2006: The Field of Dreams happened because we cared, but also because many, many volunteers helped in many, many ways.
There was a time in the Fall of 2006 when we were in the midst of finishing the Field of Dreams. The days were getting shorter, and darker earlier; but somehow, with everyone’s help, the sticks and rocks and tennis balls got pulled from the ground just in time; and in late October the sod went in. This, the end of ten weekends for the 300 volunteers who came out to turn the northeast wasteland into new fields for Soccer, Field Hockey/Lacrosse, Band, Football, and Discus.
If you are reading this, you likely were there and shared the relief that all of us felt to accomplish the dream, to see the new fields actually come to be.
There’s a story behind three special volunteers who made a huge difference in helping the fields become what they are today. Read ahead, and then please consider the request that follows:
- It was early September, 2006. Clay Taft was making painfully slow progress on a rented trencher, with over 4000 feet to go in the hardpan/bedrock to lay our laterals. A dad helping out with the main irrigation line comes over, explains that he has a store that rents trenchers like this, would we be interested in a more powerful one that would go faster? The next day we had two, free of charge, for the days it took to finish the work. The dad’s name? Doc. His kid’s sport? Softball.
- It was November, 2006. Les Will, Larry Masuoka and I are testing the sprinklers to make sure they provide the best coverage over the freshly planted sod. They don’t. Another dad comes over, says he does this for a local park district, would we mind if he took a look? He then proceeds to replace and tune the nozzles, 3 apiece, on each of the 118 individual sprinkler heads. Took him a few days, but he didn’t stop till he was done. When he was done, the spray pattern looked better than any park around. The dad’s name? Tim. His kids’ sport? Softball.
- When the main trenches were open, we realized it would be too hot and dry out in the fields to not have some drinking fountains. A dad walks up, says he runs a local water district, would we like some help? So 580 feet of the right type of pipe gets installed; a few months later the same dad calls in a favor with a local contractor and connects the pipe to the main supply, tunneling under the stadium driveway without breaking it up. Now the water is hooked up, and both FH/LAX and Soccer have their own standpipe fountains. The dad’s name? Bob. His kid’s sport? Softball.
Fast forward to March 2008. The original five fields are in, and those teams are playing on them; but another team, JV Softball, still practices offsite. A workday is called (March 29), but only the coach, three players, and two parents show up to help the main force behind building this last field (a Softball dad named Tim).
It isn’t about the sport - as Doc and Tim and Bob showed us, it’s about anyone who can help pitching in so that BVHS students can have a field for whatever sport they play. But, in a way, it is about the sport: softball parents helped in some remarkable ways when it was about discus and soccer, field hockey and lacrosse, band and football. Now it’s their turn to build a field, and they need our help.
Please join me on either Saturday or Sunday, April 12 and 13, at 9:00am. We need to install the sprinklers for the new softball field (i.e., trenching, pipe laying, head attaching, backfilling). This will take gloves and shovels, and a wheelbarrow or two. With your help, Softball can plant the field they need, and we can finally have all field teams back on campus.
If you are busy that weekend (and who isn’t), see if one of the two days has just an hour or two that you could share. I plan to be there both days - I hope to see you there.
Jim Hartley
Field of Dreams
BVHS P ‘07 & ‘10
Track & Field, Tennis
No Comments so far
Leave a comment
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>