Senior Day on the blue turf had special meaning this year for one longtime Bronco fan and those who love him.
Franklin “Frank” Smoke has seen hundreds of players come and go since he first became a volunteer selling game programs for the Optimists 37 years ago. Next year, he plans to watch Boise State football home games from the warmth of his home basement.
“Don’t you think I’ve been doing it long enough?” asked the 91-year-old, who walks from 30 minutes to an hour every other day in his Boise neighborhood.
Game days are long days for Smoke. He and other volunteer program sellers arrive at Bronco Stadium two to three hours before a game. He’s also not one to relax in the stands once the game starts.
“He likes to stand back in the walkway. He’ll follow the game from end zone to end zone,” said Mark Anderson, co-chairman of the Boise Noon Optimists Club. “If the ball is on the 4-yard line, he’s at the 4-yard line.”
Smoke, who bundles up in long johns and sweaters, says he likes to move around and keep warm.
And there are other benefits, he said. After a Broncos touchdown at a recent game, a woman from Seattle hugged him.
“I never object to girls grabbing me,” he said.
The father of two and grandfather of five is healthy and looking forward to his 92nd birthday this month.
But Smoke has had his share of challenges. He survived a heart attack. He suffers from asthma and bronchitis. He’s had both knees and a hip replaced. His beloved wife of almost 55 years, Jean Elizabeth, died about a year and a half ago.
Smoke has announced his intention to retire before, often just a note scribbled on the back of an envelope.
But something always draws him back.
“He’s kind of like Brett Favre — each year he says he’s retiring and each fall he comes back,” said Smoke’s son, Geoff.
The Optimists receive some of the money from the sale of Boise State programs to finance youth sports programs and community service projects.
Frank Smoke, who sports the same bright orange Boise Noon Optimists Club vest he’s worn since 1974, usually works near Gate 9.
Over the years, he’s developed a following of sorts. Anderson said Bronco fans line up to talk to him.
“There could be someone standing right next to him (selling programs), and they’ll wait to talk to Frank,” Anderson said.
“Most definitely he has his fans, and many of those are from the decades of being the face behind the program,” Anderson said. “He will definitely be missed.”
Geoff Smoke, who now lives in Portland, recalled seeing his dad hurrying off to games in the early 1980s, when Geoff was a business administration student at Boise State.
“We’d be in the front yard enjoying the keg, and he’d walk by two hours before the game and yell (hello) at us,” he said.
In recent years, Geoff has been delighted to hear his dad call into the Idaho Sports Talk radio show with Statesman Sports Editor Mike Prater and Jeff Caves.
COACH PETE IS ‘LOW-KEY,’ LIKE FRANK
Frank Smoke doesn’t really have an all-time favorite BSU player, but he puts Brock Forsey, Ian Johnson and Kellen Moore near the top of his list. He likes Coach Chris Petersen (“He’s low-key, like I think I am”), but he’s partial to late, great Coach Tony Knap.
Knap, who coached in the Canadian Football League in 1967, was at Boise State when the Smoke family arrived in Boise in 1968. Frank Smoke’s career in food production took him from his native Canada to California, then to Idaho to work for Ore-Ida.
Smoke enjoys most sports and is an avid golfer. He grew up playing hockey in Paris, Ontario, and brought his passion for hockey to Boise. When he joined Optimists, he promoted youth hockey and the establishment of the Wildwood Street ice rink.
His Optimist vest sports three hockey-related patches. But these days, football is his game, and he’s looking forward to putting his feet up as he watches next season.
“I’m very proud and very impressed,” said Geoff Smoke. “I’ve been surprised he’s done it this long.”
Katy Moeller: 377-6413
