No doubt you’ve noticed, we are just about neck-deep in a watershed moment. From the palms of our hands, we watch as people kneel and statues fall. There has never been a more important time to protect our history, which is why I write today concerning an issue dear to me, the controversial Belmont Red Raiders.
Some would turn their backs on a proud legacy; others would point to the exorbitant cost of screen printing all those new band uniforms. To a generation whose memory lasts no longer than a TikTok video, I point to that proud day in 1859 when Upper Gilmanton became Belmont. With the choice of name, town officials paid homage to August Belmont (born Schönberg), an immigrant turned absurdly wealthy New Yorker, who in turn paid no attention at all. Dear old Auggie, who reportedly spent $20,000 a month on imported wine, left us out to dry, just as he had done to his ancestors by anglicizing, or rather gallicizing, his last name.
We must not let this effacement of history stand, which is why I propose immediately changing our team name to the Schönberg Red Raiders. Stop letting the dictates of the day stand in our way and let us never forget that symbols are what we make of them.
Rob Trask
Belmont