White Lightning Lights Up!
Amazing things can happen when dedicated individuals unite to accomplish an important goal. Following is a brief story that highlights how our small soccer Club, White Lightning, in a small town, Johnsburg, accomplished a gigantic goal, professional lighting for our practice soccer fields.
Twenty five years ago, the White Lightning Soccer Club was formed to provide a place for the youth of our community and surrounding areas to engage in soccer. From humble beginnings with a few kids and tireless hard work from engaged parents, the Club grew. So did Johnsburg. We now field 24 teams and additionally have over 100 “Kiddie Kickers”; kindergarten aged children who participate in our Skills and Beginning Soccer Sessions.
As the Club has grown so has the need for places and times to practice……and this is really where the story begins. Almost ten years ago, then President of the Club, Ray Lindberg, realized we had a growing problem – more and more kids in the Club, limited field space to practice and limited daylight hours. Fate would have it that at that time of his life, Ray was also spending considerable time on the road for his job. While he was traveling, he was able to visit many local soccer Clubs and facilities and see what they were doing for practice space. He quickly determined that a great solution would be to get lights so we could add “light” hours to our days. He took pictures of different poles and lights in all his travels. Ray brought his thoughts before the White Lightning Board. He also did additional research and interviewed various commercial suppliers for pricing and installation. Ouch! Even modest alternatives involving telephone type poles with a few lights on them were gong to be expensive and the professional solutions were going to run somewhere between $80,000.00 to over $100,000.00!
Meanwhile, while Ray and the Board contemplated solutions and affordability, different teams got creative on their own. We had everything from groups of parents shining several parked car’s headlights toward the fields to flood lights hooked to extension cords. By this time we also established a partnership with Three Lions International to provide skills training and development for our program. There simply were not enough after school daylight hours for the training sessions. White Lightning began to lease lights seasonally. Diesel powered generators attached to portable light poles provided minimal light and plenty of noise…but we could squeeze all of our teams into practice sessions. What started out as one set of rented lights eventually had to be expanded as the Club continued to grow. It provided our solution for several years, but the bill for these rented lights also grew……now to over $6,000.00 each year.
The Board realized this was a necessary investment, but wanted to look at all lighting options again. We asked now former President Lindberg if he would be willing to “reignite the lights” proposition as he had the most knowledge of the subject. He updated his information and came back to the Board. As that was happening, current Club President Henry Schmidt and current Secretary Amy Nikolai, initiated conversations with the Village of Johnsburg and met with trustee Bonnie Oziminski who led Village efforts regarding Parks and recreation. Ron Schrader, High School athletic director also participated in those meetings as the High School was also looking to add lights to its soccer field. The thought was that perhaps certain economies could be gained if all lights were done at the same time.
The Village thought it was worth pursuing lights, but complete funding was probably not in the budget. The High School was prioritizing capital expenditures related to athletics and short term, were not quite ready to complete a lighting project.
White Lightning however, after reviewing the prospect of continued Club growth and continued rental expenditures, thought we should attempt the long term solution of permanent lights. Tom Huemann, long time White Lightning supporter stepped up and took on the challenge of making lights a reality. He worked with Ray Lindberg to determine the best contacts and finalized negotiations on pricing. He came back to the Board with concrete dollars and equipment required. The Club voted to move forward, but three large obstacles loomed – Village approval, funding, and installation -- as professional installation was cost prohibitive.
After review, the Board decided that the best location for the lights and practice sessions would be Sunnyside Park. We also realized that as a small Club, the continued maintenance and liability exposure of the lights would probably be more than we could handle. Tom and Henry went before the Village Board to offer that if given approval, we would install permanent lighting and then donate the lights to the Village. After several meetings to insure the lighting would be adequate, professional, and expandable, the Village agreed and fully supported the initiative. In fact they contributed gravel for around each pole.
Treasurer Mitch Pecenka worked with our Bank, First Midwest, and secured an offer to provide the funds necessary (over $30,000.00+) to move forward. No small accomplishment. Here we were, a small town volunteer Club with only our track record and the word of our Officers that we would pay back the funds. There would be no functional collateral as we were going to give the lights to the Village.
And finally the installation -- Tom worked tirelessly organizing volunteers and areas of expertise. This was a truly monumental task. Organizing everything from the delivery of the lights and poles to the coordination who would do what on the day of installation. Tom called on family ties and equipment to help get everything and everyone into place. It is amazing how in a small town, we have so many who know how to do so much and Tom found them all. He got everyone working on the tasks they knew best. From electricians and engineers to equipment operators to those doing manual labor. He also enlisted the volunteer efforts of KUJO, INC., owned and operated by Dan Daezewitz and his son, to provide the equipment and expertise to drill the holes and hoist the poles. Dan and his son worked tirelessly all day to insure nobody got hurt and to make sure the poles were straight and would stay that way. Without their efforts and equipment the project may have been impossible. Tom even enlisted the support of the High School Varsity coach and the athletes on the High School soccer team. It was truly an amazing effort and something wonderful to see.
The week after installation, Tom and others worked quietly and often long into the evening to pull wires and insure final inspections and hook-ups. Tom even worked on his wedding anniversary to bring things to fruition.
For a list of volunteers please see the following. If you were a volunteer thank you! If you see a volunteer, please thank them. Life in Johnsburg has always been great, but as Dan Daezewitz put it, “It really was a special day to see everyone together working on a common goal. Kind of like the Amish and a barn raising. It was wonderful to be a part of it.”
Here’s to the kids! Here’s to their lights! And here’s to Tom Huemann, the Village of Johnsburg, First Midwest Bank, and all the countless volunteers who made it happen!