dating from the other school caused quite a bit of drama. Rumors circulated that there might be a girl fight or they were threatened. I don't think any of that every happened. 

As soon as I left high school and many of us were together at University of Idaho or hung out in the Silver Valley bars when we turned 19, the rivalry seemed to have disappeared .