Hillsboro, Kan. - On a cool and breezy Saturday afternoon, and with a thin cloud of diesel smoke wafting through the air, Tabor College and Unified School District 410 broke ground for a jointly-funded facility for football, soccer, and track and field.
The Bluejays came up short in their last game of the season on Nov. 15, but the final score could not prevent players, fans and other members of the Hillsboro community from celebrating a huge victory at Reimer Field-the Anticipation Party and Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new Joel Wiens Stadium.
The football players pulled down the goalposts to make room for new ones. And the old field was plowed because, if everything goes according to schedule, local athletes will be playing on a new field made of artificial turf next fall.
In addition to free admission for the entire community, fans received commemorative cups and footballs and other items from the campus bookstore. Adding to the sweetness of the brisk and sunny afternoon, there was cotton candy and cupcakes for everyone.
"The Anticipation Party and Groundbreaking Ceremony was a tribute to the character of the project," said Tabor College President Jules Glanzer. "You have two major entities of the community combining their resources and expertise to create a facility to benefit the entire community and that will bring new business to the Hillsboro community."
Rosy-cheeked Trudy Hein, 3, daughter of Kerry and Rachel Hein, of Hillsboro, enjoys free cotton candy during the Anticipation Party and Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new stadium.
The stadium project is a joint venture between Tabor College and USD 410. At halftime, representatives from the two entities praised the project and the unique partnership that is making the new stadium a reality.
"A great number of Tabor College athletes have competed on this football field and track over the years, but the time has come for a change," said Rusty Allen, Vice President for Athletics. "We believe this project will enhance not only athletic programs for the high school and the college, but also the entire community."
In addition to the new football field, the new project will include a new synthetic track and a throwing area for field events; new bleachers on the home side, a new press box, and a new concession stand and restroom facilities. In addition, a new team locker room will be constructed at the north end of the stadium.
Wearing a Hillsboro Trojans cap and a Tabor Bluejays sweatshirt, Hillsboro High School principal Max Heinrichs, an alum of both schools, said the new facility would rival any facility anywhere.
"It's a great day for both of our learning organizations, a defining moment," Heinrichs said. "I would like to thank the USD 410 community and the Tabor College communities for making this dream a reality. Go Trojans and go Bluejays!"
Rod Koons, president of the USD 410 Board of Education, said the new stadium project exemplifies the best of community teamwork.
"As an acronym, the word team stands for Together Everyone Accomplishes More, and that's what this project is about," Koons said. "It's not a Tabor project; it's not a USD 410 project. It is a joint, community project. And because we're working together, we can create a facility that will be the envy of everyone in the area."
Del Reimer, former athletic director and coach at Tabor College, for whom the current stadium, Reimer Field, is named, said it was "high time" for a stadium upgrade.
Former coach and athletic director Del Reimer addresses the crowd during the halftime portion of the Anticipation Party and Groundbreaking Ceremony held Saturday at Tabor College. In the background, from left, are Dr. Craig Ratzlaff, Max Heinrichs, Rod Koons, and Rusty Allen.
"In 1961, this field was dedicated, and after 47 years of activities on this field, we are now embarking on an upgrade which I think is very good," Reimer said. "I want to commend the USD 410 and the college for working together on this project. I'm excited and looking forward to this. Maybe the next time I come out, it will be on that new field!"
As a Hillsboro High school graduate and former standout football player at Tabor College, Dr. Craig Ratzlaff embodies the unique partnership between the local public school district and the college.
In a moving testimony, Ratzlaff, a member of the Tabor College Board of Directors who is leading the fund-raising effort for the stadium project, told the story of a teammate whose life was forever changed by his participation in the Bluejay football program.
"Twenty-six years ago a friend of mine came to Tabor to play football," said Ratzlaff, who now lives in Wichita. "He came from South Florida. He wasn't churched. He didn't know Christ. He didn't know anything about Kansas. He called me the other day and said, ‘You know, I came here to participate in football, but it was Christ who changed my life.'"
Ratzlaff asked the crowd during the halftime presentation to consider the eternal impact of a new athletics facility.
"As we look around, at the old wooden boards of the bleachers, at the rusty iron, and at the scoreboard that has never changed, and at the fallen down press box, we can look back with some thanks at some great memories," Ratzlaff said. "But I invite you also to look forward, to what lives could be changed on a new field."
Flanked by the Tabor Bluejay mascot and cheerleader Annie Gramza (Olathe, Kan.) are speakers during the halftime portion of the Anticipation Party and Groundbreaking Ceremony. From left, Del Reimer, Rod Koons, Max Heinrichs, Rusty Allen, and Dr. Craig Ratzlaff.
In closing the halftime ceremony, Allen gave thanks to God, praying, "We're so thankful for this opportunity to celebrate, looking to the future and honoring the past. We're thankful for the many high school and college athletes who have had an opportunity to compete on this facility and we look forward to something new. We pray that as we work hard to see it come to fruition, that you will give us a lot of wisdom and grace to make decisions and use what you're going to provide for your glory and honor."
President Glanzer knew the actual groundbreaking ceremony needed to be something special, which meant that the old golden shovel routine would never do. What this groundbreaking needed, thought Glanzer who grew up on a South Dakota farm, was a tractor! Preferably, a tractor big enough to make a statement about the relative importance of the project at hand.
Enter The Green Giant: a mammoth eight-wheeled John Deere Model 9220, owned by USD 410 board member Dale Klassen of rural Hillsboro, and driven for the occasion by his father, Lloyd.
When the big moment came after the game, Klassen fired up the tractor's 325 horsepower turbo diesel engine, and the 32,934-pound machine rumbled down the length of the field on wheels standing over six feet high.
The stadium groundbreaking was performed by a mammoth eight-wheeled John Deere Model 9220, owned by Dale Klassen of rural Hillsboro, and driven for the occasion by his father, Lloyd.
It rolled into the north end zone and turned back 180-degrees, to face south. Dozens of discs, about the size of manhole covers, hovered over the goal line. As the Tabor pep band played, the tractor revved its engine and dropped its plow. In a matter of seconds, dozens of discs weighing several tons had cut deep gashes in the field; a single swath as wide as the hash marks and about 20 yards long.
Schoolboys wearing Tabor football sweatshirts grabbed pieces of the turned-up sod and tossed them into the air. A grown man who had played on the field took home a chunk of sod as a souvenir of his glory days.
After the hoopla, the goalpost was a twisted wreck, the field was irreparably gashed between the hash marks, and President Glanzer was all smiles.
"It really felt good to see that tractor drive on there and turn the sod!" Glanzer said.
Glanzer pointed out that Tabor had scored the last touchdown ever to be scored on old Reimer Field. The new field will retain the name Reimer Field, and the new facility will be named Joel Wiens Stadium. Wiens, a Wyoming businessman, gave the college $1.22 million in 2006, the largest donation in the school's history.
"It was neat to see the players tear the goalpost down," Glanzer added. "Not every team gets to do something like that."
-Story and Photos by Grant Overstake, Tabor College
