Fred Roufs (2019) – Fred moved to Marshall in 1976 and immediately became involved with amateur baseball by joining the Marshall Baseball Association which oversaw the city’s two amateur teams, the A’s and Giants. Improvements made to American Legion Field during his tenure included a new grandstand, dugout reconstruction, a scoreboard that supported digital graphics, the concession stand, and a press box. The press box is where Fred could be found on any given summer evening lending his voice as the public address announcer during VFW, American Legion, and amateur baseball games. Fred was intimately involved in bringing the 1987 Minnesota State American Legion Baseball Tournament and the 1989 Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournament to Marshall. He served as the chairperson on the Marshall Parks, Recreation, and Community Education Advisory Board during his time in the community and coached Marshall’s American Legion baseball team with Mike Gort in the mid- and late-1980s. He is currently serving in his 25th year as Vice President of the Minnesota Baseball Association, the state’s steward of amateur baseball. |
Harry Weilage (2019) – Harry was instrumental in the transformation of American Legion Field into the beautiful park it is today. When he started working for City of Marshall in 1980, the park had an outfield snow fence, a cinder track running through the field, and the lights going out during games. The opportunity to transform Legion Field into a benchmark for facility improvements proved to be one of Harry�s signature projects and highlighted his community development capabilities. Together with the baseball community, Harry realized his vision for Legion Field through improvements that included an irrigation system, improved lighting, state-of-the-art scoreboards, new sound system, transitioning to a baseball-only facility, grandstand improvements, and the iconic Boston Ivy of the outfield fence. American Legion Field has received state and national honors for its commitment to the way the game was meant to be played and has hosted multiple district, state, and regional tournaments since its reimagination. Harry continues to serve as a board member for Marshall Baseball Association as he has for the past four decades. |