Iowa celebrated in special “Field of Dreams” game

By Ron Slechta
Posted 8/17/21

Last Thursday night Iowa was the center of the baseball world nationally and probably internationally when the Chicago White Sox played the New York Yankees in a stadium in the middle of a cornfield …

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Iowa celebrated in special “Field of Dreams” game

Posted

Last Thursday night Iowa was the center of the baseball world nationally and probably internationally when the Chicago White Sox played the New York Yankees in a stadium in the middle of a cornfield near the site of the diamond made famous by the movie Field of Dreams 30 years ago.

Neither Hollywood nor the Iowa Tourism board nor the Dyersville Chamber Commerce could have written a better script for the big event. The weather was ideal, capped by a beautiful Iowa sunset.

Kevin Costner’s comments leading up to the game were outstanding. He closed his comments by saying “One question remains. Is this Heaven? It is Heaven.” This was a take on the line from the movie, “Is this Heaven? No, it is Iowa.” Costner finished his presentation by welcoming all the players to the field as they came out of the cornfield surrounding the special stadium.

I personally am not a big baseball fan, but after getting home from a meeting, I turned the game on in the bottom of the 8th inning with the White Sox ahead 7-4. I was pleased to have seen the 9th inning, which was a great way to finish a classic event. The Yankees used homeruns to take an 8-7 lead. The White Sox were not to be out done as they showed why they are in first place in their division.

With two out in the bottom of the 9th, the announcers were saying what a great win this would be for the Yankees. Then with one player getting a walk, the White Sox won the game with a homerun. What a finish to an already great event.

Several baseball fans from the Kalona area were able to get to witness the game firsthand. Cameron Miller, 10-year-old son of Katie and Jeff Miller was pleased to attend the game with his grandfather Gary.  Other Kalona area fans who attended include Michael Huston and his son Caedyn, and Mike and Kim Hernandez.

It was a great event and a great win for Iowa.  We hope the rumors are true that there will be an annual major league game in this special stadium every summer going forward.

One interesting bit of information that came out of this event was to learn that this would not have happened if it had not been for a Canadian writer, W.P. Kinsella, who attended the Iowa Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa. He wrote a novel, “Shoeless Joe Comes to Iowa”. That was developed into a screen play: The Field of Dreams.

There have been a few signs of Kalona’s sidewalk improvement program. Tim Thomann laid a new sidewalk bordering the City’s parking lot north of the YMCA building. City crews finished up by leveling off dirt adjoining the sidewalk.

This is a nice improvement as the old sidewalk was in very poor condition. Now hopefully the city will keep the snow off the sidewalk much better in the winter than they did the old one. Often I had to walk in the street between Highway 22 and D Avenue because the sidewalks on either side of that block were not cleared of snow.

This week we got notice that St. Mary’s of Riverside will resume their annual Labor Day celebration on Sept. 6.

A special thanks to all the volunteers who have generously given their time to staff the Kalona Booth at the Iowa State Fair this week. Their help is greatly appreciated by the Chamber of Commerce. It takes a community effort to promote Kalona.

Mid-Prairie Community School District is continuing to offer Safe Bus Rider awards this school year.

There are approximately 13 buses that award a Safe Rider each week. Each Safe Rider receives an award certificate and a gift certificate for being safe and respectful. This certificate may be for ice cream at a participating business or $5 Kalona Kash, sponsored by your business.

Sponsorship can be for a set number of weeks or for the whole school year.

If you would like to be a Safe Rider Sponsor, please contact Jennifer at (319)646-6881.

Mid-Prairie Feed the Kids Annual Dinner & Auction will be held August 28 at the Wellman YMCA Parkside Banquet room at 525 13th St in Wellman.

As in past years this event will begin at 5 p.m. with a silent auction followed by a dinner at 6:30 and a live auction

Individual tickets are free will donations and reserved tables of 8 start at $150 donation to be a silver sponsor. A limited number of tickets will be sold at the door. You may stop by Wellman Produce Co. or call 319-936-6390 or email mpfeedthekids@gmail.com to reserve your ticket.

Donations can be mailed to Julie Gordinier/Wellman Produce Co., PO Box 175, Wellman, IA 52356.

In advance we’d like to thank the community for their support as we feed the food insecure kids in our community.

If you would like to donate an auction item or baked goods or dessert for the dinner please call Julie Gordinier at 319-936-6390 or Wellman Produce at 319-646-6073.