John Vaara is shown working at a recent Finlandia University basketball game. Vaara has been officiating football and basketball for 42 years. (Paul Peterson photo)

HANCOCK — It’s been nearly 44 years, but John Vaara still has a clear memory of the first high school football game he ever officiated in.

The year was 1974 and L’Anse was visiting Houghton in a game at old Hubbell Field.

“Bob Scholie, who had been an official downstate and really knew the rules, had just moved up here. And he wanted to start up an officiating team,” Vaara said. “He put together a team that included Dennis Harbour, Mike Maki and myself. None of the rest of us had officiated much before, so Bob told us before the game what to look for and where to position ourselves. It was a learning experience for all of us.”

Vaara learned so well that he would later officiate in five 11-person state championship games and one eight-person title game.

Also a referee in basketball, Vaara worked 15 years in the GLIAC and other leagues. He also has a prep state basketball championship game to his credit.

Growing up in Ironwood with three older brothers, he was active in sports right from the beginning.

“My older brother, Bob, was a second-team all-state basketball player in 1953. That served as incentive for the rest of us,” he said. “We all ran track, played basketball, and I also played football. All of us also coached at one point or another later on.”

After graduating from Ironwood High in 1969, John attended Gogebic Junior College for two years (he played basketball there) before moving on to Northern Michigan University.

“I played at Northern for one year for Glenn Brown, but I had to start working if I was going to get through college financially,” he said. “It was a tough decision for me.”

After graduating from NMU in 1974, Vaara had two job offers. One was in Nebraska, the other was in Chassell. He chose the latter.

In addition to his teaching duties, Vaara also coached boys basketball and cross country at CHS. He guided the Panthers to three U.P. cross country titles.

“I was fortunate to have some of the Soumis boys in the school,” he recalled. “We had some athletic success with them.”

After being appointed high school principal at Chassell in 1981, he served in that role until 1987.

He left to go to Hancock High in a similar role in 1988 and was appointed superintendent not long after.

Being a part of the staff and administration helped him see the whole picture of being an educator.

“The thing about being in administration is that you see all the inner workings that it takes to run a school,”he said.

Vaara stayed active in sports, playing independent basketball and slow-pitch softball for several years.

The WMPL Radio basketball team he was on ruled the local league for years with players like Pete Wickley, Bill Tarbox, Rick Miller, Butch Ojala and others.

“We had a very good team and we played in a lot of weekend tournaments,” he recalled. “It was kind of like slow-pitch softball where there was at least one tournament going on every weekend.”

In the meantime, he was staying busy with his officiating duties. He’s been a registered MHSAA official in football and basketball for 42 years.

In that time, he also worked with a number of other officials. Dave St. Onge of Marquette was his partner in the GLIAC and still works with him occasionally at Finlandia basketball games.

Bob Backon and Mike Maki were other refs he’s been teamed up with over the years.

He said one of the things he has learned working with high school and college players is that they are usually receptive to advice.

“Normally, the kids are the most honest. They want to know why a call was made, but I’ve had very few argue with me about a call. It’s usually the parents of the players who make the most noise,” he said.

John and his wife, Debra, have three children: a son, Dan and two daughters, Amy and Melissa. All were standouts in high school sports.

Vaara works on a team these days with Kevin Patana and Jeff Simpson, who are relatively young refs learning the ropes.

Simpson said having a veteran like Vaara to work with has helped.

“John has been around for a long time,” he said. “It really helps us to work with him.”

Vaara believes in staying busy in his older days, golfing in the summer and officiating basketball between early December and mid-January.

He and his wife will head to Tucson, Az. later this month to spend some time away from the snow and cold at a trailer he owns.

But he has no regrets about moving to the Copper Country.

“This is a great area to live in and to raise a family,” he said. “What more can a person ask for?”