Gilpin football game field improvements are coming at long last

by Peter Jakey– Managing Editor

When members of the Rogers City Area Schools Board of Education looked at the recurring issue of resurfacing the football game field at Gilpin Memorial Field, board member Dick Hanson did not want to put a dime into the work. That was until he walked the field Monday.

?I also talked to some former players who said it is a knee crusher,? said Hanson, referring to the uneven playing surface. ?At first, I thought we could not afford to waste the money.? Hanson changed his mind and made the motion to authorize the spending of not more than $3,000 from the voter-approved building and site fund. The rest will come from Huron football activity account ($500), a grant from the Northeast Michigan Community Foundation ($1,500), and the Youth Football League ($1,500). Athletic director Pat Lamb presented letters from all three groups at Monday?s special board meeting indicating their pledge of financial support for the project.

AT A MEETING one week before, Lamb said lasers confirmed the uneveness of the game field, as the sidelines are higher than the middle of the field. There are drastic dips and holes throughout. Different proposals have come before the board for more than a decade, but for various reasons were always put on the back burner.

The board approved the low bid of Boyne Valley Hydroseed, whose price is $4,446. Another bid was received from C & S Lawncare of Hillman at $5,184. Boyne Valley Hydroseed will use a quality ball field mix with starter fertilizer and hydromulch.

?The wood fiber mulch is a better product than paper mulch and not many hydroseeding companies use wood fiber mulch in this area,? said Brandt Bahling, company president. The product costs more, but the quality is so much higher that we never use paper.? They have worked on similar projects in Boyne City and East Jordan. The company worked on the Boyne City football field along with the East Jordan football field, soccer fields, and baseball fields. Board president Mike Marx said the East Jordan baseball field is gorgeous.

?What the recommendation is that we kill all the gra

ss that is on the field right now, till it all under and remove the rocks,? said Lamb. ?Fill it in, if need be, with more topsoil, crown it, then bring it up to grade, and then hydro-seed it.?

KEITH KONIECZNY has been working with Lamb to bring this project to the forefront. ?Keith is rounding up heavy equipment and manpower to go forward with the project,? said Lamb.

?It is awesome that he is taking on this project,? said board member Scott McLennan.

?He is like the Energizer bunny,? said Lamb, with a complimentary laugh. Bahling believes there is enough time as long as the project is started in June.

?Best case scenario is we?ll be ready to play on it in August,? said Lamb. ?Worst case scenario is we may have to look at an alternative location for a couple of games. Hopefully, not.? He also added that there is ?no real good time to do it. It?s northern Michigan.?

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