Leonard Winkler, son of William and Emma Winkler,
was a 1923 graduate of Sandusky High School. According to the March 2, 1966
issue of the Sandusky Register, Len
Winkler coined the phrase “Blue Streaks” as the nickname for Sandusky High
School athletes. In the early 1920s, Len was a reporter for the Sandusky Star Journal. Another reporter had called Sandusky High
School athletes the “Blue Devils.” After Winkler called them the “Blue
Streaks,” the nickname stuck. For several years Len Winkler resided in an
apartment underneath the home grandstand at Strobel Field. (Now Strobel Field at Cedar Point Stadium.) Click here to read an article at Fandy.com for more details about other
residents of the apartment beneath Strobel Field.
For almost thirty years, Len Winkler was the “Voice
of Sandusky High athletics.” He announced almost every Sandusky High School
football game, basketball game, track and wrestling match from 1936 to 1965.
Due to illness, Len was forced to quit announcing in 1965. At that time he also
resigned his teaching job at Sandusky High School. On October 9, 1965, Sandusky
Mayor William Harbrecht proclaimed that day as “Len Winkler Day.” Later that
night Len Winkler announced his final game at Strobel Field. Len Winkler died
on March 1, 1966 after a lengthy illness. He had been a teacher of industrial
arts, mathematics and physics at Sandusky High School. He was a graduate of
Ohio State University, where he earned an engineering degree. While Len was
employed at the Ohio Public Service Company, he supervised the installation of
public address system at the SHS stadium. Len Winkler was survived by his wife
Mary, two sisters, and several nieces and nephews. Funeral services for Len
Winkler were held at the Charles J. Andres’ Sons Funeral Home, and burial was
at the Castalia Cemetery.
