A former BYU-Hawaii P.E. professor who left in 1982 to teach elementary physical education at BYU in Provo, Utah, has returned to the Laie campus on a one-year faculty exchange.
"It's really nice to be back," said Dr. Mark Clarke, who remembers he served as both the men's varsity volleyball and basketball coach when he first came in 1971.
"I didn't know the seasons overlapped," he said. "I'd have volleyball practice at 6 o'clock in the morning, and basketball at 4 o'clock. It was very interesting scheduling our games."
"Our volleyball team won the NAIA (title). That was a great experience," Clarke said, recalling the team had to sell kalua pig to raise money for the trip to Ohio. "We only had a budget of $4,400 for eight teams, so my wife, Janet, painted the logos and numbers on the jerseys and sewed the shorts out of aloha print."
He also remembers Church College of Hawaii, which became BYU-Hawaii in 1974, was down 8-14 in the finals before Dennis Largey broke the other team's concentration with two underhand aces that soared through the rafters of the building before hitting the opponent's court.
On the basketball court, Clarke recalls in those days CCH played in the old Armed Forces League. "About 1973, we formed a small college league with Chaminade (University) in Honolulu, Hawaii Loa (which is now part of Hawaii Pacific University) and the University of Hawaii at Hilo, "which was the first team that recruited from the mainland. We were able to beat them twice in Hilo."
Returning the week before school started, Clarke said the community "seems the same," although he's noticed "Laie Shopping Center has a lot of new stores and most of the old houses are gone."
"The campus is also very well maintained," he continued, pointing out that he's pleased almost everything is now air conditioned. "The floor of the Cannon Activities Center, which opened just before we left, would get very slick, and we would have to mop it down."
The other thing that's changed significantly this time around, Clarke said, is his family of 11 children -- six of whom were born during his first sojourn in Laie. "Our 'baby' is on a mission, 10 are married, and we have a lot of grandkids."
Clarke, who also served as bishop of Laie 2nd Ward for the Church when there were just three LDS wards in the community, noted that many of "the people are the same. They're just genuine, humble people. That's one of the things I really missed."