Chip Dalesandro vividly remembers his introduction to Blue Devil football.

“I was eight years old,” the Class of 1976 grad said, “and I heard some of the players talking about camp, the three-a-day practices, and I said ‘I’m going up.’ So I rode my bike up to the high school and walked right into the huddle. First thing I remember is smelling Vitalis. All the older kids wore it.”

For those born in this century, Vitalis is a hair tonic that was pretty big back in the day. It’s still around, if anyone want to think about starting a Vitalis revival.

“The next thing I remember is being grabbed by the scruff of the neck and being told to get the hell out of there.”

Dalesandro left, but would come back, playing at all levels, including two years on the varsity squad, then coaching at the junior and senior high school level, including the WPIAL championship 1983 team.

This fall marks a few Blue Devil football milestones, including the 60-year anniversary of the undefeated 1966 team, a book about the 1979 team that was player-coached because of a teachers’ strike and the renaming of the football field in honor of longtime coach Art Walker. Michael Eck, author of the book Strike Season, will be at a Historical Society of Mount Lebanon event celebrating the book release on August 11. The field dedication is scheduled for the October 23 game against North Allegheny and the 1966 team will be honored at the October 30 game against Canon-MacMillan. So to gear up for all this pigskin, be sure to visit the historical society’s current exhibit, Friday Night Lights.

It’s not just about football. Friday Night Lights features sections on the marching band, the Rockettes dance troupe and game programs that hearken back to the days when you could buy a frozen Milky Way for a nickel at the concession stand.

“I have so many band uniforms now, I don’t know what to do with them all,” said Jenny Wood, historical society vice president. “We have a touch screen showing all the different band uniform styles through the years, all the different designs of the Blue Devil, going back to 1932. They even had a goat that they would dress up for the games.”

You can also choose from an array of merchandise, including mugs and T-shirts. There’s even talk of offering a “Caviar Kids” T-shirt.

“Up though the ‘60s, they called us cake eaters,” said Dale Cable, Class of 1975 and another former player. “Then in the ‘70s, they dubbed us the caviar kids.”

Although he wasn’t around for the cake eater days, Dalesandro has a story about how Coach Walker used the name to motivate the team.

“It was a game against, I think it was Wilkinsburg,” he said, “And Art arranged for a cake to be delivered to the locker room at halftime. He throws the cake against the wall and said ‘Here’s what they think of you!’” Mt. Lebanon went on to win the game.

“Art tells me this story, and I’m coaching junior high football,” said Dalesandro, “so one game I had a cupcake delivered to the locker room and did the same thing! We lost, 7-6.”

Working with Walker could be pretty demanding, Dalesandro relates.

“We’d go to the Star Vue [a Castle Shannon tavern, now closed] after the games, and have beer and pizza, then around midnight he’d look at his watch and say ‘Chipper, let’s go to Oakland and get the films.’”

Walker had an in with a film production studio that filmed every high school football game in the region.

“Art would be one of the first ones down there, and on the way home, he’d go “Let’s go watch films,’ and it’s like two in the morning! We’d be watching films for hours and all of a sudden he’d be banging on the wall, going ‘Beverly! Make Chip some eggs!”

The Historical Society of Mount Lebanon is located at 794 Washington Road. The building is open on Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m., and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free.