Limeport 'spirit, enthusiasm' returns local

By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call


To some, Limeport Stadium might seem to be just a patch of farmland they use to play ball on. But to many others, the old park represents nothing less than a dream come true.

The grand old stadium, now in its 51st year, isn't slowly decaying and fading away like many parks from its era. Thanks to a group of generous and hardworking people, Limeport Stadium is staging a huge comeback - one which just might return the park to the grand old days of the 1930's when it was known as "the biggest littlebaseball park in the country."

Last night, 900 people turned out to celebrate the stadium's new lighting system and scoreboard and to honor all those who contributed to the revitalization of one of the Lehigh Valley's most scenic parks.

The ceremony honored those who contributed to the light fund and was held prior to an exhibition game between the Southern Lehigh Indians of the Blue Mountain League and Limeport A.A. of the Tri- County League, two of the stadium's regular tenants along with the Solehi American Legion team.

Although several night games have been played in the past few weeks, the night served as the official introduction to night baseball in the Southern Lehigh area and showcased the new electronic scoreboard which was presented by the Limeport A.A. in memory of the stadium's founder and builder of the stadium, Howard "Lefty" Fegely.

Although the lights are not yet properly adjusted and are considered to be at about 75 percent of complete efficiency, no one seemed to notice last night as enthusiasm brightened the skies as much as the 100 watt metal halide lamps on each of eight light poles.

The presentation included the Sea-Bee Reserve Color Guard which escorted the national and state flags to the center-field flagpole where the colors were raised as Heffy's Band played the national anthem with club member Ed Scott providing the lead vocal.

"If my father would be here to see this, he'd think this was out of this world," said Homer Fegely, the son of the stadium's founder, who threw out the first ball.

"He would really love this. He was a great baseball fan. Baseball was his life.

The whole idea for stadium lights got started late last year after the stadium celebrated its 50th Anniversary.

"We had a committee together for the 50th anniversary last year and we were ready to disband," recalled Al Klan, a member of that original committee. "Then at one of our last meetings, someone said, 'Now that the field is in such great shape, wouldn't it be nice to put up lights.' Everybody seemed to like the idea.

"So we began to lay out some plans. We felt all along that it was just a dream. That dream became a nightmare when we got estimate that it would cost somewhere between $80,000 to $85,000. But we didn't give up and kept working at it.

"People started to donate equipment and we decided to begin the light fund drive. We were able to cut the estimate in half and the rest of the money came through the fund."

Greg Weigard and Dave Linde, the fund-raising co-chairmen, have reported that #35,380 has been collected in the campaign for $41,000. A dazzling and huge plaque has been erected under the grandstand with all the names of those who contributed to the fund.

The donors are separated into various clubs. The Home Run Club is for those who have given $1,000 or more and include the Allentown Beverage Company; Kevin L. Bowley; Call-Chronicle Newspapers; Chernay Printing; Coopersburg IGA; Mr. and Mrs. Walter W. Hofstetter; a donation given in memory of Albert T. Laub; Limeport A.A. and Wedgewood Golf Course.

The Triple Club is for those who donated between $500 and $1,000 and included Kitty and Ralph Bartman in memory of Irvin Bartman; Thomas and Janet Bonekemper; Ray and Dolly Bortz; Alvin H. Butz; Marie and Homer Fegely; Tom Fegely; Al and Elsie Stroble; a donation in memory of Julio (Leo Torresan; and Greg Weigard.

The Double Club is for those who gave between $100 and $500 and has a present list of 126 names and the Single Club, for those who donated between $25 and $100, includes 198 members thus far.

Two other men who played most active roles in the drive for lights are Southern Lehigh Indian manager Al Crist and Limeport A.A. skipper Ishky Fatzinger.

"We used to get 60 people here for a game before all this interest started," said Crist, who coordinated much of the construction of the lighting system. "Now there's a lot of interest in playing games here. It's just fabulous for this stadium. This has always been one of the most beautiful parks in the area and now with the lights, it's even better."

"Judging by the crowd, I'd say there's a lot of spirit and enthusiasm back here," said Fatzinger. "It's just great to be a part of all of this. It's a thrill for me."



keith.groller@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- July 21, 1984

Copyright © 1984, The Morning Call