Hedlin’s Ballfield scored points with parents and children alike

La Conner’s longtime field of dreams will soon become a field of memories, visible merely in the mind’s eye as the property becomes new housing and a yet to be defined public park covering a half-acre or so.

Hedlin’s Ballfield, a youth sports hub here for decades, has heard its final cheers.

But there is still more than a smattering of boos from those who lament loss of much of the revered rare green space along busy Maple Avenue.

The Town purchased the property earlier this year and immediately dealt the bulk of it to Landed Gentry Homes for construction of 10 single-family houses, retaining 30 per cent of the site as a park.

Critics of the deal say the Town whiffed by not finding a way to preserve the entire two acres for public use and as a ballfield.

“I knew there would be issues with this emotional piece of land,” Mayor Ramon Hayes said last week.

But as was the case 16 months ago when the prospective purchase of Hedlin’s Ballfield by the Town surfaced publicly, Hayes sees a win-win element to the transaction – the Hedlins were able to buy adjoining farmland to grow their farm property, the Town made a dent in the local housing crunch, a public park area was set aside and La Conner schools has committed space for an alternate youth sports venue next year.

Not everyone agrees.

“Town greed over the future (of) families,” Maple Avenue resident Chris McCarthy rued in a recent social media post. (The Town) “sold off the field of dreams to make money and why do kids need a place to play?

“I have 30 years of sounds of the field of dreams that come from that field,” said McCarthy. “Cheers, parents, coaches, yells and the best was a girls’ team practicing the Macarena before a game. The families that came to play pickup ball and the place where kids grew up. I will miss the town’s kids there.”

Hayes, who offered the compromise that secured a portion of the ballfield as a park, sports a different view.

“Making a profit on the sale was not a goal,” he insisted during a June 22 town council Zoom meeting. “We had no interest in making a profit, but we had an interest in saving land for a park.

“We were able to retain park space,” Hayes said. “We certainly didn’t want 80,000 square feet developed with no Town control over it.”

David Hedlin, who has called the property “sacrosanct,” said he suffered sleepless nights weighing the decision to put the ballfield up for sale. In the end it came down to the choice of purchasing the Cram farm adjoining their property to the south or holding on to the much smaller ballfield. Hedlin’s hope – desire, actually – was that the Town would be able to maintain the ballfield in its entirety after purchasing it at a reduced price.

After all, Hedlin, a third generation La Connerite, has his own fond memories of the field his family had long leased for youth sports and public use.

He remembers when parents and fans would park their vehicles behind the outfield fence to watch little league games – frequently at great cost.

“It seemed like every couple of games somebody’s windshield would get smashed by a home run,” said Hedlin. “The one I remember best is when a homer broke the windshield of Joe Reinstra’s new car.”

Reinstra, an iconic La Conner youth league coach, knew that came with the territory. Ditto field maintenance, a task routinely undertaken by parents, coaches and youth sports volunteers.

“You would always see Al Byrn, long after his kids were done playing little league, riding his lawnmower from his house down the hill to mow the ballfield,” Hedlin recalled.

Byrn’s devotion to local youth sports cannot be overstated, Hedlin and others say. Many feel the field at some point should have been named in his honor.

Past youth league players, some now approaching Social Security age, have not forgotten the popular post-game ritual of crossing the street from the ballfield for burgers and sweet treats at Joe’s Drive In, now the restaurant COA.

“My favorite memory,” said Faye Whitney, “was going to watch the games and walking over to Joe’s to get a sno-cone or a shrimp burger.”

Deb Hunt Grant agrees. She still remembers “finishing the games and walking across to Joe’s for ice cream cones.”

Jennie Willup Nguyen grew up just south of the ballfield. She, too, looks back at those days with a smile.

“Living next door to the Maple Avenue field and playing baseball or watching games were good times,” she said.

Gordy Bell, a former town public works director, recalls that between games in the mid-1960s the La Conner volunteer fire department – his dad, the late Phil Bell, served as chief – would bring out the vintage 1941 Ford fire truck to water down the infield.

“They would hose us down and knock us over,” he said. “Those were fun times and no one got sued.”

The ballfield was truly a multi-purpose facility, playing host to soccer, softball and other sports and activities in addition to baseball.

“My father, Curt McCauley, taught martial arts for over 20 years in La Conner,” said Curtis “Kit” McCauley, Jr. “One summer while in between school sites we used the ballfield. It was fun being outside working out. I think he may have even picked up some new students by them seeing us out on the ballfield.”

Retired journalist Gale Fiege, who wrote for the Sedro-Woolley Courier-Times, Skagit Valley Herald and Everett Herald and lives on Pleasant Ridge, experienced the sense of community fostered by the ballfield.

“My children,” she said, “played soccer at the Maple Avenue field in the 1990s. The Hedlins were generous and patient with parents who parked on their property. It was a great time to gather with friends and cheer on our kids.

“The parent camaraderie,” said Fiege, “was born there and lasted through the La Conner High School years. I remember one tulip season before the roundabout was built when my young son had to jump out of the car east of town and run in his cleats all the way to Maple Field to make his game.

“I’m glad for the roundabout,” Fiege said, undoubtedly speaking for others, “but I sure wish the fields could remain as a place for local kids to learn skills and for parents to gather.”