Hundreds of Port Jervis residents thronged into the historic Glennette Field on Oct. 25 for the first high school football home game on the completely redone field.
They saw new lights, a new digital scoreboard, and new artificial turf, which replaced the grass that had been in place since the first game in 1918.
Legendary Port Jervis Raiders former head coach Bob Corvino and his longtime offensive coordinator Ron Semerano, flanked by family members and officials, cut the ribbon at the center of the new field.
It is the first time that the field has had a complete makeover in its more than 100-year history, according to Port Jervis School District Superintendent John Bell.
“Glennette Field is a special place in our community,” Bell told The Epoch Times. “The history of the field and the football program are important to so many families across many generations.”
Col. Samuel Fowler bequeathed to the town the land beneath Glennette Field, which was named after his wife. He also donated the adjacent land that houses the new elementary school.
Over the past century, Glennette Field has strengthened community bonds, built community pride, and molded the characters of generations of hometown young men, according to interviews with people who attended school in or worked at the small school district.
“In Port Jervis, lots of people have had their great-grandfathers, grandfathers, and their fathers play football, all on the same Glennette Field,” Kevin Birmingham, a retired district teacher and an inductee in the Port Jervis High School Alumni Hall of Fame, told The Epoch Times.
“I wasn’t much of a football player, but I like coming and watching the kids. I would come to watch kids play that I had as students. Now, I’ve been retired for eight years, and I keep coming back.
“It is about young people enjoying themselves. I am happy that they are happy.”
Christine Addy, who cheered for the Raiders as a student and now works at the district as the varsity cheerleading head coach, told The Epoch Times: “Port Jervis has always been a football town. We had a couple of ups and downs, but for the most part, Port Jervis football is iconic.
“We have always had an exceptional team, beating schools bigger than us, and we just have had a winning tradition.”
Under the current coach, Damian Striharsky, the Port Jervis Raiders team has won the Section 9 Class B Championship for the past five years.
Section 9, one of 11 sections under the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, is made up of high schools from Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster counties.
“I played on this field from the time I was 5 years old to when I graduated as an 18-year-old,” Jason Kahmar, president of the Port Jervis School Board and a law enforcement officer, told The Epoch Times.
“It just molds you into the person that you are—it is discipline, it is hard work, and it is being brought up with those reinforced lessons that your parents are teaching at home.
“Then you come home and get involved in coaching the youth program.”
Kahmar coached the Port Jervis football league for five years, and middle school modified football for one year.
New York state Sen. James Skoufis said in a statement: “It was an honor to attend the rededication of Glennette Field. Port Jervis has a long football history, and this field is central to that.
“The improvements will allow this field to continue to serve the community for generations.”
Before the complete overhaul, the field had undergone small-scale improvements such as new bleachers, the installation of a new set of lights in 1989, and a new locker room building in 2003, according to Bell.
The makeover of Glennette Field is among the district’s $12 million phase-three capital projects, which are part of an expansive list of capital improvement plans under the direction of Bell.
Approved by voters last year, phase-three capital projects also include improvements to Chase Field, renovations of the high school auditorium, and a new high school library.
In the summer of 2025, the district will move on to phase-four capital projects, which include many improvements at Hamilton Bicentennial Elementary School, according to Bell.
On the night of the ribbon-cutting, the school district also hosted senior nights for Raiders players and awarded the John Bell Memorial Award to Charlie Olsen of the Minisink Valley Warriors and Maddox McCormick of the Port Jervis Raiders.
The Raiders lost to the Warriors 28–14 in the game on Oct. 25.
