Week 9 of the 2025 high school football season ended with Evanston unable to keep the season alive with an appearance in the Illinois High School Association state playoffs.
But the season didn’t just end. It was also the end of an era for Gary Silkaitis. You won’t see him on the sidelines again, at least not in an official capacity.
Silkaitis is retiring after working on the chain gang for 50 years at home games at Lazier Field. He was on the job before it was called Lazier Field --- and before there were lights on the field, too.
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He’s worked the chains through five decades, seven different head football coaches and six different athletic directors at the school. And he never stopped having fun in a low profile job where you’re most appreciated when no one notices you.
In fact, Silkaitis’ final appearance wasn’t in the varsity game against Glenbrook North last Friday. The next morning he was up early as usual to work the freshman B game.
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He retired after 38 years working for the City of Evanston Recreation Department as a sports supervisor for a variety of youth programs, but continued to toil every weekend as part of the 3-person chain gang at ETHS home games on all levels (varsity, junior varsity and freshman). He’s commuted from his home in Fontana, Wisconsin for the past five years and finally decided that the 50-year milestone was long enough.
Usually he’d stay overnight for the weekend, visiting with his family. Sons Terry and Tim both live in Evanston and were outstanding swimmers for the Wildkits, and Terry was inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame back in 2011.
It was definitely a labor of love for Silkaitis, who will celebrate his 77th birthday next month.
“I will miss it, but 50 years is long enough. Now I can turn it over to the younger generation,” Silkaitis said. “It’s been fun. They feed you at halftime --- you’re smack in the middle of the action at the 50-yard line --- and l never got hurt bad (trying to avoid out of bounds collisions with players) even though I’ve been knocked over a couple of times. That was my big accomplishment, that I never got hurt.
“It’s always been fun for me to be out there watching these young kids play. I’ve seen a lot of good football and a lot of bad football, but it’s always been fun.”
It all started with a phone call back in 1975. Murney Lazier, miffed that he didn’t get the job as Athletic Director at ETHS, decided to leave for greener pastures --- and the entire crew that worked the chains also opted out.
“I got a call out of the blue from (head boys track coach) Willie May and he said they were looking for people to work the chains,” Silkaitis recalled. “I didn’t have any experience --- no one did until they tried it --- and I’d never been to a high school football game (at ETHS). But it’s surely not rocket science, so I thought I’d try it.”
Silkaitis joined buddies Bill Albrecht and Rich Fattes and the trio all learned on the job. Silkaitis took over the “clip” position when Albrecht yielded that spot, and eventually also worked alongside Fattes at Wildkit home basketball games, operating the scoreboard and game clock.
Current chain gang members Jim LaRochelle --- who worked with Silkaitis’ wife Peggy in District 65 --- and Heather Shaffer eventually came on board and the trio has worked together for the last 22 years.
“I was only one year old when Gary started,” noted Shaffer, poking fun at her long-time pal. “We’ll have some tough shoes to fill now. Our standing joke is that our chain gang is sponsored by AARP because we’re all so old.
“Gary is so laid back and he’s so comical. He has a great sense of humor and he’s fun to be around. But he’s horrible when we try to guess the artists for the music they play at halftime. He’s always guessing that it’s either Bruno Mars or Brittany Spears --- and he’s always wrong.”
“I can never get those rap singers right. I had no clue. I guess I’m stuck back in those psychedelic 60s,” Silkaitis laughed. “We always have a lot of fun kidding each other.”
“The first thing that comes to mind for me about Gary is remembering playing in a flag football league he ran when I was 9 years old,” said Evanston Athletic Director Chris Livatino. “He’s given his heart and soul to the entire sports community here in Evanston. He’s such a good man.
“Since he’s always on the other sideline (from where the Evanston bench is located) there’s not really a connection (to the football program) that everyone can see. His connection is about his love for Evanston and his love for the football team. He’s doing maybe the most thankless job that there is out there.”
Silkaitis has seen plenty from the opposing sideline. He’s watched legendary coaches like Paul Adams of Deerfield, Phil Hopkins of Maine South and Chick Cichowski of New Trier in action in the Central Suburban League, among others, and also learned right from the start that maintaining a neutral posture --- and not rooting openly for the Wildkits --- was part of the job description.
“I’ve had referees tell me about guys on the chain gang yelling for their schools, and that some of them might even cheat a little,” Silkaitis said. “You could maybe raise the down box up and down for a signal (if you overheard a play call to be a pass or a run), but we never thought about doing anything like that. We wanted Evanston to win, but we never overtly rooted for anyone.
“My favorite coach (at Evanston) was John Riehle. Every coach was always nice to us, but Coach Riehle was just so nice, a very personable guy. It was funny when he coached because we could hear his voice (from across the field) just like he was standing right next to us.”
Silkaitis’ work schedule for the Wildkits always included games on Fridays and Saturdays, including all of the IHSA home playoff games they qualified for over the years.
He worked on Sunday at least once, too. That was back in September of 2005, when he was on hand for the longest game in the history of the Evanston-New Trier rivalry. The Trevians held off the Kits 20-18 in the Central Suburban League South division opener that started on a Saturday afternoon, and had to be continued on Sunday after lightning strikes in the area caused the game to be halted with 9 minutes, 27 seconds left in the third quarter.
“It poured so much and I got so wet and muddy that I went home at halftime and changed clothes,” Silkaitis remembered. “That’s definitely a game I’ll never forget, having to come back on a Sunday like that.”
