By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Fort Hays State University thanked the donors for the new video boards for Lewis Field and Gross Memorial Coliseum at a press conference Friday.
Verlin and Elaine Pfannenstiel, Don and Chris Bickle, the Bob and Patricia Schmidt Foundation, and Eagle Communications donated $1 million toward the $1.2 million cost of the video boards.
“Athletics is what unites us,” said Jason Williby, president and CEO of the FHSU Foundation, “It unites us as a university, as a community, as a state. We are proud to be Tiger Gold on Fridays and black and gold on Saturdays. Spectators at Gross Memorial are going to be treated for decades to a beautiful, four-sided video board that would not have been possible without the Pfannenstiel family.”
In a prepared statement, the Pfannenstiels thanked the athletic director and FHSU for allowing them to be a part of the video board project.
The video board at Lewis Field was thanks to the donations from the Bickles, Schmidt Foundation and Eagle Communications.
Curtis Hammeke, FHSU athletics director, said there was no doubt the scoreboards, which had been in place since the early ’90s, needed to be replaced.
“The common denominator with these people, I think, is their work ethic and their principals, and these are the things they are bringing to us that are great examples for our athletes to see,” Hammeke said. “We are trying to accomplish great things in the arena. We are out there in front of everybody all the time and putting ourselves at risk. These people did that with their businesses. They have gone through that and excelled, and now they are giving it back.”
FHSU head football coach Chris Brown thanked all the donors to the project. He noted the new video board has helped in recruiting efforts by showing potential players the commitment donors have to Tiger athletics.
“I can’t tell you what a privilege it is to be up here to thank such wonderful people — a group of people who bleed black and gold, through and through — a group of people who have truly supported FHSU for many, many years. I can’t thank you enough for all you have done for us,” Brown said.
Tony Hobson, FHSU head women’s basketball coach, said, “We have one of the nicest historic arenas to play in. It is one of the best in the country, but it is going on 50 years old. When we get a video board, it is like taking a beautiful classic car and putting a new engine in it. It is just better. You take something that is good already and make it better.”
Gary Shorman, Eagle Communications president and CEO, talked about the teamwork that brought the project together.
“When you talk about teamwork, you can do it on the field, you can do it on the court, you can do it with your customers, you can do it with your listeners, but you do it as a community, and that is one of the things we see happen,” Shorman said. “We at Eagle carry around a coin. On the front of the coin, it says Eagle, of course. You have to have that there, and then it says ‘Our Community Connected.’ That is exactly what we are doing here today, connecting our community with those in the area and being a partner with the Pfannenstiels and the Bickles.”
Don Bickle remembered his friend Bob Schmidt fondly. Schmidt died in 2017. He said the friends had something in common.
“We are firmly, staunchly in favor of God and country, and we believe that from the bottom of our hearts. If you look at the projects we have been involved in, in every one of those, that is there or we are not there,” Bickle said.
FHSU President Tisa Mason concluded the press conference with her remarks.
“I wanted to remind everyone today that it is not just a scoreboard,” she said. “It is about so many other things. It is about fan engagement whether it is a kissing cam or the crazy games by Matt Cook. It is about engagement of the community. It is also, in my mind’s eye, about the athletes who fight with determination and resilience in every competition. I picture them looking out of the corner of their eye and being that much more motivated to go for the win and pull it out and fight with strength and courage for our institution.”
Mason said the FHSU student athletes are a special class of people.
“As we watch the Olympics right now, we watch people who have to have the courage to get up after a fall—to fight to work hard to have an amazing win,” Mason said. “Our student athletes not only do that every day as athletes, but they also go to class and they study and they get a college degree at the same time. The way athletics impacts this community is profound, and it brings us together, as all the speakers have said, as a true family, so thank you for being a part of our true family and making us get better every day.”