Those who travel the path around the Falls on a regular basis found themselves competing with a little more traffic at the end of last week heading into the weekend.
The citywide Falls Fest rummage sales added to the congestion starting on Thursday even though Friday was the official start date. That phenomenon may add credence to the saying that “The early bird gets the worm,” or in this case, “The early bird gets the best shot at scarfing up the wormwood antique furniture.”
Friday’s traffic pattern was further complicated by the homecoming parade that wormed or worked its way around the construction barricades. Friday night’s homecoming game featured one of the biggest crowds in recent memory and also the greatest number of Panther points scored in a season or two. Even the band was caught a little off guard when a touchdown was scored as the band was assembled on the opposite side of the field in position to begin the halftime show. Never one to pass up a performance opportunity, band director Ben Burish waved his magic baton, and the band broke into the school song, even if the sections were a huddled mass.
Speaking of huddled masses, the halftime show was outstanding and reminded many observers of the UW-Madison marching band performances. The kids danced and had a great show of why being in band can be great fun. They even did a fifth-quarter performance after the game that drew participants from the crowd. It was a homecoming game to remember, even if the check mark did not go into the win column.
There is a remote chance that it might be a homecoming game to remember for a much different reason. Friday night’s homecoming game might have been the last to be played at Memorial Field. With the new fields being built at the high school site, we knew the Memorial Field experience would be coming to an end. Thinking that the construction phase would be completed in the summer of 2015 and the turf on the new field would need a year to be ready for competition, the early estimate was that the first football game would be scheduled for the fall of 2016.
Unlike what often is the case with major projects, the progress to date has been phenomenal. Ground was broken on Tuesday of last week, and it seems the earth has been shaking ever since as the landscape is being altered, not unlike a baker smoothing thick frosting on a cake. After the cake is frosted, the sprinkles top it all off. In this case the topping on the reshaped surface is the seeding. There is a good chance the fields might be seeded by mid-October. If Mother Nature cooperates, we could see a light coating of fresh green grass before the first snowfall.
Ultimately, that field might be ready for the first game next season. If that comes to be, Memorial Field will host its last Panther football game on Friday, Oct. 10, just a few days before the celebration of Columbus Day. It may not be the discovery of a new world, but the students might feel that way if they step onto that new field next fall.
The initial grading of the new football field/track has been quite a tourist attraction in recent days. Perhaps a Falls Fest concessionaire might have made a buck or two if he or she had been set up on that spot to provide refreshments for the people passing through.
For at least a decade or two, many different plans for a new athletic field had been sketched out on paper. Those with a good imagination might have been able to see the vision of what it might be. Each day’s effort to go from the abstract to the concrete makes it much easier to visualize.
The hundreds of youngsters who were part of the youth football tournament on Saturday and Sunday at Memorial Field will be able to do more than visualize it in their mind’s eye. They will feel the turf under their toes.
Sunday also marked the return of a run as part of the Falls Fest weekend. It was a great success, with lots of participation. Most likely, it will occur next year on the corresponding weekend. If we stretch the imagination a bit and alter the course just a little, it’s possible that next year’s finish line could be somewhere in that track/football field complex. Now that would be a real traffic stopper.
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