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Paden City Field Of Dreams Completed

By Staff | Apr 29, 2009

The baseball field the Paden City Wildcats call home doesn’t have an official name, but Wrigley Field might be appropriate, considering they have been operating without lights on their field for the past two years.

But just like the Major League stadium did in 1988, the Paden City field is now illuminated by electric lights. The first official lighting of the new installment was April 8 for the Paden City Wildcat contest against Beallsville.

Two years ago the two light poles in Paden City Park were badly damaged by woodpeckers and had to be removed, but there weren’t any immediate means with which to replace the somewhat necessary feature.

A group of concerned people got together and worked toward the current installation. Their momentum really started last year with a $1,000 grant through Shirley Michael of the Little Kanawha Resource Conservation and Development. It was earmarked for the lighting project and the ball started rolling.

Russell Hildreth got involved, even though he had no vested interest in the project-he just wanted to volunteer for the community. He found two poles to purchase from the New Martinsville Electric Department and arranged for Allegheny Power to transport them to Paden City.

Then New Martinsville Electric Department employees Dave White and Jay Jeffers used their own free time and expertise to set the poles on the lot. Organizers also want to thank the Paden City Maintenance Department, particularly Clifford Duke, who took care of installing the lights.

With the help and donated time of a number of volunteers, the original LKRC&D grant was enough financial support to fund the entire project.