Meridenite of the Week: Ernest Schaper

Ask any Orville H. Platt High School athlete if they know Ernest Schaper and they are sure to respond “Ernie? Of course I know him.”

For the twenty years that Richard Katz, now athletic director of Platt, coached high school baseball, 77-year-old Schaper was his helper. In more recent years Schaper has become the equipment manager of the high school’s football team, washing towels and shirts after practice and fixing equipment during the games.

Although he is a familiar face at most sporting events at Platt, Schaper is best known in Meriden for running the Sports Card and Coin Show held once a month at the high school  for the past eighteen years.

“I do it for the kids” said Schaper. “I want to make life easier for Mr. Katz and the sports department.”

All proceeds from the show go to purchasing items for Platt athletics. Some of the items that have been funded are; a scoring table, score boards for the football, basketball and baseball teams, weight training, cardio vascular and fitness equipment, brick baseball dugouts, batting cages and t-shirts. Most recently the Girl’s Volleyball team needed money to purchase new nets so girls from the team worked at this month’s show.

According to Schaper, that is the way it is done. Kids from the teams help set up, run the show and clean up. “I also like to teach them how to say hello, how are you and where are you from when they talk to the customers” said Schaper.

Whether it is helping the football team, running the Sports Card and Coin Show or the 20 years he spent coaching Little League, Schaper has earned the recognition as Meridenite of the Week for his dedication to the children of Meriden.

Name: Ernest Schaper

Age: 77

How long have you lived in town?  Since 1955, 56 years.
 
What do you like best about town? Living in South Meriden, it’s like a small village, like where I grew up as a farm boy in Iowa.

What do you least like about town? When people are dishonest.

Where is your favorite place to shop in town? Pet stores, I buy orange and black fish, (Schaper’s favorite baseball team is the orange and black clad Baltimore Orioles) and fish food for my 55 gallon fish tank.

Where is your favorite place to visit in town? For years I went to the German Club. I even helped build it. Wednesday nights we played cards for fun.
 
What is your fondest memory of town? Friday nights downtown in the mid- to late- 1950s. It was booming. We had to wear nice clothes and look for a parking space. My wife and I saw all of our friends.
 
Where did you work? I worked on a farm, sailed with the Merchant Marines, fought in the Korean War, worked at Pratt and Whitney, North Haven, from 1956 to 1989 and then opened a Hobby Shop on East Main Street, Meriden.
 
What is a recent accomplishment? Raising the money to buy all new score boards for Platt High School.
 
A personal story shared by Schaper:  As a Little League coach in South Meriden he accepted a 12 year old boy from Jamaica on his team. The boy knew nothing about baseball but Schaper wanted to give him a chance. He recalled the boy getting his first hit and running straight to third base. Schaper coached him; stuck by him; got him out of his shell and named him Mick the Quick after Yankee center fielder Mickey Rivers. The boy grew up to be valedictorian of Wilcox Technical High School, attended the University of Bridgeport and became an executive for a bank in Dallas, Texas. To this day the young man comes to visit Schaper with his wife and children whenever he comes back to Connecticut.

 Schaper said, “This is the biggest paycheck from coaching.”

 The Sports Card and Coin Show is held the first Saturday of every month from September through May and the last Saturday in June, 9:00AM – 3:00PM at Orville H. Platt High School, 220 Coe Avenue, Meriden, CT.