A New Addition to the Edgewood Campus

Building a baseball field at the Edgewood Campus to welcome in organizations like Challenger Baseball and Stark Public Special Olympics is a natural fit.

Many people at the Edgewood Campus are already involved in Challenger Baseball and in Special Olympics. These great organizations benefit people with developmentally disabilities in many ways including, but not limited to, physical health, self-esteem, social skills, and independence. Beyond this, those involved who are not disabled may benefit even more. People with disabilities have a lot to share and teach. Being involved in these organizations, I have seen members of the community at large united. Boundaries of race, ethnicity, educational level, social status and economic background can be broken by coming together to simply play baseball.

We learned that the Stark Public Special Olympics Baseball team did not have a home field. As a result families had to travel all over Ohio for their games and this became a burden to many. A home field would be a huge blessing to this team.

The Canton Challenger Baseball League has over 180 children participating on nine different teams. With so many teams, there is a need for an extra field for practices and for games on a nightly basis during the season. We want to provide a top-notch baseball facility to be a blessing to our community. Because of the generous donations from the Deuble Foundation, Aultman Foundation, Cleveland Indians Charities, The Workshops Inc., Stark Community Foundation, and many others, this dream will become a reality.

Naming the ‘Field of Dreams’

So what do you name a ball field? After working diligently with area donors, Developmental Disabilities Pastor Ryan Wolfe found the task fell to him. He had offered the honor to the highest donor, but they politely declined the offer. He’d also been told by numerous people it would only make sense if his own name were associated with it. But Ryan knows his mission and vision for the field has nothing to do with his own honor.  To hear him put it plainly, Ryan sticks to this ideal: “It has always been about blessing a community, that is often overlooked, with a top notch facility to call their own.”

Taking all that into consideration, Ryan decided on the name Edgewood Field. He’ll be the first to admit that, no, it’s not very flashy. However, it will help people identify its location, and it will fit in nicely with other campus partners such as Edgewood Community Center and Edgewood Golf Course.

Edgewood Field is dedicated to two developmentally disabled men who in many ways shaped who Ryan has become: Don Cohen and Patrick Mooney. Both were Special Olympics athletes and attended First Christian Church for 30+ years. Having known both men since his youth, Ryan says they helped open his eyes to a different way of life.

For more information, contact Ryan Wolfe at rwolfe@firstchristian.info or at 330-456-2600.