My mother, Julie Craig Baldwin, was born in 1937 in a small Pennsylvania town called Greencastle. Just 45 min south of Harrisburg. Greencastle was and still is, for the most part, a prime specimen of small-town America. Complete with one stop light, a town square, one hotel, and one school, Greencastle was a fine place to grow up in the 40s and 50s. Julie’s dad, Jim Craig Sr., owned the town hardware store and oversaw the American Legion baseball program, and her mom, Gemma, was president of the town’s Women’s Community organization. Nearly everyone was involved in the church at that time. It was a centerpiece of the community.
Greencastle held Wednesday night dinners at the church featuring pit ham from one of the local farmers, and everyone would bring dishes potluck style. During the town’s “Old Home Week,” held every two years in August for returning ex-citizens, the town square comes alive with music and food vendors of all sorts. Sundays were family days at the Craig house, with Gemma serving a baked ham, roast beef, or a roast turkey. I have fond memories of Christmas dinners in the large dining room with our cousins and us sitting at a separate table from the adults. The aromas from the kitchen, turkey, fresh rolls and apple and mince pie were amazing. The whole house smelled like Christmas to me.
Julie was a definite tomboy, running and playing sports and riding her horse Sonny. As she grew up into her teenage years, Julie spent her school days on the basketball court and playing field hockey. In the summers, she worked as a counselor at the town playground. The playground was a gathering place for the youth of Greencastle, and Julie coached and mentored there for several years during high school and college. It was here that she ran pick-up hoops with the boys and learned the new “jump shot” that was taking over boys basketball. Eventually, she would take her skills to Beaver College, now Arcadia University, outside Philadelphia. A few years after college,
Julie made her way to Providence, RI, and never left. The Wheeler School on Providence’s eastside near Brown University hired her on as head field hockey coach and PhysEd teacher. Eventually, Julie would attain the position of Athletic Director and serve in that capacity for over 30 years. Julie was ahead of her time as RI had not caught up to some of the other East Coast states in field hockey or lacrosse. Julie had received excellent coaching in both sports during her time in Philly. She was selected as an alternate on the US field hockey national team and stayed part of the team for ten years. Julie immediately turned Wheeler into a state powerhouse in field hockey and lacrosse, winning 4 state titles and one coach of the year. In the summer, she ran the Merestead field hockey camp in Maine, which attracted many top players and coaches from the US and abroad. In the winters, Julie served for years as an RI basketball referee. During all of this action, she managed to get married, have two children, and drag them along to many practices and games.
Mom – My Hero Athlete
I watched my mother coach for years, and she taught me how to be the coach I am today. Her players loved her, but not because she was easy on them. “Baldy,” as they called her, was tough. Watching, I came to realize that you had to gain the respect of your players before you could be more personable with them. Respect first, then empathy and fondness after. I modeled this approach for 30+ years coaching football and basketball.
If you don’t have that respect first, it’s almost impossible to get it back after. Year after year, I watched ex-players come back and hug my mom like she was their own. That is what coaching is all about. In 2021, Julie was inducted into the Wheeler School’s inaugural class for the Athletic Hall of Fame. Despite being on the go year-round, Mom made sure she was home to feed my brother and me before running off to ref or, attend a meeting of athletic directors or support a Wheeler event. Honestly I have to man up and admit I didn’t appreciate mom’s home cooking until I was out on my own. I quickly realized that the fast food and cafeteria fare was no comparison to her roast chicken and potatoes or her homemade meatloaf and string beans. My kids still want her to make her “special” cheeseburgers.
Sunset To A Fine Life
Julie has been retired for many years, but even after retiring, she would spend several more seasons assisting the field hockey team as their goalie coach. These days, she lives quietly on the east side in the house she bought in 1975 for $40k with her dog Koby. She is rightfully doted on by her sons and grandchildren daily—a well-deserved sunset to a fine life.
Love you Mom
