The hope for Chicopee Field back to be back in use by the fall

Walhalla’s mayor says the rebuild of Chicopee Field, one of the city’s famed ball fields, has progressed to the point that he’s making a hopeful prediction.  Mayor Edwards says John Galbreath, the recreation director, has started building the dugouts. Sand and topsoil have been added, the concrete work on the stands is complete.  To meet code, handrails will be required.  Edwards says, “We are hoping to possibly have an open house/celebration with a couple of games this fall by some of the rec teams! My apologies for the time it has taken to get this work done, but we are almost there.”  Located near the land where a large textile plant once stood, Chicopee Field occupies a sentimental spot in the hearts of many Walhallans.  It’s where Jerry Dyar, some 50 years ago, broadcast recreation baseball games on what then was WGOG AM Radio.  And it’s where one of Walhalla’s most talented baseball players, Jim Sanders, once watched a game involving a visiting team from Anderson that featured a young Jim Rice, who went onto to star for the Boston Red Sox in the 1970s and ’80s.