By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
Education, business and community all intertwined on Friday, Sept. 19. as citizens from Helper and beyond joined together to volunteer their time repainting Gardner Field.
Gardner Field, the third-oldest baseball field in Utah, previously played host to mining leagues, semiprofessional teams and American Legion games before becoming the home of Utah State University Eastern Baseball in 2024.
“We have resources here from Wildcat, from the school and baseball teams. It’s just wonderful to see a public-private partnership. Utah Power Credit Union is on site, Juliano Consulting is contributing, so it’s just amazing,” said Helper City Mayor Lenise Peterman of the project. “I love that our community comes out to support the baseball and softball teams, and I think we’ll begin to see some economic upticks because they’re going to bring visitors to our town, and they’re going to love it, and they’re going to hang out, eat, and buy things.”
Helper Public Works, alongside Utah Power Credit Union, Juliano Consulting, Intermountain Electronics, Wildcat Resources, USU Eastern and citizen volunteers swarmed the field, laying down a fresh set of paint on the facility’s bleachers.
Ryan Pollick, CEO of Utah Power Credit Union, shared why the business is so involved in community affairs,” We really believe in working in the communities that we live, work, and play in. And if the mayor can come out and paint the bleachers, you bet we’re going to support her and all of her efforts doing it.”
Due to the sheer number of volunteers, the project was able to branch out to surrounding areas such as the Janet Street underpass and neighboring Borla Field.
“It’s buy-in for our players,” said USU Eastern baseball coach Kirk Haney. “We want to be part of it. These guys come from all over the state, and we want them to really feel like they are part of the town.”
In a post shared to social media, Mayor Peterman shared her thanks for all involved in the project,” What an amazing service day by so many people … Huge thanks to all who made this happen!”