The Horse Manure Prank --- by Bob James

 

In October of ’58, our senior football team had a playoff game against Royal York I believe, at their school. Four of us from the Junior team decided that it would, in the tradition of the time, be a good joke to deliver two bushel baskets of horse manure along with toilet paper to the Royal York football field, the night before.


We sneaked out of our homes in the middle of the night, travelled in a car owned by one of us (whose brother was on the senior team). The manure was obtained, ironically, from a pasture at the present site of PCSS.

We headed onto the QEW, and then to the Queensway. Before we reached Royal York Road to deliver our treasure, we were pulled over by two plainclothes officers driving an unmarked police car. They assumed that we were up to no good and started searching the car. In those days there were no trunk lights. One officer opened the trunk and plunged his hand in to what he thought was dirt, probably hiding booze. When he realized what he had in his hand he exclaimed, ”What's this sh--?”

We assumed we were in great trouble. We told the cops what we were up to and they had a good laugh. We were getting along so well, we asked if we could deliver it as planned. They said no (one of them was a Royal York graduate).

Now we’re headed home with a trunk full of horse manure One of us remembered that with some previous pranks, the apparently offending school had to send over their Student Council executives to clean up the paint or whatever was used.

You know where this is headed. We went back to PCHS, dumped the manure under our goal posts, wound the toilet paper around the posts, and headed home. Sure enough next morning members from Royal York’s Student Council were seen on our football field, cleaning up horse manure.

We’ve laughed a few times about that over the years.