It may sound trite, but for those of you who didn’t attend the final varsity football game at War Memorial Stadium — y’all missed something that will never happen again.

Especially those of you who have young children at home.

Beginning next season, for the first time in 60 years, the Friday night lights at the historic facility won’t be on and victory cheers will no longer resound across Whidbey Avenue and Midway Boulevard.

A key 35-27 victory over Monroe in the final game was a big plus for the Wildcats and a continuation of Oak Harbor’s winning tradition at the stadium, but there were a lot of little things that went on that should remain in people’s memories forever.

At halftime, a whole crowd of football players from years past came out on the field and were recognized for their accomplishments while wearing Wildcat uniforms.

Among the group were Don Looff and Richard Lange, both members of the 1947 team that was the first to play at the newly-constructed stadium.

Lange had the distinction of being the first Oak Harbor player to score a touchdown at War Memorial — and a heck of a lot of Wildcats have crossed the goal line since that first season.

While the former players hugged one another, shook hands and renewed old acquaintances, anyone who didn’t observe some of the players’ eyes glistening with emotion remembering days gone by wasn’t looking closely enough.

Then there was the father I noticed before the game who began showing his young son how you take your hat off and put it over your heart when they present the American flag and play the national anthem.

That was cute to watch and something the little guy will never forget.

It’s strange how football memories hang around, even for us older dudes.

I can remember going to Atwood Stadium in my hometown when I was very young to watch my father’s team play and looking to the northwest beyond the stadium’s lights at the weather ball on top of the Citizen’s Bank building several miles away in the downtown area.

The weather ball jingle went: “When the weather ball is red, higher temperatures ahead. When the weather ball is blue, lower temperatures are due. Yellow light in the weather ball means no change at all. When the colors blink in agitation, there’s going to be precipitation.”

Then there was the night we played Bay City Central two weeks before Thanksgiving in front of about 22,000 fans. They were the number one team in the state and we were ranked number two.

We beat them 19-12 in that game on an intercepted pass returned 70 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

On Thanksgiving Day, we came back to defeat our cross-town rival, Flint Central, to win the Saginaw Valley Conference and state championship.

That was in the fall of 1960 and I was an eighth-grader, but it seems like only yesterday.

Ah, yes. Football memories still make me sigh.

Next year, the Wildcats will have a new stadium at the high school to play in. If you missed the last game at War Memorial, make it a point to attend next season’s first one and help start a new tradition.