It was time. After 85 years of football being played on the beloved field behind the school first built in 1937, it was time to say goodbye and move to a larger field. Like many of you, I gathered with most of the town last Friday night to attend the final football game and bid farewell to the place that has created so many memories for so many people.
It was a special night. Word had spread about this special final night and people came from all over to give this field a fitting farewell. It was wonderful to see past football players, cheerleaders, and band members gather to see the final football game being played on this historic field. This was more of a Homecoming crowd than we usually see at Homecoming.
When we first moved to Mount Vernon from Texas ten years ago, we were confused where the football field was located. When we dropped off our oldest daughter who was then a sophomore for Band Camp, we didn’t see a stadium anywhere and wondered where she would be performing with the Marching Band. We were quickly informed of the interesting location at the “Old Middle School.”
Our first home game was even more confusing. The new bleachers hadn’t been built yet and everyone was sitting on thin wooden benches. We had brought our stadium seats with us that we quickly saw would be useless. There was very little seating; we finally found a board that had been a bench but was now just propped up on some bricks and we grabbed it. Our knees were at our chins, but it was better than nothing.
Towards the end of the night I walked over to the hill where younger kids were sliding down on pizza boxes and saw the student section standing on the benches, bowing in the middle. I thought for sure the wood was going to break with them jumping up and down. This was so different than our stadium in Whitehouse, Texas where Patrick Mahomes had been the quarterback, but I could see that everyone was having a wonderful time and I sensed something really special about this field.
When the new field at the current high school was proposed, I had mixed feelings. The Save Our Field Committee had done such an excellent job putting in the new bleachers and press box and making everything so much nicer. I knew a lot of time and expense had gone into making the field better and safer.
I loved the history of the old field and how it had been a Works Progress Administration project in the 1930s. I knew that so many people around town had memories and fond feelings about the field. I also thought about the thousands of athletes, cheerleaders, and band members who had played and performed on the field. I believe in the power of history and not just tossing away things because they are old.
But I also know that when we outgrow things and have patched and repaired and made over something as many times as we can, there comes a point that we just have to move on. None of us are wearing the same clothes that we wore 75 years ago or driving a car we drove 75 years ago (admittedly, many of us weren’t alive 75 years ago).
Mount Vernon has made good on a field that was created for its town. It has been used and loved and appreciated for a lifetime. And now it is time, time to move on to a new era. We have outgrown the old field and the bleachers. The team and staff can barely fit on the small area provided on the sidelines. There isn’t a seat to be found in the stands and it’s so difficult to move around or get to the concession stand. Our Marching Band now has to be in the end zone because there isn’t room in the stands.
Although this brings an end of an era, it went out with so much honor and love. Sure, we lost the game to Solon, but so much more happened on that field Friday night. I heard alumni band members say that they hadn’t been back for a football game in Mount Vernon in 40 years, but they were so excited that they were going to have the chance to play with their high school band one more time, they couldn’t miss the opportunity. And the current band was able to see the legacy that they are a part of as they mingled with band members who had graduated long before them.
And so we say goodbye to the First Street Field. It will always hold treasured memories and will epitomize a town that cares about each other. We turn the chapter to a new era that will bring new opportunities and provide new memories. But for now, it is time.