Steve McCarville Memorial Field named June 9

CRESCO - East Park field was renamed Steve McCarville Memorial Field during Family Fun Night festivities on June 9.

McCarville was a huge advocate for the park and ball field, as well as Cresco and Howard County in general. After his death on Aug. 22, 2021 the Cresco Park and Rec Board wanted to recognize his dedication and voted to rename the field in his memory. He was a member of the board for 26 years, leaving only when he became a Cresco City Council member.

During the unveiling of the sign, Board President Kris Riley said, “We wanted to honor Steve’s legacy and his committment to this community.”

Ryan McCarville, Steve’s oldest son, with his mother Kathy by his side, spoke to those gathered on the northwest side of the ballfield.

“They came to my office and said, ‘We want to honor your dad.’ It was very humbling. I want to thank everyone involved in this.

“As many of you know, Dad lived for Cresco. He lived for East Park. All of us kids were born and raised in this park. We were able to watch our dads our uncles, our moms our aunts play ball tournament after ball tournament in this place. We played whiffle ball here. We grew up here.

The sign is 6x12 ft. The work was done by Patty Schrage of Signs & Designs.

Ryan continued, “Dad’s motto was ‘Go big or go home. Do it right or don’t do it at all.’ Our vision for the sign is to put a border around the sign that looks like home plate.

“I want to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts. It means the world to us. If Dad was here, he’d have one heckofa smile from ear to ear. He lived and breathed Cresco and Howard County.”

Kathy then spoke, thanking everyone for coming out to honor her husband. “He would be so proud of everyone here and the beautiful sign.”