Effort gives life to dreams

Not that he’d ever take credit for it, but Shadle Park High School varsity baseball coach Ron Brooks is the driving force behind the recent dramatic improvements to a North Side facility that is home to more than 100 prep and American Legion games a season.

More than $60,000 has been committed to the Jackson Field renovation project that, so far, includes new bleachers, dugouts, bullpens and scoreboard.

The most rewarding part of the project, says Brooks, is that it has been a community effort among current and former Shadle Park players, the Legion baseball program and the Shadle community.

Brooks credits Legion board member and Shadle baseball parent Stacy Baker for her countless hours of volunteer time in coordinating fundraising efforts, organizing volunteers and managing the project timeline.

“I never could have thought of pulling this off without Stacy and her husband, Gene,” said Brooks. American Legion board president Mike Padden echoes that opinion.

Brooks and Padden also credit retired police officer Earl Ennis and retired business owner Bob Sweat for their contributions.

“I’ve got to give lots of credit to Ron,” said Padden. “His reputation in the Shadle Park baseball community and the degree of respect his current and former players have for him have gained far more support for this than I ever imagined.

“I thought it would take several years to get this done, but other than permanent restrooms, all the major pieces will be completed this spring.

“Ron came to us and asked about improvements that could be implemented through a cooperative effort between Shadle Park and the American Legion. Jackson Field is one of the few lighted fields in the area, and it gets a ton of use,” Padden said.

“Ron’s been an inspiration and a spark plug for this project, and his enthusiasm has been infectious. His involvement has inspired others to do far more than they would have done if he weren’t part of it,” Padden continued.

The project has dozens of sponsors, but the major contributors are Sterling Savings Bank, Stoneway Electric, Zip’s Drive-Ins and The Spokesman-Review.

Spokane union carpenters and local construction companies also have contributed, and hundreds of hours of labor have been donated by current and former players, parents and community members.

Demolition of dugouts and bleachers began March 31, when some 75 volunteers showed up to help, and work continued during the week of spring break in the hope that everything would be ready to go by Shadle Park’s first home game after vacation.

“This was Ron Brooks’ vision,” said Stacy Baker, “and I think it is absolutely amazing to have a 23-year head coach with this much fire in his belly. I’m involved this much because of Ron, who is an amazing man and an amazing coach. If kids have a dream, he does everything he can to make it happen, and this is the whole community’s way of saying thanks to him.

“On the Legion side,” Baker continued, “I’ve learned that there’s a camaraderie and connection among baseball players, whether they were teammates or opponents and whether they played two years ago or 20 years ago. It’s like a little community of its own, and it’s wonderful to see.”

Baker and her husband own a small marketing agency, but Stacy Baker says her husband more often than not can be found these days at Shadle, working with sign and fence people and carpenters.

The last major improvement at Jackson Field had been made in 1988, when the press box was built. The wooden dugouts predated Brooks’ career as a player at Shadle, which ended in 1973.

“I’m flattered to see how everyone has rallied to make this dream come true,” Brooks said. “Our alumni, boosters, supporters and the American Legion have all really stepped up.

“Local people affiliated with American Legion know that we’ve been using the field for 40 years, and they’ll see that the improvements will make it something special.”

Fundraising efforts will continue as Padden hopes to have a permanent maintenance plan in place after the current work is done.

He and Brooks both point out that all money raised for the project has been donated – no Spokane Public Schools funds have been spent.