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In the rural village of Snover, surrounded by cropland, Pastor David Pratt had a similar idea, maybe from a voice from above.

The Heritage United Methodist Church in Snover, where Pratt is the pastor, inherited some adjacent land from the defunct Lion's Club where the old town ball field had been overgrown with weeds. Just over a month ago, Pratt went around the community for help and talked to his congregation about restoring the old field. He found nothing but open arms.

"We're trying to do this as a community service, it's not just for (the church)," said Pratt. "There's been great help from the whole community." He said in just three days, he raised $1500 from businesses and individuals in the town.

Sitting on land between the church and the old Snover school, the field has quickly been refurbished in the last month. One or two people donated chain link fencing, another offered poles and lights. Lots of sand was brought in and a new scoreboard is being built.

"There is stuff, literally, coming out of the woodwork," Pratt said of the community involvement.

Dick Blank, who grew up in Snover and still lives there,, played a major role in the new construction of the field.

"This was all over grown with weeds on the infield. The outfield grass was in pretty good shape, but it was pretty tall," said Blank. "I brought in a sod cutter for that and I edged out the back of the infield (where the outfield starts). The infield was pretty low, it looked like a dish." Blank added that nine loads of sand, two loads of washed sand and two more loads of diamond dust were needed to level the infield and make it playable again.

A work session, and a Heritage team practice, took place this past Monday night in final preparation for this Thursday evening's (June 14) dedication at 7 p.m. Following a ceremony which will feature a band, State Rep. John Espinoza, singing of the national anthem, and more, the new Heritage Field will hold its first game. The Heritage team will play the Countryside Free Methodist nine. Both are members of a Sndusky area church league that plays Mondays and Thursdays.

The community, plus former residents, are expected to turn out for the ceremony. For many, the field will bring back memories from the past.

Harold Krueger, 75, who now lives in Holly, Michigan, said he would be there. Krueger attended Wilson School, north of Snover, but said, "we played Snover on that field all the time."

One of his memories was that the field was once lighted. It is told by some that it was one of Michigan's first lighted ball fields. Krueger thought the lights might have gone up in the early 1940s. Other townspeople, like Jim Brown, who once ran the Snover grain elevator, believe the lights went up in the 30s. Either way, the lights were rigged up by a local farmer named Sheriff Holcomb. Krueger added that he remembered that strong winds blew all the light poles down during a storm and they were never replaced.

While baseball and softball, both fast-pitch and slo-pitch, were all played on the field over many decades, the heydays came to an end and by the late 1980's the field mostly stood silent.

Bill Minard, who grew up in Snover and still lives close by, said the old ball field was a place to play and a place to practice, for him and many others, first in little league and then later in softball leagues.

"I lived just over there, "pointed Minard across the field this past Monday. "Andy Buniak, Mark Navarro, me and others played every night here as a kid."

Minard had attended the Snover school but then was bussed into Sandusky schools in the late 1960s when the Snover school, and most of the rural schools in the county, closed. He later played on slo-pitch teams that had used the field in Snover until about 1986-87.

Pastor Pratt is now hoping the renovated ball field will not only be a source of pride for the community but also help rebuild a spirit.

"We needed a boost here....and, there is good stuff going on in Snover. This is a family community. Maybe this field will create a spin-off," said Pratt. "This is not just a hot button, it's a warm glow in everyone's hearts and minds. It goes back, here, to everybody's grandparents, and so on."