"Mrs. Pratt Takes the Call"

"MRS. PRATT TAKES THE CALL"

In 1964 there were no cell phones or individual telephones in college dormitory rooms at Hastings College NE where Gary and Ruth Ann were students.  In order to receive a call at Ruth Ann’s residence, Taylor Hall, an operator/student would answer the incoming call at the main desk and then "buzz" the student on her floor to alert her to an incoming call.   Each woman had a bell signal (for example, two longs and one short, like Morse Code).  Then the student would go to the hall phone on the floor to accept the call.   This was the procedure for campus calls, long distance calls, or local calls.   If the call came in before or after hours, the dorm mother, Mrs. Pratt, would have to take the call, usually to her displeasure. 

On October 15, at 6:15 AM local time in Hastings, Nebraska, Ruth Ann’s dorm mother, Mrs. Pratt, accepted an incoming call and “buzzed” Ruth Ann.    The call was from the Sports Editor of the Hastings Tribune, Hank Lowenkron, who told Ruth Ann that Gary had won the gold medal in Tokyo!    At approximately 6:30 AM, everyone on Ruth Ann’s floor knew of his victory, because Ruth Ann raced down the hall and pounded on every door, saying, “Get up!   He did it!  Gary has the gold!”

At 7:30 AM, Ruth Ann placed a call to her parents in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and at 8:10AM a call to her grandmother, Frieda Curtin, in Grand Island, Nebraska.   Gary’s parents had heard the news from the same Hastings Tribune reporter. 

A sign appeared at the breakfast line announcing Gary’s victory.    The word was passing quickly!

Ruth Ann received a call in the dormitory at 1:30 PM from Don Matthews, Hastings College Director of Public Relations.   He wanted Ruth Ann to come to his office to help compose a telegram (yes, telegram!) of congratulations.    

While in his office, the Omaha World Herald called and wanted to talk to “Gary Anderson’s girl friend.”  Gary's win was a major story in Nebraska because no one from that state had ever won an individual Olympic gold medal before.

At 3PM, Ruth Ann went to the Tribune office to meet the Sports Editor who had called her at 6:15AM with the news of Gary’s victory.   The editor of the paper was there and showed Ruth Ann the copy for the full page ads the Tribune would print, offering congratulations.  

At 4PM, Ruth Ann received a call in the dorm from a local TV station, KHAS.  They recorded a broadcast for the 6pm news, asking Ruth Ann if they were engaged.  The answer was “no," but the newscast introduction of Ruth Ann was as Gary Anderson’s “unofficial fiancée!”

At 10:45 PM local time, Mrs. Pratt once again had to accept an incoming call for Ruth Ann.    GARY CALLED FROM TOKYO.     Just 15 minutes prior to the phone conversation, Gary received his medal and he still had it around his neck.    Ruth Ann also talked to Martin Gunnarsson, Bronze Medal Winner, and offered congratulations.

The telephone call receipt from the Call Center.   The three minute call cost 4,320 Yen ($43 in today's conversion rate - September 5, 2013).

Hastings College and the city of Hastings planned a terrific welcome home for Gary, with a downtown parade that included dozens of school bands from the surrounding area.    Gary was to return from Tokyo to Denver with some of the Olympians.   Hastings College arranged for Ruth Ann to travel by train (Union Pacific Railway) from Hastings to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where Ruth Ann’s parents (Virgil and Helen Bell) lived.  They drove to Denver to meet Gary’s plane.

After a weekend in Cheyenne, Gary, Ruth Ann, Virgil and Helen Bell traveled by plane, a company plane provided by Kansas-Nebraska Natural Gas Co., from Cheyenne to Hastings where the big welcome home parade for Nebraska’s Olympic Hero was ready to unfold.