Give Me a G!!!

It's rare, that you find yourself cheering for somebody in the stands.

Last Friday, as the Glasgow boys' basketball team prepared to tip off against the Malta Mustangs the team took some time out for a special someone that has taken out so much time for them.

It caught her off guard at first. As the letter was read she patiently waited for the game to begin. Then she heard what so many people in the crowd already knew.

The Super Fan Award is being presented to Ruth Ann Hutcheson.

“When he called my name I just couldn't believe it, I still can't believe it,” Hutcheson said. “I was shaking like a leaf. I did not cry that night but I've shed lots of tears since then.”

The award, which is given to about 15 people around the state each year, has been sponsored each of the past three years by the Montana High School Association and U.S. Bank.

Hutcheson was nominated by the people at the high school, who sent in a letter to the MHSA petitioning the group for the award.

To call Hutcheson a Super Fan doesn't quite do her justice. As it said in the heart-felt application sent to the MHSA, “Hutcheson isn't related to anyone in Glasgow, the Scotties are her family.”

We're talking about a woman that, until a few years ago, dressed from head to toe in Scotty gear and wore a red wig to games. This is a woman that cheers so loud and unabashedly that she can be heard all the way out on the visitors sideline at football games. She travels to away games and makes sure every student is taken care of when they travel.

When teams travel to away tournaments in the Scotty cruiser, there are cases of water, provided by Hutcheson. Before the playoffs begin she hosts steak dinners. She posts signs supporting nearly every player and every team around town. She makes sure each parent gets a picture with their athlete on Senior Day and gives them prints to keep.

Of course, none of this is new to Glasgow residents. They've been trying to give a little back to her the whole time. And she notices.

In fact, her office is adorned with dozens of Scottie dogs, Scottie knick-knacks and Scottie flags.

It started when the 1992 football team signed a ball and carved a base out of wood from the old middle school. On the base it already claimed her No. 1 fan, 18 years ahead of its time.

Since then, she has collected everything that's been given to her by the students and families that she has touched over the years. She has big items, like a ceramic Scottie dog, which I would call life-size if Scotties ever grew the size of Rottweilers. She has small items too, things that some people would've thrown away long ago, like the strands of red, white and black streamers that were tied together one game as a makeshift pom-pom. After all, she was the cheerleader when the football team didn't have cheerleaders.

She even keeps every card she receives as a thank you note and all the press clippings no one asks her to keep. During the playoffs the front window of Taxmasters turns into a billboard for the Scotties, with a black Scottie cutout with a large white RAH, boldly cheering on the home team just up the hill. The RAH, stands for Ruth Ann Hutcheson, though it is perfectly fitting for her second profession.

She says she plans to get her award framed and has already cleared a space on her wall. And as far as being the loudest fan, that's not stopping any time soon.

We wouldn't have it any other way. RAH, RAH, RAH.