The Story Behind One of Grand Junction Colorado’s Best All Time Pranks

I have been incredibly entertained for about the last 48 hours while reading up on something I first saw mentioned over at the Museums of Western Colorado. Now, this is one of the last places I thought I would go and end up reading about an epic class prank that happened right here in Grand Junction. Surprise!

Greatest Prank Ever!!!! Was Homecoming 1971. Will NEVER Forget It.

It was just a short one-sentence note that read something to the effect of 'the year of the prank at Lincoln Field'. Wait, what? Thank you, Museums of Western Colorado, for keeping little simple notes like this on the funny and odd things that happen in our lives over the years. I loved, even more, all the crazy little details that have come out of the woodwork in your retelling of this story, which is found in the photo gallery below.

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Grand Junction Colorado's 1971 Prank at Stocker Stadium

Imagine the crowd pouring into Stocker Stadium for the big Friday night Homecoming game. It's October, 7th, 1971, and Coach Stoneburners and the Grand Junction Tigers were ready to rumble. Only, as it turned out, there would be no football game that evening, and the entire capacity crowd was standing around in the dark only to be told later they would have to go home for the night.

The Night the Lights Stayed Off at Lincoln Field in Grand Junction Colorado

I must thank John who emailed me an account of the telling that seems more or less to be the complete tale. This account of the 1971 Prank at Stocker Field was written by Kathy Jordan who was an excellent writer for the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Kathy passed away in 2013, but an archive of her incredible work can still be found online thanks to historic7thstreet.org. 

Grand Junction Group Kindly Recounts Memories of the Lincoln Field Prank

Because the conversation happened in a group we have blurred out the names and profile photos of the friendly folks who made comments telling us about that night. We thank each and everyone who took a moment to tell us what they could recall of this hilariously odd event.

The important thing to remember with class pranks, and I'm gonna date myself, is that they used to be funny and cool. I have mad respect for pranks that do NOT destroy property, OR, harm or scare innocent and unsuspecting people. Keep them fun, and clever, and you might even have somebody writing notes about your prank in a museum someday.

What Exactly Happened at Lincoln Field in Grand Junction the Night of the Prank?

Scroll through the accounts of the tale that are probably much funnier to read about than it was to be there that night. I think the reason I find this so entertaining is the incredible planning that had to go into pulling this off. Or did it? We'll attempt to explain all of that in the gallery below.