Memories of Machetanz: Spirit of Palmer High’s biggest fan lives on

PALMER — It’s been 10 years since he watched his final Moose football game, but the spirit of Fred Machetanz remains alive at Palmer High School.

We’re days away from the 10-year anniversary of the death of Machetanz, a legendary artist and undisputed biggest fan of Palmer High School football. Machetanz, whom Palmer High School’s football field is named for, died Oct. 6, 2002, at Valley Hospital at the age of 94.

About a week before his death, Machetanz watched his beloved Moose for the final time in the 2002 Potato Bowl. Machetanz sat alongside his caregiver in a car parked just inside the fence to the left of the grandstand, at the top of the hill that overlooks Machetanz Field. He watched as Palmer beat Wasilla 21-0 that night.

After the victory, the Moose clutched the coveted Mayor’s Cup trophy, the traveling prize awarded to the winning team of the annual match each year. What followed is a moment etched into the memory of the thousands of spectators who circled the football field that night.

In what most who were there called a spontaneous act, the Moose — followed by their captains — ran the Mayor’s Cup and the game ball to Machetanz, as they cried out “Let’s get ’em Palmer” a favorite phrase of Machetanz to call from the Moose sideline, as he watched his favorite team play each fall for decades.

“It was very emotional, very moving,” said former longtime Palmer High activities director Mike Janecek, who called the radio broadcast of the game that night. “Bottom line, it was from the heart of those boys. They really appreciated him. They knew his condition at that time. We were almost speechless when we saw that take place. It certainly brings back those memories about how much he meant to them.”

Janecek said he gets emotional just thinking about it. Kay Omer, a longtime athletic trainer and assistant coach with the Palmer High football program, remembers that moment as if it was yesterday.

Omer’s son, Shane, was a senior defensive lineman on that team. Recently Omer reflected about that night.

“I remember (the players) had the game ball out on the field. I pointed up and said, there’s Fred,” Omer said. “They ran it up to the car where he was.”

Omer said Machetanz sat in the car with his caregiver. Machetanz’s beloved wife Sara, another tremendous supporter of Palmer High, had died the year before.

“His caregiver said he was coherent enough to know what was happening,” Omer said of the moment. “It’s one of those Potato Bowl things that you remember.”

Former Palmer High standout Ali Larijani was one of the captains on that 2002 squad. Larijani, who is now an assistant coach at Bartlett High School in Anchorage, said there’s not a single person who can be credited with the tribute to Machetanz. It was part of the moment, he said.

It’s been a decade since Larijani — who rushed for more than 200 yards and three touchdowns in the win — took the field as a member of the Palmer High football team, but the memories of Moose football and the tradition centered around the impact of Machetanz on PHS football lives on.

“It’s an important thing for the program,” Larijani said of the tradition. “It’s something you think about when you’re not playing anymore.”

To commemorate the naming of Palmer High’s field in the honor of Machetanz, a boulder with a plaque was placed near the entrance of the stadium. To this day — nearly three decades after the field was named for him and 10 years since his death — players still huddle around the Machetanz tribute prior to every game.

“You always break around the rock,” Larijani said. “To have someone like Mr. Machetanz as part of your program is huge.”

Janecek credits the Palmer High football coaching staff with keeping the spirit and memory of Machetanz alive in the new generations of PHS athletes. Head coach Rod Christiansen, and longtime assistants Keith Armstrong, Brad Hanson, Andrew Corbin and Bert Verrall are all graduates of Palmer High.

“The coaches have that strong connection,” Janecek said. “(Fred) is a strong memory in all of us.”

Janecek remembers Machetanz wearing his Palmer jacket with pride, calling “Let’s get ’em Palmer, let’s get ’em Moose” and eager to always talk Palmer football.

“As he became an older man, he got a warm glow about him every time you had a minute to talk to him about Palmer football,” Janecek said.

Machetanz supported Palmer High football in any way he could. One season he purchased jackets for the players to wear on the sidelines, because during that fall, he thought they looked cold.

“We had some pretty crummy weather at the end of that football season, and these jackets showed up,” Janecek said.

Jack Forrester — a former Palmer High teacher, football coach and activities director — also was at the final Potato Bowl for Machetanz, on Sept. 27, 2002.

“I was fortunate enough to get to see that,” said Forrester, a former neighbor of the Machetanz family. “It was a touching moment for everyone.”

Forrester and his family lived down the road from Machetanz. He said his son J.C. would sneak to the Machetanz home during the winter and shovel the porch after a snowfall. It was something they could do for a family who had given the community so much, he said.

“Fred and Sara were kind-hearted folks, not only financially, but they’d be there in support,” Forrester said. “They were good to the community and kind to Palmer High School. They’d support all programs, but football, that’s where his love and passion was.”

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.