Celebrating football on Gilpin Field
SPORTSBEAT by Peter Jakey
It is a time to celebrate the return of football in Michigan.
In Rogers City, there will be a lot of happenings on Gilpin Memorial Field. There is a football doubleheader on the grounds of the sports complex.
Au Gres-Simes High is bringing both their junior varsity and varsity squads for the games. The Hurons Sports Boosters will be out in full force with the Kiwanis Club for a community tailgate party. There is going to be chicken strips, hamburgers, and of course, the Tip of the Mitt famous, Kiwanis whitefish sandwiches. Eat and watch football or use the back gate for takeouts.
This is the 76th year of football at Gilpin.
Harold Newhouse of Rogers City is the man behind the signs around town. He is the proud son of Bill Newhouse, the man who scored the first touchdown ever on the new field.
The first game on the Gilpin football field was Oct. 7, 1939. “The Hurons will play all home games on the new field just recently completed,” a Sept. 14, 1939 article stated.
The football field was just completed, but the Hurons started the season on the road, Sept. 23, 1939 at Boyne City with an 18-0 victory. They had an open date in the second week, before the home opener. It was a game played on a Saturday with the first touchdown being scored on a 1-yard run early in the second quarter.
Back then, it was only known as Sports Park, according to Mark Thompson, curator/executive director of the Presque Isle County Historical Museum.
It was not until 1951 did the complex get its new name. It was dedicated in honor of Howard H. Gilpin, who was superintendent of the district for 44 years, one of the longest tenures in the history of the state. He passed away in December 1950. Nine months later, superintendent Harry Grambau and school board members conducted the dedication.
Gilpin moved from Mt. Pleasant to Rogers City in 1906 to work as a teacher at the age of 19. At that time, the only building was the yellow school and it only went to the eighth-grade.
He is credited with being the driving force behind sports, including the organization of the school’s first basketball team in 1911. “That was probably Rogers City’s first high school sports’ team,” said Thompson. “They may have only gone to 11th-grade at that time.”
The district bought 37 acres at the end of South Third in 1930 for the development of sports facilities and did not get started with it until 1932.
“Before that, football was played at Westminster Park,” said Thompson.
It was Gilpin who first conceived the idea of making the new property into a “playground for our people,” a 1951 Advance article states. “It was he who devoted the untiring energy into making it what it is today – a place where our children can build physical strength and moral character.”
The contest between the Hurons and East Jordan was the first
The lights were focused on the Monday evening leading up to the first game and put on display for the public the next night. The band was on hand for the event and the football team went through a short scrimmage for those in attendance.
J.A. Valentin, during his dedicatory address, said, “It is altogether fitting and proper that we should pause for a moment, as we gather for the first time under these lights, and pay tribute and respect, to one who spent the greater part of his life in the education of our children.”
Thompson said the “Gilpin Field” sign remains the same.
And so does the excitement and promise of a new football season.