Sandpoint community rallies for football team
(Photo by ERIC PLUMMER) Sandpoint baseball coach Chase Tigert was one of scores of locals on hand to help clear more than six inches of snow off War Memorial Field prior to Friday night’s home playoff football game.
(Photo by ERIC PLUMMER) Sandpoint students Anthony Carlino, left, and Bryce Casey pack shovels of snow to the fringes of the stadium on Friday. Carlino plays on the JV team, and wanted to help the varsity team.
(Photo by ERIC PLUMMER) Amos Walkington was one of a handful of local volunteers who spent hours clearing helping remove snow so the field could be playable when the Bulldogs hosted Middleton Friday night.
By ERIC PLUMMER
Sports editor
SANDPOINT — When the original Barlow Stadium at War Memorial Field was built in the 1950s, an entire community chipped in to construct the iconic stadium on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille.
That same quintessential Sandpoint community spirit was on display again Friday, as scores of locals used snow blowers, shovels and a couple of small ATVs to clear six-plus inches of snow off the field leading up to Friday night’s home football game between Sandpoint and Middleton.
Before any referee’s whistles, pad popping hits, screams from cheerleaders or touchdown passes could take place under the Friday night lights, a whole bunch of snow needed to be removed from a surface 120 yards long and 50 yards wide.
So more than 30 community members showed up at noon, per a request via social media by Sandpoint athletic director Kris Knowles, and went about changing War Memorial Field from white to green.
One of the people on the other end of a snow shovel was appreciative Bulldog head coach George Yarno, who marveled at what he was watching.
“This is a pretty cool deal the community helping like this. Some of these guys don’t even have kids in the program,” said Yarno. “You don’t get that everywhere. There is better support for these kids here than anywhere I’ve ever been.”
There had been some mild chatter about moving or possibly postponing the 4A state playoff game a day, but the Middleton athletic director was already in town, and was fine with playing as schedule once he saw what was happening.
Some of the biggest help came from local Tom Puckett, who put a PVC pipe on the bottom of a blade and used a small four-wheeler to push a bunch of snow out of the way.
Among those working snowblowers were Bulldog Bench member John Bonar, Bulldog baseball coach Chase Tigert, and Amos Walkington, whose daughter Riley led the Bulldog girls soccer team in goals this fall. They were part of a crew volunteering their time to help ensure the Bulldogs got their home playoff game.
“There’s a soccer parent, the baseball coach,” said Knowles, pointing out at Walkington and Tigert as they paraded back and forth blowing the snow toward the sideline. “How neat is that for a community to come together for the kids?”
KHQ 6 sent a news crew up to cover the event, as clearing a football field in such a fashion isn’t something you see everyday, at least at the high school football level.
Slowly but surely, the snow was moved to the fringes, including some by way of snow shovel. SHS students Anthony Carlone and Bryce Casey spent more than two hours shoveling the white stuff, after an unusually early November snow shower threatened the game.
“I just wanted to help the team,” said Carlone, who plays on the JV team. “My season is over.”