News : Waterball tradition: Schellhase continues after 40+ years, many championships

Garrison's Paul Schellhase continues to win waterball fights 41 years after his first competition.

Paul Schellhase speaks with Jeremiah 'Bear' Hook of Parkersburg, who hopes to break state record.

Forty-one years after Paul Schellhase finished fourth in his first waterball contest in Vinton, he is still competing against men who were not even born when he was winning state championships with his brother, Don.

And often — as he did twice in Vinton — he still wins.

Shellshase and his Garrison team won two rounds in the 32-team Vinton tournament, but were defeated in the third round. They did not get a trophy but they finished in the top eight teams.

"Our first waterball competition was in 1969," he said Sunday, during the Vinton competition. "We finished fourth and we were so happy to finish fourth."

But they kept practicing. The next year, Don and Paul and their team won the state contest. They won it again in 1971, 1972, and 1974. They also won two tri-state titles, one with states to the east of Iowa; one with states to the west.

Don moved to Traer, where he won even more state titles; he still holds the record of 11.

Paul Schellhase believes the man who is going to break the record was in Vinton on Sunday.

Jeremiah "Bear" Hook has won five state championships with his Parkersburg team (another team from Parkersburg won last year, but with a different firefighter as the nozzle man). Hook said he and his teammates began waterball with the goal of breaking Schellhase's record.

And Schellhase thinks eventually they will.

Hook, however, says he has a long way to go.

"He has 11; we only have five," he said.

Schellhase, a former fire chief and mayor in Garrison, said what is unique about waterball is that in the more than 40 years of waterball competition, he has never seen one argument.

Hook agrees.

"We only do it for fun," he said.

Hook and Schellhase spent a few minutes talking after Vinton's competition, in which Hook's team finished second to a team from Brandon led by Rusty Finley.

While firefighters from Garrison usually only see firefighters from cities as far away as Parkersburg during annual Iowa Firemen's Association convention, there are times when tragedies bring them together.

Hook said the first night after the devastating tornado in 2008, dozens of fire departments from all over Iowa showed up to help in Parkersburg. Garrison firemen also spent a night in Parkersburg, relieving the overworked Parkersburg department.

"We'd do the same thing for them," said Hook.

The Parkersburg fire station was significantly damaged in the tornado, but the building is still in use.

The Vinton and Garrison fire departments hosted the 2003 Iowa Firemen's Association Convention; they are hoping to host the 2013 event. The association members will vote on the site of the 2013 convention during this year's event.

"We hope we get it," said Schellhase. "I think we will."

-----

READER COMMENTS

Really good articles, glad to see one on Paul he's a really good guy. I came to check out the photos of the waterball competition and was really impressed with your website layout, if fact I was on for quite awhile looking things over. Added you to my favorites so I can keep up on Vinton's activities. Rusty