SAD 70 dedicates ball fields to Drake

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HODGDON — The varsity baseball and softball fields at Hodgdon High School will soon bear the moniker of one of the district’s long-time employees.
    SAD 70 school board members voted Monday evening to name their baseball and softball fields after custodian Graydon Drake.
    “Really? Wow, that’s a surprise,” Drake said Tuesday morning. “I had no idea they were considering that. I’m flattered.”
    For the past 16 years, Drake has served as a custodian at Hodgdon High School and been the driving force behind maintaining and upgrading the fields.
    “The baseball field has needed a lot of work,” Drake said. “Last year, the grass was growing in spotty and it looked like a cow pasture. The infield was pretty sad too.”
    Drake said after discussing the matter with SAD 70 Superintendent Bob McDaniel, a decision was made to bring in specialized dirt for the infield, similar to the material used on professional baseball fields. Drainage was also put in place to help alleviate water issues on the baseball field.
    With the surface now in tip-top shape, Drake has already set his sight on the next project — dugouts.
    “We’re hoping to get some of the work or materials donated, so we can build dugouts for the kids,” he said.
    According to McDaniel, Drake has put a tremendous amount of time fixing up the baseball and softball fields for the district.
    “He really has been a one-man crew up there,” McDaniel said. “Graydon has done an outstanding job, and I thought this would be a good way to show our appreciation.”
    “For Graydon, it really seems like a labor of love [working on the fields],” said board member Joel Oliver. “You’d see him out there, in 85 or 90 degree weather, spreading hay out on the field all day long. I’d say we have one of the better baseball fields in all of Aroostook County.”
    Oliver said Drake was also an outstanding baseball player in high school.
    “I had the opportunity to play with him for three years,” he said. “If he hadn’t thrown his arm out, he would have made it to the minor leagues for sure. He was just that good.”
    Drake was a stellar high school baseball player for Houlton High School from 1970-74. In fact, he tried out for the Montreal Expos and Philadelphia Phillies in his younger days, as he dreamed of being a professional baseball player. He also attended a tryout camp in Natick, Mass. for the Boston Red Sox.
    Unfortunately, while playing baseball in Florida, Drake “threw out his arm” trying to keep up with players from New Mexico and Texas.
    “By the end of that camp, my arm was hanging,” he said. “I couldn’t even swing a bat.”
    A plaque will be placed at both the baseball and softball fields bearing his name.
    In other agenda items, the school board:
    • Approved Tina Burrell for a second-grade teaching position, after considerable discussion. Burrell is currently serving as the district’s math interventionist, which is a federally funded position set to expire at the end of the 2010-11 school year. Burrell requested she be able to finish the final year as math interventionist before taking the teaching position in the 2011-12 school year. A long-term substitute will be used for the upcoming school year. Superintendent McDaniel said he would check to see if the board could legally offer Burrell the position under those circumstances.
    • Approved a revised health curriculum; updated emergency management plan; and a new technology policy.
    The next regular meeting of the SAD 70 school board will be 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 13 in the Superintendent’s Conference Room.