Prospect Meadows

Nelson named turf manager at Prospect Meadows

Blake Nelson has been hearing the joke on a regular basis now that  he’s the new turf manager at Prospect Meadows.

Why does a sports complex that has artificial turf on all the fields  need a turf manager? Even Nelson has to chuckle about that one.

“I can’t even tell you the amount of times I’ve heard it,” he said. “Why do they need a turf manager? It’s maintenance free, right?”

First of all, only the infields on the eight fields at Prospect  Meadows will have field turf. All of the outfields will have grass,  which needs a lot of tender care.

Secondly, artificial turfs do require a certain amount of maintenance  to keep them in pristine condition. Those infields are expensive and  they need to last a good long time.

Nelson, 26, began his duties at Prospect Meadows on April 8. The new  facility, located north of Marion, will be opening in late May and  there’s still plenty of work to do.

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PST baseball coming to Prospect Meadows

The primary goal of the new Prospect Meadows sports complex is to give  every boy and girl in our community a chance to play ball.

The Positive Sports Training youth baseball program heartily agrees  and has scheduled at least 86 games at Prospect Meadows this season.  Additional games could be added during the year.

Positive Sports Training has been in existence for more than 30 years.

There are 195 teams and approximately 2,500 boys in the program this  season. The age groups run from 7-and-under through 14-and-under.

The PST games will be played on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights  at Prospect Meadows, which is located north of Marion at the juncture  of Highway 13 and County Home Road.

"We are very excited to see the number of teams aligned with Positive  Sports Training coming out to Prospect Meadows to play this spring and  summer," said Jack Roeder, the general manager of the sparkling new  complex. "One of our main goals from Day 1 was to give a large number  of local kids the opportunity to play at this beautiful new facility,  and this starts the process."

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Tim Brecht joins crew at Prospect Meadows

Tim Brecht loves baseball and fast-pitch softball, he greatly enjoys  working with kids and he likes being involved with the community.

He's found a perfect job that combines his passions at Prospect Meadows.

Brecht, 57, has been hired to help with community relations and  marketing at Prospect Meadows, which opens this spring.

He'll be involved with camps, leagues, tournaments, classes and  bringing as many kids and teams to Prospect Meadows as possible.  He'll also be working to help expand the League of Dreams program,  along with the Miracle League for people with disabilities.

Brecht, who began working at Prospect Meadows about a month ago, did  not realize the complex was so close to being ready with eight  regulation diamonds and the Miracle Field.

He'll be working with General Manager Jack Roeder, assistant GM  Steve James and the Board of Directors to help make Prospect Meadows  a big success.

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New radio ads promote Donor Wall

The Rotary Donor Wall is shaped like a giant map of Iowa. Its  patriotic colors are red, white and blue. It's got stars and stripes,  just like an American flag. And there are 600 replica baseballs for  your name to be inscribed for all eternity.

The only thing missing is a slice of apple pie.

Prospect Meadows has begun a major radio advertising campaign to  continue selling spots on the wall to individuals, families and  companies who would like to become part of history by having their  names placed on the new iconic structure.

The ads will be airing locally on Cedar Rapids radio stations KHAK,  WMT and KGYM as Prospect Meadows continues to raise money for the new  baseball and softball complex that opens this spring.

Tens of thousands of people will be coming to Prospect Meadows each  year and one of the first things they'll see when they walk through  the gate is the eye-catching Donor Wall.

You can become a part of history at Prospect Meadows by having your  name on that wall. At the same time, you'll be making a valuable  contribution to the project.

For $500, you can have your name on one of the 600 baseballs on the  Rotary Donor Wall. And for $2,000, you can have your name on one of  the stars on the unique structure.

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