Blesch dedication ceremony was a grand event

Editor’s note: This is part 2 of a two-part column written by Larry Ebsch, a local historian and former editor of the Marinette Eagle-Star.

Thursday, Sept. 23, 1920 was dubbed “Red Letter” Day in the Menominee School District. It was the day Walton Blesch Field was dedicated and the keys to what was to become a community monument were handed over to school officials. School children were thrilled about the happenings that captivated not only the citizens of Menominee, but the surrounding area as well. Classes were suspended so the kids could attend the well-planned ceremonies.

Life was far different 104 years ago when the famous stadium was dedicated. No television and no local coverage. No smart phones and no other technology that wired citizens to instant communication. Just the good old-fashioned Menominee Herald-Leader and Marinette Eagle-Star, fierce competitors at the time, to provide news coverage and keeping readers in tune with the daily happenings.

School officials had no clue how long the walled fortress would withstand the punishment of the weather and the fatigue of time. They likewise had no indication the amount of use and the scores of spectators it would attract during its life span.

There were some extraordinary headlines that splashed across the two daily newspapers. The M&M game battles and the showdowns with teams from the Upper Peninsula, Lower Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota were stunning to watch. The forecasters had no intimation of the roster of stars that would partake in football and tracks and field competition.

The 1929 point-a-minute team refuses to separate itself from the jaws of fame. Billy Wells and Dick Deschaine, members of the class of 1949, making it to the National Football League at the same time in the 1950s. Wells starred at Michigan State and was crowned the most valuable player in the 1954 Rose Bowl game. Deschaine invited quarterback Bart Starr and kicker Fred Cone, his Green Bay Packer teammates, to join him for a first ever NFL football clinic in 1957. The clinic, that drew more than 500 participants, included free autographs from the Packer players.

Bill Rademacher, a Maroon mainstay in the 1950s and early 1960s, was the first Menominee athlete to play in the Super Bowl (1969) when brash New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath predicted a victory and got it.

The storybook on Walton Blesch Field is endless. Let’s get back to the dedication ceremonies.

Classes were suspended. Factories and retail stores closed so workers could attend the celebration. Mayor Michael Doyle issued a proclamation in honor of the event. The Walton Blesch Field project was the talk of the two towns and spread throughout the U.P.

The Herald-Leader’s forecast the “greatest crowd in the history of the city.” The city was 37 years old at the time.

“There will be many other attractions,” the Herald-Leader boasted. “And now as it nears completion, the population is awaking to the fact that Menominee is about to have a stadium and playground which outranks anything in America in cities five times the size of Menominee, the hometown newspaper gushed.

Dr. Marion L. Burton, president of the University of Michigan and a silver-tongued orator, delivered the keynote address.

John L. Silvernale, one of Menominee’s most respected successful school superintendents, was one of the proudest citizens at the event. It was Silvernale who initiated the idea of a new stadium in 1916 during the height of World War I (1916-1918).

He sparked a three-mill tax referendum to build the stadium. The community was stunned, however. when Fabian Trudell, the attorney for Gustavus A. Blesch, appeared at a school board meeting and announced Mr. Blesch would provide the crucial revenue for the development of the proposed $100,000 athletic facility. The tax was wiped from the books and Mr. Silvernale was instructed to obtain options to purchase the necessary property needed for the development.

The field was named in honor of Blesch’s son, a high school student who died while on a summer trip with his mother.

The widely known Cherney band, top musicians in the area, provided the music at the dedication ceremonies. High school girls presented an all-girls carnival, and high school boys staged a circus to boast the program.

Menominee and the Iron River Redskins played the first game at Blesch. The Maroons won the Oct. 2 game 28-0 and enjoyed a year where no opponent crossed their goal line. The Maroons were 4-0 and the M&M game wound up a scoreless tie.

The ghosts of lore will be circling Walton Blesch Field for years to come and the traditional Victory Bell will provide the music.