Ware Field
1973 little Jimmy Ware lost his life in an unfortunate accident. Jimmy played baseball on a Whitestown little league team at Lions Club park at the time, and the Lions club dedicated diamond #1 in his honor. They erected a concrete monument and affixed a bronze plaque bearing Jimmys name and proclaiming the diamond as “Ware Field”. As the years came and went, the story behind the monument seemed to fade away from all those who came along after that date in 1973. I played many years of little league at that park, I climbed up and sat on top of that monument many a time but never knew, or was told, of it's significance. Fast forward to about 2017. The monument which sat up against the right field fence, was inadvertently busted while attempting to move it to replace the fence and move it back several feet. The concrete structure was ruined. I removed its heavily worn brass plaque and took it home for safe keeping, still unaware of its significance. Fast forward again, and a chance meeting between our Whitestown Fire Chief and Jimmys younger brother (who lives out of state), led to me being placed in contact with Jimmys family. Imagine my surprise when I got that call from Chief, who had recalled me mentioning the plaque! The family requested the little brass plaque, and it was promptly sent to them (photo attached). That could have been the end of this story, except that 1)These days I'm the President of the Lions club and 2) I have a desire to preserve local history. I have contacted A&K monuments in Lebanon and we are going to create an engraved boulder which will bear the same inscription as the original brass tag. The boulder should be more durable and longer lasting that the original concrete monument, and the diamond will once again bear the name “WaRE Field” The family has since sent me more info about James "Jimmy" Ware including a newspaper clipping, a school photo, a team photo, and a photo of the uniform worn by Jimmy in his last game. Mike Hancock |