Tag Archives: Dave Glasgow

Dave Glasgow – Lifter of the Month

By Al Myers

Dave Glasgow is the Lifter of the Month for December 2019.

Dave Glasgow is the Lifter of the Month for December 2019.

The USAWA LIFTER OF THE MONTH for December is Dave Glasgow, leader of the Ledaig Heavy Athletics Club.   In December Dave anchored his club to a victory in the USAWA Club Championships.  Dave is very deserving of this award as he has been very involved in the USAWA of the past 10 years.

Congrats Dave!!!

Ole John and Sally

BY DAVE GLASGOW

(Editor’s Note: This blog was written by Dave Glasgow five years ago for the USAWA Website. I feel it is worthy of being ran again as it is a inspirational story for the Holiday Season.)

A SEASONAL, NON-LIFTING, BUT UP-LIFTING STORY –

I ENJOY HISTORY, ESPECIALLY MY OWN FAMILY HISTORY. ONE STORY I HEARD MANY TIMES WAS TOLD BY MY DAD, JOHN. IT WAS ABOUT MY GREAT GRAND DAD, WHO I HAVE ALWAYS CALLED ‘OLE JOHN’, TO DIFFERENTIATE HIM FROM MY DAD. I THINK THIS IS THE APPROPRIATE TIME OF YEAR TO PASS THE STORY ON.

OLE JOHN WAS A SOLDIER IN THE ‘CIVIL WAR’. HE WAS IN THE CAVALRY, WHICH SEEMED ODD TO ME, AS HE WAS A SAILOR FROM THE TIME HE WAS TWELVE YEARS OLD. AT ANY RATE, HE WAS CAPTURED BY THE CONFEDERATES AND SENT TO THE NOTORIOUS PRISON CAMP, ANDERSONVILLE, IN GEORGIA. THE CONDITIONS IN THIS CAMP WERE HORRID. MANY DIED OF DISEASE, STARVATION AND JUST PLAIN LOSS OF HOPE. SOMEHOW, OLE JOHN SURVIVED, BUT HE DID NOT GO UNSCATHED. HE LOST ALL HIS UPPER TEETH AND HAD PERMANENT SKELETAL PROBLEMS FROM SCURVY AND MALNUTRITION.

AS THE STORY GOES, OLE JOHN TOLD HOW THE MEMBERS OF THE SALVATION ARMY (WHOM I HAVE ALWAYS CALLED ‘SALLY’) WOULD SNEAK UP TO THE WALLS AT NIGHT AND THROW SWEET POTATOES OVER THE FENCE TO THE PRISONERS. HE SAID THAT THIS KIND, HUMANITARIAN GESTURE WAS ONE OF THE REASONS HE MADE IT OUT ALIVE.

SO, EVERY CHRISTMAS, WHEN MY KIDS WERE GROWING UP, I WOULD ENCOURAGE AMBER AND DEREK TO ‘THROW SOMETHING IN SALLY’S POT’, IN HONOR OF OLE JOHN AND TO HELP OUT SALLY, WITHOUT WHOM WE WOULD , PROBABLY, NOT BE AROUND.

THEN, A FEW YEARS BACK, I WAS LISTENING TO THE RADIO AND THEY WERE SPEAKING TO SOME MEMBERS OF THE SALVATION ARMY, AS IT WAS CHRISTMAS TIME AND THEY WERE IN NEED OF MONIES AND CLOTHING DONATIONS TO GIVE TO THOSE IN NEED. NATURALLY, I THOUGHT OF OLE JOHN. SO, WHEN I HAD TIME I DID A LITTLE RESEARCH ABOUT ‘SALLY’. WHAT I DISCOVERED DISAPPOINTED ME, GREATLY.

SEEMS THAT SALLY WAS STARTED IN ENGLAND IN 1865, AND WAS NOT FOUNDED IN THE STATES UNTIL 1880! CLEARLY WELL PAST THE TIME OF OLE JOHN’S CONFINEMENT!! IMMEDIATELY, QUESTIONS FORMED IN MY MIND AS TO THE VALIDITY OF THIS CONTRADICTION IN THE STORY. UNFORTUNATELY, ANYONE WHO WOULD KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS MYSTERY HAS LONG SINCE PASSED.

AFTER A LOT OF DELIBERATIONS, I CAME TO SOME OF MY OWN CONCLUSIONS. COULD IT BE IT WAS THE BAPTISTS, METHODISTS OR MEMBERS OF SOME OTHER RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION WHO FOUND THE COMPASSION TO HELP THESE UNFORTUNATE INDIVIDUALS?

TO HAVE SURVIVED ALMOST A YEAR IN THAT FILTH AND DEGRADATION, CERTAINLY, BRINGS TO MY MIND THAT SOMEONE WAS HELPING THOSE PRISONERS! JUST BECAUSE THE DISCREPANCY OF THE ORGANIZATION IS IN QUESTION DOES NOT TAKE AWAY FROM THE MEAT OF THE STORY. ORAL HISTORY HANDED DOWN FROM ONE TO ANOTHER LEAVES THE DOOR OPEN TO ERRORS AND A MISTAKE COULD HAVE VERY WELL BEEN MADE BY ONE WHO HAD ONLY HEARD THE STORY, NOT THE ONE THAT WAS THERE, LIVING IT.

REGARDLESS, DO I THINK THAT SWEET POTATOES MADE THEIR WAY INTO UNION PRISONERS HANDS? ABSOLUTELY! A STORY, SUCH AS THIS, IS TOO GOOD TO HAVE BEEN ‘MADE UP’. FURTHER, WHY WOULD HE FABRICATE SUCH A TALE IF IT WERE NOT TRUE?? IN MY MIND, OLE JOHN WAS THE RECIPIENT OF A KINDNESS THAT CAN NEVER BE REPAID.

SO, IN THIS SEASON OF GIVING, MIGHT I ENCOURAGE EACH OF YOU TO ‘THROW SOMETHING IN SALLY’S POT’? THEY ARE A VERY WORTHY ORGANIZATION AND HELP UNTOLD NUMBERS OF THOSE LESS FORTUNATE. EVEN IF SALLY WAS NOT THE ONES THAT HELPED OLE JOHN, MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, YOU WILL HELP THEM HELP SOMEONE ELSE THAT NEEDS A HAND UP!

JUST TELL THEM ‘OLE JOHN’ SENT YA…..

New Century Club Member!

By Al Myers

Dave Glasgow, the newest member of the USAWA Century Club.

Dave Glasgow, the newest member of the USAWA Century Club.

We have a new CENTURY CLUB member!

I just got done updating the Record List and the Century Club listing and with great excitement, I announce the newest member to the USAWA CENTURY CLUB!!!

drumroll please ……….  It’s DAVE GLASGOW!!!!

This is a great accomplishment for Dave.  Dave has been involved with the USAWA for many years and has been “chipping away” at setting new USAWA records for a long time.   It’s only fitting that he accomplished this great milestone at his latest meet, one in which he hosted at his fine Ledaig Training Facility, the USAWA Club Championships.

Now Dave, let me give you some advice.  Don’t stop now with your record setting endeavors, as you can fall out of it if someone breaks one of your records and you fall below the magic number of 100.  You better keep adding USAWA records to build yourself a little cushion!

Congrats Dave and welcome to the Century Club!!!!

Lifter of the Month – Dave Glasgow

by Al Myers

Dave Glasgow in action at the USAWA Club Championships.

Dave Glasgow in action at the USAWA Club Championships.

Dave Glasgow has been selected as the USAWA Lifter of the Month for July.  Dave has taken charge of the USAWA Club Championships promotion over the last several years and has done an excellent job.  His club, the Ledaig Heavy Athletics, has a fantastic private training facility that caters to the Highland Games and Weightlifting.  This year at the Club Champs in July there were several other competition conflicts going on which hurt attendance but Dave continued with the promotion regardless.  He could not even find any other Ledaig club members to form the 3-person club team so he took on the Dino Gym by himself!

Dave has been a real leader in the USAWA over the past several years.  He has supported the USAWA through club membership, training new lifters, promotion of meets, writing blogs for the website, and attending several competions per year.  We need more Dave Glasgow’s in the USAWA!! Congrats Dave!

Never Stop the Struggle

BY DAVE GLASGOW

A COUPLE OF GUYS IN THE OFFICE WERE TALKING ABOUT RUNNING AND THEIR PARTICULAR PHILOSOPHIES TOWARD IT.  IN THE CONVERSATION, SOMEONE MENTIONED THE ‘RUNNER’S HIGH’. “IF THERE IS SUCH A THING,” HE SAID,’ I SURE THE HELL HAVE’NT EXPERIENCED IT!” SOMEONE ELSE SAID, ‘WELL, I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO BEAT THE HANDICAPPED KID WHEN I GO TO A RACE.’  THAT, IMMEDIATELY, MADE ME THINK OF A KID MY SON’S AGE FROM OUR TOWN.

I HAVE A FRIEND WHO IS A PHARMACIST.  HIS SON WAS BORN WITH CP (CEREBERAL PALSY).  HIS SPEECH PATTERN AND HIS PHYSICAL MOBILITY ARE SEVERLY IMPAIRED.  THE KID HAS HAD MORE SURGERIES THAN MOST OF US HAVE HAD BIRTHDAYS.  THE MERE FACT THAT HE CAN EVEN WALK IS DUE TO THE MIRICLE OF MODERN TECHNIQUES AND SURGERIES.  THE ONE THING THAT THIS CHALLENGE DID NOT TAKE FROM HIM WAS HIS HEART AND DESIRE.

WHEN HE WAS JUST A LITTLE GUY, HE WANTED TO WRESTLE WITH THE YOUTH WRESTLING CLUB.  HIS FOLKS FIGURED WHY NOT.  HE ATTENDED EVERY PRACTICE, MOST OF THE TOURNIMENTS AND WAS ALWAYS READY TO GO.  HE NEVER WON A MATCH.  TO MY KNOWLEDGE, HE NEVER SCORED A POINT.  THAT DID’NT SET HIM BACK ONE BIT.  HE JUST KEPT COMING BACK FOR MORE. WHEN HE REACHED HIGH SCHOOL AGE, HE RAN CROSS COUNTRY.  IT WAS PAINFUL TO WATCH.

HE WOULD RUN IN THE MORNING AND AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK, SOMEONE WOULD CALL THE POLICE AND TELL THEM THAT ONE OF THE KIDS FROM THE HOME (WE HAVE SEVERAL HOMES IN TOWN THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY FOR MENTALLY RETARTED FOLKS) WAS RUNNING AWAY.  NO, THEY WERE TOLD, THAT’S JUST NEAL(NOT HIS REAL NAME), OUT TRAINING. HE WOULD FINISH LONG AFTER THE REST WERE LONG SINCE DONE.  HOWEVER, I’LL BE DAMNED IF HE EVER QUIT!  HE STRUGGLED ON AND I AM SURE SOME FOLKS CAME OUT JUST TO SEE HIM RUN.

TO MY MIND, NEAL NEVER LOST A MATCH OR A RACE.  HE WON THE SECOND THE WHISTLE BLEW.  JUST GETTING THERE WAS A STRUGGLE AND A VICTORY. ENJOY YOUR NEXT WORKOUT.  THINK OF NEAL.  IT WILL PROBABLY HELP YOU WORK A LITTLE HARDER.

YOU MAY LIKE THIS POEM:  http://www.frtommylane.com/stories/cross/dont_quit.htm

*** EPILOGUE:  NEAL IS NOW A SUCCESSFUL ATTORNEY OUT OF STATE.  HE ADVOCATES FOR FOLKS WITH DISABILITES.

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