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www.mybaycity.com August 19, 2007
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Chemical Bank Hosts Realtors, MyBayCity.com at Loons Game

Dow Corning Sponsors Fireworks at Sold-Out Game in Dow Diamond

August 19, 2007       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

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Chemical Bank employees Holly Bickham, back, and Kathy Perkins were hostesses of Realtors from the mid-Michigan area at the Loons game.
 

The last time yours truly was on the site of the Dow Diamond was 1957 when I worked as a management trainee in the 47 Building, headquarters of The Dow Chemical Co.

My mother, Annette LaFramboise Rogers Smith, worked in the Engineering Department at Dow in the 47 Building and I remember as a junior high school student riding my bike the 15 or so miles to visit her at the office.

Well, lots of things change in 50 years but who could have imagined the fabulous $32 million Dow Diamond on the old industrial office site?

The baseball idea that started in Bay City and was adopted by cash-flush Midland foundations is undoubtedly the mid-Michigan story of the decade.

The 47 Building, scene of corporate strategy, intrigue and financial success for many years, came crashing down and a center of community, and regional, entertainment rose in its place.

Besides the personal reminiscences about the site, I had not been at a professional baseball game for more than 30 years, so this was a real special treat.



Great Lakes Loons and Dayton Dragons line up with game officials for opening ceremonies at Friday night's baseball game at Dow Diamond
Even though the Loons faltered against the Dayton Dragons, the experience of my first Loons game was earth-shattering -- at least to me.

I remember going to the Dow softball games in Currie "Stadium" in the park along the Tittabawassee River in the 1950s and 1960s and being wowed then. I worked with oldtime Dow pitcher Bill McGuff, an old Arkansas boy, who taught me the ropes at the company.

My days at Midland's Northwood Institute, now University, as sports information director announcing football games at the old Jullierat Stadium, pale in comparison to the baseball palace now astride downtown.

But this Dow Diamond, and the Loons opulent layout, reminiscent of a luxury hotel, is beyond belief.

The reality of the scope of the physical layout, the stunning facilities and the management and trained personnel of the stadium, are a tribute to modern technology and the big dollars it takes to achieve such a triumph.


M. Dolores Barron-Rogers, Hollister, and Wade Eckenrod, ReMax Results

Dorothy Cauchy, Hollister, and Tom Cauchy

My wife Dolores, associate broker at Hollister Realtors L.L.C., and myself attended an event sponsored by Chemical Bank. We were invited, along with a couple dozen other Realtors, to sit in the sky box of the bank, suite No. 11 to be exact, by Holly Bickham and Kathy Perkins, of Chemical Bank-Bay City.

Television sets everywhere, all broadcasting the Loons game, technicians operating the multiple scoreboards and multi-media accessories, press boxes jammed with radio broadcasters, TV cameras, print journalists, Loons staff and other followers of the game rival, I'm sure, the Big House at the University of Michigan, Spartan Stadium and Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, not to mention the Tigers lair in Comerica Park.


Jere and Terri Clayton, Classic Realty, Bay City.

Fred and Charlene Rupp, Bay Area Realty

A little different twist is evident at Midland in the Loons Landing where a sign reads: "All alcohol sales conclude with the first pitch in the top of the eighth inning. Limit two drinks with valid ID."

Big time baseball, even though it is the minor leagues, has come to mid-Michigan for sure. Not only did Bay City not have the bucks, but it would have struggled to find such a magnificent site, as Midland has for the stadium.

The phenomenon of minor league baseball that has swept the country in the last few decades certainly has reached its apex in Midland. As the tri-county area grows together, with a common heritage and future, we can only applaud the Loons and especially former Dow Chairman Bill Stavropolous for the successful project. GO LOONS!


Jennifer Yealey and Nina Jordan, Olsen Independent Realty, Standish.

Loons' Mascot Lou-E Loon with Dow Diamond grounds-keeper Matt McQuaid and daughter Jeannie, 18 months.



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Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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