photo by: Jennifer Compston-Strough

Three Bellaire Elementary students spend time together during the opening home football game of the season on Friday night. Shown from left are fourth-grader Jolena, fifth-grader Gracie and third-grader Evelyn.

Lighting up Nelson Field after 90 years is about more than being able to play football on Friday nights – it’s about providing opportunities to future generations of Bellaire High School students.

That’s the way Joey Galloway sees it. The 1990 graduate was a Big Reds standout who became an NFL wide receiver and now serves as an ESPN college football analyst. He was on hand Friday to watch as Bellaire hosted its first game under new LED lights that are part of an overall $500,000 stadium renovation project.

“It’s great for these kids to have the opportunity to host a playoff game,” Galloway said as he watched from the sidelines. “At the same time, it’s sad to see tradition go away. But it’s great to be here to watch a game on a Friday night.”

Galloway said this likely would be his only chance to watch the Big Reds play this season, since his work at ESPN will keep him away from the area once the college season begins.

“I think the improvements have been amazing,” Galloway said of the changes at the stadium. “The concession stand, the locker room, the turf field. I mean it’s been amazing what they’ve put into this program – and great for these young kids. …

“When we played here, the grass didn’t look like this. The practice field wasn’t turf. It was dirt and rocks and a lot of stuff that we played on. So it’s great to see how far this program has come.”

Several alumni, students and fans agreed with Galloway’s assessment, including the fact that it is tough to see traditions change. Ed Good, a 1977 graduate who played football, said he was somewhat reluctant to see the change.

“There’s just something about Saturday afternoon football games at Nelson Field,” Good said.

He added, though, that he sees the benefits of lighting up the field. He said the lighting will provide increased player safety and noted that the updates are good for the community as well as for the schools.

“I’ll come to games on Friday nights,” he added with grudging humor. “… It just feels weird being here on a Friday night and seeing the lights reflect off their helmets.”

Good was taking in the game against Buckeye Local – which Bellaire won 38-6 – with 1974 graduates Dan Angus and Jack Cera. Angus and Good are both members of the schools’ alumni association, and Cera was a star athlete who went on to become a state legislator.

As his friends pointed out that Cera set a 20-year school record with a 97-yard interception return for a touchdown, Cera said he understands some of the reasoning behind lighting the field. He said that interception happened in early September against then-St. John Central High School on a Saturday afternoon, and he noted it felt like it was 88 degrees on the field that day. He joked that he “passed out in the end zone” as his fellow players piled on in celebration.

With conditions being even warmer when high school football season starts now in mid to late August, Cera said being able to play on coller Friday nights is a safer alternative for the students involved.

Like Good, Cera also reflected fondly on Saturday afternoon games. He said some of the most hotly contested rivalries would draw 5,000 people to the stands.

And while Angus also has fond memories of Saturday afternoon games, he only had positive things to say about the updates.

“I think it looks great,” Angus said. “The whole facility is fabulous. Growing up we heard those rumors that it could never be lighted.”

He was referring to a community “myth” that the deal made to purchase the land for the stadium included a stipulation that lights could never be installed there. The three men stressed that Bellaire “could not have a better superintendent than Derrick McAfee,” who researched the purchase agreement and found that the “myth” simply wasn’t true.

“Community folklore,” McAfee said earlier this year.

Good pointed out that organizations other than the football team will reap the benefits of the improvements to the field. In particular, he pointed out that the marching band had sone an “amazing job” performing the national anthem to open the evening.

Cera speculated that hosting games on Friday nights might draw bigger crowds which, in turn, would be good for surrounding businesses.

That is a point that Bill Schmitt, a village councilman and owner/operator of the Holistic Cloud, also raised while watching the game.

“It’s very positive for the community,” Schmitt said. “Business was incredible at the shop today, and that will continue after the game for places like Gulla’s and McDonald’s.”

Schmitt said he was born in Bellaire and moved away as a child, but he returned for his junior and senior years in high school, so he attended plenty of Saturday games at Nelson Field. He believes the benefits of the updates are hard to tally.

“I think it means more games. I think it means more excitement,” he said. “It’s just another aspect to our football games. It’s something for these kids to look forward to, knowing they get to play under the Friday night lights, knowing they will have thousands of people watching them under the lights here at home.

“I think it’s inspiration and motivation for our team to play harder. It’s inspiration to put up a win for the crowd. It puts the eyes on them.”

Shirley Wallace was cooking sausages on a grill in support of the band at the concession stand. The lifelong Bellaire resident and BHS graduate said she believes the crowd Friday was “a lot bigger” and that likely will continue to be the case on Friday nights.

Vince Gianangeli has his roots in Bellaire, but he did not attend Bellaire High.

“I went to St. John, but I root for Bellaire,” he said.

Gianangeli won the primary election for a seat on the Belmont County Board of Commissioners. The Republican is uncontested on the general election ballot in November and is expected to take office in January, unseating fellow Republican Josh Meyer. On Friday, Gianageli was honored to participate in raising the American flag at the beginning of the game as part of the Legion Riders.

But it was a fifth-grader named Gracie who may have best summed up people’s sentiments about the new lights at Nelson Field.

“I love them,” she said. “They’re cool.”