Fairfax's Children Of The Corn

Fairfax's Children of the Corn

Football comes of age for the Bullets
By LISA M. BOUCHER

They dubbed themselves the Children of the Corn that first season of youth football when the corn was still standing at the edge of the field and they wanted to run out from between the rows, as they were introduced at the start of the game. The corn is gone now, replaced by alfalfa and the small youth field has become a parking area since the new field was built for the high school team, on a different section of the same corner lot. Though devoid of lights and bleachers, it's every bit a field of dreams as any could be.

The Dream

Several years, ago a handful of boys from the Fairfax area interested in football joined the Milton Broncos youth football team. Their enthusiasm caught on and soon football was the game to play at recess. By 2002, 20 area students had joined the Broncos youth teams.

"One time they used Ben's (Landry) sneaker when they didn't have a ball at recess," said Kathy Landry, whose son Ben, now a junior on the high school team, is over 6 feet tall and still wears especially large sneakers.

From August through October mothers car-pooled sweaty boys to and from practice in Milton. It wasn’t long before they began to mention how nice it would be to have a team in Fairfax. Mostly, to have a high school team, so the eighth graders moving on could have a place to play football. This drew more than one skeptical comment from some Milton parents who felt Fairfax couldn't possibly put a team together because the school wasn't big enough.

They were wrong

Karen McNall, whose son Maxx had been playing in Milton since fifth grade, would be an eighth grader the next year. A group that included Karen, coach Wayne Pariseau and Rob Landry met with the Northern Vermont Youth Football League (NVYFL) in November 2002 with a proposal for a youth team in the Fairfax area. An anonymous donation was made in a sum large enough to outfit a team and the NVYFL in February 2003 approved the Fairfax Patriots to play. There were enough players signed up from Fairfax and surrounding towns for three teams — flag, as well as 5/6 and 7/8 tackle.

When the Patriots' first season was coming to a close in the fall of 2003, thoughts were already turning toward the possibility of a high school team. Originally it had been anticipated a team at the high school level wouldn't be possible for a least five years down the road. However, the 7/8 team had a number of eighth graders who would not have a place to play football the following year if they didn't have a team of their own. With this as the driving force, McNall led the crusade to further nestle football into the heart of Fairfax.

Friends of Fairfax Football is born

No one had thought it possible to have a high school team only one year after starting the youth program; no one, that is, except Karen McNall and a few parents who believed in accomplishing seemingly impossible tasks. Once again, it had to start from the bottom. Only this time approval was needed from the school board, a more daunting task — given yearly cuts to the school budget. Football is an expensive sport and BFA-Fairfax is a small K-12 school. The proposed high school program was without finances, a field (the youth field was not adequate) and a full team. At the outset, all that existed was a handful of soon-to-be ninth graders with no football team and a handful of parents who felt determined to make it happen.

A fund-raising committee was formed under McNall's direction called Friends of Fairfax Football (FFF), but before the committee could begin the formidable task of raising the $20,000 needed, school-board approval was required. This took a number of months, and at each school board meeting that the proposed football team was on the agenda, players and parents would arrive to show support until finally a decision was rendered.

Success at Last

In January 2004 the BFA-Fairfax school board granted approval for a junior varsity club football team, to be reviewed for varsity status in two years. The agreement was for the school to cover $1,155 of the expenses and FFF would cover the rest. With the clock running, FFF and three coaches from the youth program who volunteered for the high-school team — Wayne Pariseau, Don Demar and Larry Russell — had to punt. There were only a few months left to pull the rest of it together: raise thousands of dollars for equipment and uniforms, recruit a team to wear the uniforms, teach them how to play some football, get a regulation-size field on which to play, and pull together a schedule.

Fund-raisers were brainstormed and FFF members worked many long hours with great success. The community gave willingly to bottle drives and bought raffle tickets to support the effort. Ralph and Pat McNall (owners of the cornfield) graciously allowed a regulation-size football field to be built to accommodate a high school team. With the expertise of Alan Mossey & Sons Excavating, the "field of dreams" was created. Karen McNall spent the summer worried about whether or not the grass would be up in time for the first home game in September. It was.

There are no high-rise bleachers, and the press box originally was a converted hay wagon and now is a truck, certainly a bit of down home Yankee ingenuity. But McNall Field draws a sizable crowd at every home game, whether high school or youth football. Members of the high school team are usually present at the youth games, assisting in some capacity or simply showing support for their younger counterparts. Peg Stewart, school board chair, is regularly seen at high school games as well as athletic director Mike Brown and principal Scott Lang. Many of the students come out to watch their classmates play —at home and away.

Although the field was built for the high school team, it is neither owned nor maintained by the school. Mowing, seeding, fertilizing and line painting for this football field are done by members of Friends of Fairfax Football. A lot of hard work has gone into bringing football to Fairfax and continues daily.

Anyone attending a home game at McNall Field can see the pride there is for the team, the field and everything that has been accomplished in only a few years. A concession stand built by a player as an Eagle Scout project is parked at the end of the field. There are hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill at every game rain or shine. Youth football parents run it during high school games and vice versa during youth games. It has been managed by Kathy Landry for a couple of years.

It's a group effort by the parents that has made football a reality in Fairfax. Parents operate the chains, and help clean everything up when it's over so the field is ready for the next game. There is someone up on the press-box platform filming every game.

Perhaps it's the fact that there are no bleachers to sit on, or perhaps it's just the way they are, but on the Fairfax sideline you will usually see a group moving up and down the field with the ball. If a receiver breaks away and gets a run, these fans, mainly mothers of players, run down the field with him.

When something good happens, such as a touchdown, they high-five each other, especially if their kids made the play. Among friends you hear "That was my boy" or "That was your boy." You know something exciting happened by the sound of Rob Landry's rebel yell ringing like a siren through town.

At the end of last season, BFA-Fairfax completed its second year as a club team with a 5-4 record, The wins were all shut-outs against JV teams, but the losses were varsity matches. The team saw a number of coaching changes along the way, but has settled, in with new head coach, Mike Williams and assistant coaches Ron Mapes and Josh Ransom.

BFA was granted varsity status last winter, though it will not be eligible for the playoffs until next fall. With the team opening its first varsity season at home with a win against CVU and following with wins over Winooski and Oxbow before losing to defending Division IV state champion Otter Valley, it's not only more than anyone could have hoped for or imagined, it made it official: Football has a home in Fairfax.

It's likely that someday the high school team will have a playing field at the school or the new recreation park, but no place will ever compare to the years spent at McNall Field, in the shadow of the corn. Where it all began.

This article was written by Fairfax Writer Lisa M. Boucher and appeared in the Friday, November 10, 2006 edition of The St. Albans Messenger. The photos appearing with this article on my forum were also taken by Lisa M. Boucher. A special thanks to Lisa for allowing me to place her article on my forum.

Click on the following link to view a few photos taken if you wish:

http://www.vtgrandpa.com/photos/slideshow.php?set_albumName=patriots