Document text
Nike helps out high school Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming George Tocher, a baseball coach at Rogue River High School and an organizer of the "Chieftain Field of Dreams" project, stands on the site that this fall will be an all-weather track - thanks to generous donations of money, materials and labor by the community and Nike Corp. $50,000 grant will help build sports complex at Rogue River High By BUFFY POLLOCK ROGUE RIVER - The long wished-for "Chieftain Field of Dreams" at Rogue River High School moved a little closer to reality this week, thanks to a $50,000 grant from Nike Corp. and a similar donation from a 70-year resident "just trying to give something back." R.C. "Bob" Gail, 82, donated $50,300 in stocks earlier this week to help build a sports complex. He said he wanted to leave something tangible behind after his years of involvement with the school district and community. A resident of the valley since 1929, Gail served on the school board and school budget committees for 22 years, announced football games for 17 years, and both his children graduated as valedictorians from Rogue River High School. "Rogue River was good to me and I'm trying to be good to it when I leave this world," said Gail, retired 30-year owner of Gail's Market (now Market Basket). "This project is going to be a high-quality athletic compound as good as anybody's and I believe in it. This little town is the jewel of Southern Oregon and it has a lot going for it. It's a great place to live and I'm trying to make it better," Gail said Friday. The $50,000 Nike grant came from the corporation's Bowerman Track Renovation Program, named for late University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman. The program awards four grants per year to schools demonstrating a need for track funding, according to Ron Smith, president of the Chieftain Field of Dreams Organization. Members of the not-for-profit organization, formed to make the $500,000 project a reality, submitted a proposal for the Nike grant in February, obtained approval a week later and received the money in April, according to Smith. Smith said Gail's donation, "the largest to date," brought total contributions to about $330,000. The project is being funded completely by donations. Portions of the project that still require fund-raising include grandstand seats, expected to cost about $150,000, and lighting, about $60,000. While the biggest monetary contributions have come from Gail, Nike, and an anonymous donor that matched in-kind donations of $50,000, contributions of labor, materials and cash from community members had been "too many to mention," said Stan Gida, RRHS's athletic director and assistant principal. "There are so many people who have given so much and asked for nothing in return," Gida said. "I'm just really impressed with the generosity of everyone. It's really incredible in today's world. It's going to be a beautiful facility." Board member and coach George Tocher said the facility, which eventually will house a 1,000-seat grandstand, an all-weather track and soccer and football fields, had been needed for a long time. High school athletes and coaches have had to drive to the middle school and former high school site for sporting events and practice since the high school was moved in 1974. "With the success the kids had in track and cross country this past year, we wanted to get a nice facility for them," Tocher said. If all goes as planned, Smith said surfacing of the track, which will cost about $75,000 - and may be done with recycled tennis shoes, a process known as "Nike Grind" - should be done before school starts next year. Tocher said the project had moved along "much faster than anyone expected." "We're just amazed that we got this far this quick. We were thinking three years, but we're maybe looking at playing on it this fall. We'll definitely be using it some time in the next year," he said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.