It started off as a desire for our children to have outdoor physical education, and a green grassy field to play on for recess and field day. I had that growing up and I wanted my children to have the same experience, if not better.

Todd Hannon and his family were the first to share this desire and he became my partner to see a field installed. His is a wonderful and generous family. The Peeples Field of Dreams is now a part of the Peeples Elementary School and everything we wished for will be a reality starting the next school year.

Thank you to those who too saw the need for a nice field at the school. Through private donations and participation in a Fun Night sponsored by the school PE coaches, we compiled our funding.

By an act of luck or perhaps inspiration, I looked for help by contacting some contractors in the New Haven subdivision. It was through their time, talent and resources that this beautiful field came to be.

Coordinating efforts fell on the shoulders of a wonderful man named David Hollingsworth. David stepped in to coordinate this project and the contractors whose hard work and contributions made this all possible.

One of these generous contractors was Brad Barnard. He quietly helped behind the scenes and coordinated the delivering and grading of 30 truckloads of sod for the field. He called upon C&J Carriers and Walker Brothers Inc. to give that field some needed dirt, much of which they donated.

Eric at Innovative Irrigation provided donated items as well as installed the sprinkler system. Wrights’ Hydroseeding came in to final grade and Dixie Sod provided the sod.

In the end, Dixie Warren would not only donate some sod but also his entire Saturday. He was there to help along with members of the Whitewater baseball team to install this enormous amount of sod.

What was to be a few hours’ job turned into an all-day effort when volunteers did not arrive. It was Dixie and these fine young men who laid the majority of this field. A special thank you as well, to Tim with Mr. Turf, who also stayed for the entire day. The generosity and willingness to help from these fine men and these companies was truly a Godsend.

Several members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Boy Scouts as well as several parents and students of Peeples Elementary worked very hard on that hot June day to lay 110 pallets of sod.

What an undertaking for this small group of amazing people. You know who you are, I can never thank you enough for coming out and helping. Yet at 5:30 p.m., we found we were still about 16 pallets from completion.

So, the following Wednesday, another group of wonderful volunteers put down sod. Several of these volunteers were there just out of friendship. How blessed am I to know you.

It is truly awe-inspiring to see all of that beautiful grass and to know it is going to be used by a countless number of children.

With all that it took to make this a reality, I have to especially thank my family. Sarah, Lindsey and Lauren, all were there to help lay sod. They also had the opportunity to watch Mom through this very overwhelming endeavor. I hope they will have learned that someone with a desire can make a difference and that it takes a lot of work.

My biggest thank you has to go to my wonderful husband, who was so supportive. He gave lots of encouragement and in the end was the one who made it all possible. Thank you, I love you.

Enjoy your field, Peeples! Run fast, play hard and grow strong!

Stephanie Flanders
Field of Dreams Dreamer
Peachtree City, Ga.

login to post comments