Time To Celebrate
Boyertown American Legion to host 40th anniversary weekend at Bear Stadium
More than four decades ago, an idea was brought forward in conjunction with the success of a local American Legion baseball program.
That idea morphed into a dream that further morphed, over five years, into a reality 40 years ago this summer. The dream became Bear Stadium in 1982, and this coming weekend the community and its American Legion baseball family will celebrate a facility and program that has been a pre-eminent fixture statewide and nationally over the years.
Boyertown American Legion is hosting a 40th anniversary celebration of the opening of Bear Stadium Sept. 2, 1982, and a team that won its first national championship as the tournament’s host. The celebration will run June 1718, with a number of activities planned both at the stadium and in the community.
It will commemorate the days in 1982 (Aug. 17-Sept. 2) the facility went from dream to reality.
On Friday there will be a golf tournament starting at 11 a.m. at Hickory Valley Presidential Golf Course. Later that afternoon there will be a food truck festival at 4:30 p.m. held at Bear Stadium. Prior to the Bears’ 7:30 p.m. game with Wyomissing, there will be performances by the alumni band and BAHS choir.
On Saturday, the events start with an alumni cornhole tournament with checkin at noon at American Legion Post 0471. There will be wine tasting at The Grind in Boyertown from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The weekend’s main festivities will be before, during and after Saturday night’s 7:30 p.m. game against Upper Perk at Bear Stadium, which is free of admission.
Another food truck festival begins at 4:30 p.m. and there will be a pre-game alumni ceremony beginning at 6:30 p.m. There will be a retirement ceremony for longtime legion coaches Craig Eddinger, Pete Hiryak and Rick Moatz during the third inning. The weekend’s festivities conclude with fireworks 15 minutes after the conclusion of the game.
Admission to all the weekend’s activities at Bear Stadium are free of charge, though donations will be appreciated.
Bear Stadium is the product of a community that has a long tradition of support for its storied baseball program. Located at 120 Monroe Street, just beyond the northwest corner of the Boyertown Area High School building, the stadium was dedicated on Aug. 17, 1982, in time for the Bears to host the American Legion World Series that year.
The stadium idea was born of conversation during the 1977 Mid-Atlantic Regionals. Boyertown had won its fourth state championship and was on the way to winning its first national regional.
The idea was put on the back burner until 1979, when Boyertown was hosting the Mid-Atlantic Regional that year. With no sufficient facilities available locally, the program hosted the tournament at Reading Municipal Stadium.
Don Specht and Adam Surgeoner co-chaired the stadium building committee. Among the outpouring of volunteer services for the project were Ken Ellis and Bud Garber donating the service of their construction companies.
Other notable donations of time and materials came from Bill Levengood (electrical work), Bob Horn (plumbing work), Ralph Talarico of Talarico’s Sandwich Shop (concession stand kitchen) and Ed Gruber (stadium playing surface).
The project cost was estimated at $600,00, of which only $75,000 was public money. The stadium was completed in time for the Sept. 2 start of the 1982 World Series, for which Boyertown qualified, hosted and ultimately won over Lafayette, Calif.; to date, it’s the first and only American Legion baseball program to achieve that feat.
Bear Stadium’s facilities include covered brick dugouts for home and visiting teams, a home team locker room and coaches’ room, and large electronic scoreboard. Spectator amenities include covered grandstand with chairback seats, a concession stand and indoor toilet facilities, It’s handicap accessible, with a macadam parking lot and walking area.
Over the years, Bear Stadium has hosted the 1991 and 1994 World Series, 10 Mid-Atlantic Regional and 15 Pa. State Legion tournaments, and numerous collegiate playoffs.