National Guard helps build ‘Field of Dreams’

The third platoon of the 185th Engineer Company of the Maine Army National Guard stationed at Caribou and Fort Kent, have spent the last two weeks (June 14-26) working on the Field of Dreams project for Houlton Area Little League. The unit, composed of 121 soldiers from Aroostook County, approximately 25 troops were assigned to this project.
The Field of Dreams project is the result of the Little League not having enough Little League baseball and softball fields during the season. With 10 teams, the Little League board of directors felt to give area youth enough opportunity to learn the game of baseball, it would be beneficial to add fields to the existing two fields at Community Park.
Through discussions with SAD 29, the league attained use of land surrounding Houlton Elementary and Southside schools to build two Little League baseball and two Little League softball fields. The first field (Savings Bank of Maine Field) had its ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 30 during the player recognition night for Little League.
Houlton Area Little League officials announced in the spring that one of the three remaining fields will be named in honor of Sergeant First Class Jonathan A. Lowery, a U.S. Army veteran and Houlton native, who died serving our country in Iraq.
With the work that the Maine Army National Guard has done, the league is in hopes to have a second field completed by the fall of 2009.  The guard unit also worked on earthwork for the third and fourth fields behind Southside School.
As of June 25, the earthwork was 64 percent complete, according to a National Guard spokesman. Soldiers left the site Thursday, but work will continue during weekend drills.
The organization is in hopes that the final two fields will be completed in 2010.
Through generous donations of money, materials, and time from businesses and individuals, the League is just about halfway to their goal of completion of this ambitious project.
Any individual or business that would be interested in making a donation to the Field of Dreams project, please make check payable to: “Houlton Area Little League Baseball/Softball, Inc.,” write “Field of Dreams” in the memo portion, and mail to Houlton Area Little League, 123 Main St., Houlton, ME 04730.
Houlton Area Little League Baseball/Softball is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization providing opportunities for area children, ranging in ages from seven to 16, to participate in baseball or softball.  The league had approximately 170 kids participating this spring in Little League.