#TBT: Searching for The Hinker Bell

September 28, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Menominee will host Escanaba on Friday in the 121st meeting between two of the Upper Peninsula’s largest high schools and proudest football programs – but with the trophy celebrating the game still missing after it first disappeared more than half a century ago.

The two teams from 1948-1962 played for the The Hinker Bell, a locomotive bell that hasn’t been seen since 1963.

A decade ago, Escanaba Daily Press sports editor (and now Second Half correspondent) Denny Grall wrote about a newfound search for The Hinker Bell. But the mystery continues, and Grall’s story below tells of many of the twists and turns that to that point that had come in trying to locate it.

ESCANABA — Another search is underway to find the Hinker Bell.

The former locomotive bell went to the winner of the Escanaba-Menominee football game for about 15 years but has been missing for more than 40 years. It came from a locomotive owned by the Bay de Noquet Company and used on the LS&I Railroad that operated in Delta and Menominee counties.

The locomotive was built in 1906 by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia and the bell was believed to have been cast in the railroad foundry, according to a 1953 newspaper clipping.

In 1948, one of the locomotive owners presented the bell to his friend, John Hinker of Menominee, an ardent sports fan who donated materials for the press box at Menominee’s Walton Blesch Field.

Hinker gave the bell to then Menominee coach Mickey McCormick and indicated proper use for the bell would be as an award for the gridiron rivalry.

Now Hinker’s great great nephew is trying to find the bell, which has not been seen since Escanaba’s current high school opened in 1963.

Tim Waters of Land O’ Lakes, Wis., who has launched the search, became interested by researching his family tree. “It is a big trophy (between 80 and 150 pounds by various estimates) and it is odd that it is missing,” Waters said in a recent telephone chat.

“One theory is that it is in somebody’s hunting camp or a home and they are using it as their own trophy,” said Waters.

“We have a pretty good investigation going on and all help is appreciated. If somebody does have it, we’re not looking to prosecute them. We’re just looking to get the darn thing back. Nobody will be in trouble.”

Waters refuted the old idea the bell was melted down. He has contacted numerous bell collectors, and they said a junk yard would have known it was worth a lot more than melted metal.

“The bell was not destroyed. We’ve come to that conclusion,” he said. “It was not put in a scrap yard.”

Waters contacted Coplan Iron and Metal of Escanaba and learned that bells were not melted or crushed and said the firm never accepted a bell with engravings matching the Hinker Bell.

Waters learned those businesses would sell them for the weight value to people who wanted them for yard ornaments/dinner bells, or to collectors.

“It is a treasure and it needs to be found,” said Waters.

Waters said the last known photo of the bell was with then EHS football coach Al Sigman and Esky players John Fisher and Phil Davidson in 1960. Escanaba beat Menominee from 1959-63 but could not find the bell in 1964 when the Maroons won. No one he has talked to remembers seeing the bell present at the first three games during the tenure of coach Jerry Cvengros.

The current Escanaba High School opened in 1963 and Bay de Noc Community College then occupied the old facility, which has since been demolished.

“Records indicate there was no report (of a missing bell) filed by Escanaba school district to the police department,” Waters said.

“The Hinker Bell is part of U.P. Michigan’s history, as is football and the railroads,” Waters said. “The people of Escanaba and Menominee deserve to have this trophy returned to their high schools.”

Waters, who has never seen an Escanaba or Menominee football game but is planning to rectify that omission this season, is hoping students at the two schools will join in the treasure hunt and talk about it with their parents and grandparents.

He has already contacted EHS athletic director Rob Ryan, who plans to thoroughly search the school basement.

He would like to find a photo of the bell to help collectors in their search. “Each bell was for a special locomotive,” said Waters.

“If they have a good picture we can pass it around and say we are looking for this bell. If they can pinpoint what this bell was on, they can help get the word out.”

He has also extended the search to the website at upfootball.com, which has generated interest but no bell. “If the bell is in the area still today, I don’t think it will take long to surface,” he said.

“If we don’t find this bell, we are going to try to make up a replacement as close as possible if the two schools are interested in that,” he said.

Waters is hoping that real estate agents, postal workers, delivery personnel, construction workers, etc., may have seen the bell during their travels and can help retrieve it.

Flashback 100: Duckett's High School Domination Extended to Shot Put Circle

May 8, 2025

In 1997, Todd “T.J.” Duckett made history at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Class A Finals by setting a meet shot put record with a throw of 63 feet, 6 inches. He surpassed his own milestone just two years later, launching the shot 64 feet, 0.5 inches at the 1999 Finals — an all-Finals (regardless of Class or Division) record that stood for 17 years until Oxford’s Connor Bandel delivered a remarkable toss of 67 feet, 5.75 inches in 2016.

Duckett's dominance in track & field was unmistakable. While competing for Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, he claimed four Class A Finals championships, including shot put titles in 1997, 1998, and 1999. He also was a member of the school’s victorious 400-meter relay team in 1997.

Though those accomplishments were impressive, Duckett was equally celebrated on the football field. Named Parade Magazine’s National Player of the Year as a senior, he drew national attention as a top recruit at both running back and linebacker. At Michigan State, Duckett left a lasting legacy, finishing his collegiate career with 3,379 rushing yards — sixth-most in program history, not far behind his older brother, Tico, who ranks third. T.J.'s 29 rushing touchdowns place him eighth on the Spartans' all-time list. One of his most iconic moments came in 2001, when he caught the game-winning touchdown pass as time expired in a thrilling 26–24 victory over rival Michigan.

Following his junior season, Duckett declared for the NFL Draft and was selected in the first round in 2002 by the Atlanta Falcons. He went on to enjoy a seven-year professional career, playing for four teams — Atlanta, Washington, Detroit, and Seattle — and finishing with 44 career touchdowns.

Previous "Flashback 100" Features

May 6: MHSAA Titles Just Start for NCAA Champion, Olympian Stark - Read
May 1: 
Legendary Actor Played Multiple Sports Roles at Country Day - Read
April 23: 
Legacy Program Provided Start for Pioneering NBA Official Schroeder - Read
April 11: 
Rice's Championship-Winning Ways Started at Flint Northwestern - Read
March 28:
 Youngquist's Times Still Among MHSAA's Fastest - Read
March 18: After 40 Years, Coles' Shot Remains Among Century's Most Famous - Read
March 7: 
Walled Lake Northern's Hellebuyck Reigns as NHL's Elite Netminder - Read
Feb. 27: Zeerip's Mat Stats Remain Rarely-Challenged Chart Toppers - Read
Feb. 21: Before TV Stardom, Kerwin Excelled as All-State Skier - Read
Feb. 14: Detroit Central Star Voted into Pro Football Hall of Fame - Read
Feb. 6: Multi-Sport Star Look Becomes Super Bowl Officiating Legend - Read
Jan. 31: Johnson Family Put Magical Stamp on Michigan High School Hoops - Read
Jan. 24: Future Hall of Famers Face Off First in MHSAA Class A Final - Read
Jan. 17: First-Ever WNBA Draft Pick Rocked at Salem, Won Titles at Tennessee - Read
Jan. 10: Despite Launching Before 3-Point Line, Smith Still Tops Scoring List - Read
Jan. 3: Edison's Jackson Earns Place Among State's All-Time Elite - Read
Dec. 20: Future Olympian Piper Leads Grosse Pointe North to Historic Heights - Read
Dec. 13: 
The Other Mr. Forsythe in Michigan School Sports - Read
Dec. 6: 
Coleman's Legendary Heroics Carry Harrison Through Repeat - Read
Nov. 29: Harbaugh Brothers' Football Roots Planted in Part at Pioneer - Read
Nov. 22: 8-Player Football Finals Right at Home at Superior Dome - Read
Nov. 15: 
Leland Career Helps Set Stage for Glass' International Stardom - Read
Nov. 8: Future Baseball Pro Led Escanaba's Legendary Football Title Run - Read
Nov. 1: Michigan High School Baseball Trio Provide World Series Voices - Read
Oct. 25: Before Leading Free World, Ford Starred for Champion GR South - Read
Oct. 18: Mercy Links Legend Becomes World Golf Hall of Famer - Read
Oct. 11: Fisher Races to Finals Stardom on Way to U.S. Olympic First - Read
Oct. 4: Lalas Leaves High School Legacies on Ice & Pitch - Read
Sept. 27: Tamer's History-Making Run Starts in Dexter, Continues to Paris - Read
Sept. 20: 
Todd Martin’s Road to Greatness Starts at East Lansing - Read
Sept. 13: 
James Earl Jones, Dickson High Hoops to Hollywood Legend - Read
Sept. 6: 
Pioneers' Unstoppable Streak Stretches 9 Seasons - Read
Aug. 30: Detroit dePorres Rushes to 1995 Class CC Football Championship - Read 

(Football photo courtesy of Michigan State University.)