Burt Davis

On this Thanksgiving I have so much to be thankful for. I have the four greatest kids in the world. I know all of us who have kids can say this, but I feel strong that they are just that--great. I also have the greatest mother of all time. When it is her time to go (not for a very long time), God will open the gates of Heaven and say "Shirley come right in."

I always love the last Thursday in November. We get to come together with family and friends, break bread together, catch up on what is going on in our lifves, and watch a little football. What a great day!

I was also thinking the other day about what makes me thankful. I am so lucky and blessed with my family. And I am lucky to have a job where I get to come in contact with some great people at work everyday, Fillmore High School. Not only the staff, but some of the greatest young men and women go to school there. I get to see how hard they work in what they do at the school everyday. It could be in art, woodwork, F.F.A., drama, band, sports, and most important good old fashion school work.

Most of you may know that I am a proud Fillmore High School alumni. I am and forever will be a Fillmore Flashes! I would like to tell you about the number one and oldest Flashes still with us, and why we should all be thankful for him.

From the class of 1935 Burtis 'Burt" Davis. On December 28th this year Burt will turn 94 years young. On the 28th of December 1917, on Olive St. here in Fillmore, Burt was born in the home of Nelle and Phad Davis. He went to school Fillmore with some good old friends like Richard "Toolie" Palmer, Roy Hays, and Aaron Myers, just to name a few.

When Burt went to Fillmore High School he played basketball and tennis. He always wanted to play football but mother Nelle said no to that . So he was the manager for the football team. He was also trusted by the great County and High School Hall Of Fame Coach Eugene "Red" Kennedy to have a set of keys to the gym. This gave him and his friends a chance to go into the gym to play all the basketball they wanted.

In the days that Burt played sports for Fillmore High School, the tennis team would all hop in a car or truck and drive themselves to the matches. One day on the way to Santa Barbara, when the road was right on the beach at the county line, you had to wait for the tide to go out so you could dive on it. Burt was in the back of a truck with some of his teammates when they got into a traffic accident. The boys that were in the back of the truck flew out. Two of the kids needed to go to the hospital. Burt was on of the lucky ones who brushed himself off, and still played tennis that day.

In 1935 after graduation from Fillmore High Burt was asked by Red Kennedy to become an Official for football games. Little did he know at the time that this was the start of a very long career. Burt would go onto be an Official for basketball, football, baseball, softball, track and field, volleyball, water polo, and swimming until 1986. That adds up to 51 years folks.

Burt was always known to be loud, straight down the line, fair and knowledgeable of the game. And he did it all with that great big Burt Davis smile that he still has to this day. He always felt that to make a good Official you needed to be in the background and let the kids play the game. It always upset him when the Official wanted to be the center of attention. The game and the players should always be the story, not the Official and his calls.

On June 19th, 1941 Burt married the love of his life Phyllis Higgins. They spent 69 wonderful years together util Phyllis past away last year.

Burt went into the service during WWII. While in Germany Red Kennedy needed someone to be an Official for football games so he got hold of Burt. Burt said that he loved doing it. All the special treatment came his way with all the boy's over there. Good food. Good places to stay. He got the royal treatment. They wanted him to stay in the service, but all he wanted to do was to come back to Fillmore and his loving wife Phyllis.

Phyllis and Burt have three daughters; Lynn Cook from Waco Texas, Laurie DeAlejandro from Ventura, and Valerie Newland from Fresno. He also has 10 grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren. That is what Burt Davis is thankful for.

After the service Burt went into being an Official. In 1949 he was a charter member of The Channel Coast Official Association. He and still great friend and Ventura County Hall of Famer Cal Houston worked together on the playing fields all over the state and beyond, and behind the scenes. They still call and talk to each other almost every week, even though Cal has moved Montana.

Burt worked at high school, junior college and college level sports over the years in places like the L.A. Coliseum, Anaheim Stadium, and the Shrine Bowl at the Rose Bowl. He was known as the number one "White Hat" Official in football. Burt also worked for the Dallas Cowboys in Thousand Oaks in the 1970's and 80's when they had a training camp at Cal Lutheran. He had a good friendship with Pro Football Hall Of Fame Coach Tom Landry.
In 1987 The Ventura County Hall Of Fame opened the doors and made Burt a member of the Hall Of Fame. And in the first class of the Fillmore High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2010 the doors flew wide open for Burt to walk right on in.

Any one of us who know Burt can say if there ever was a Hall of Fame for just being a great person, Burt would see the doors open up for him there also. He is sharp as a tack, and still has all the time to say hello to everybody he comes in contact with. He will always tell you a story with a gleam in his eyes and a smile on his face. And to me this is one more great thing I will be thankful for on this Thanksgiving. God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving Fillmore!