With this issue of the Landmark having a “green” theme, I got to thinking about how stuff literally stays green in Brookfield.
Roy Overholt, who is a consistent fixture at his namesake field in Brookfield (as well as at Ehlert Park), is one contributing factor.
For the past 46 years, Overholt has rolled out of bed as early as 5:30 a.m. and walked the short distance (currently right across the street) to what is now known as Roy A. Overholt Field. Once there, he picks up scattered papers, fills in any holes, levels out the field, does general maintenance and basically works to “keep the grass green.”
He is very dedicated to his work, but certainly doesn’t do it for the riches it brings.
“I haven’t seen the first nickel,” he says with a smile.
He got involved in his volunteer maintenance efforts when his own children were involved in Little League in Brookfield. Although he graduated from Riverside-Brookfield High School in 1942 and is the first of three generations of Overholts to play at the field, he spent some time in the U.S. Army and living in Bridgeview before returning to Brookfield in 1961.
“Within my first week back, Frank Buresh was knocking on my door,” he says.
Buresh, who owned Frank Buresh’s Lobster House and was a Little League manager, asked Overholt if he’d be interested in coaching. From there, one thing led to another.
“Things would happen on the field that I thought shouldn’t happen,” Overholt said.
This included players being exposed to injuries by playing on uneven ground or close to rundown fences.
“If you run into a fence like that, you get all torn up,” he says.
A larger project came about when people started talking about putting lights in the field in the early 1960s. Overholt, who worked as an electrician by day, did a lot of the work.
“The lights were the big thing,” he says. “You could play two games a night with them.”
When funding for such projects was running low in 1963, Overholt had the idea of bringing in other teams from within the district to have a Little League tournament to help with costs (through registration fees and concessions). In 1978, that tournament-played every August-was named after him.
In 1980, the field that he played softball at during his high school years (“Nobody played baseball in those days, they couldn’t afford the mitts,” he says.) was also named after him.
“I didn’t know it; I never had the slightest idea,” he says.
On the Fourth of July of that year, he was told to head to the field for a meeting and the announcement was made.
“I was flabbergasted,” he says.
But his wife, Audrey, did know and said she was glad to have that knowledge, because she could organize their children attending the dedication and could bring her camera. And she couldn’t be prouder.
“He’s a good boy, he’s very hard-working,” she says.
She is also unfazed by how active her husband is, and said, at one time it was not uncommon to see him “shoveling his way down Ogden Avenue” when they lived near there. The two often golf and are also frequently seen at games at both Ehlert Park and Overholt Field at Kiwanis Park. And Overholt says that he plans to stay active, as long as he is healthy.
“So far I’ve been lucky,” he says about his health. “And I’ve just got to keep busy.”
This is my first of what I hope will be many Landmark columns. Have you got any ideas for a future column idea? Please contact me at lindazid@yahoo.com. I’ll look forward to hearing from you.