Published: April 19, 2009 12:33 am      

Then just name it Board of Education Stadium

On Saturday, April 25, the Cumberland City Mini-Marathon at The Stadium will be held to benefit the renovation of Greenway Avenue Stadium. Events include a 2.62-mile run, a 1.5-mile walk, and a toddler trot. The run and walk will begin at 9 a.m., and the toddler trot will start after all participants have finished the run and walk. Registration on race day will begin at 8:45 a.m.

The 1.5-mile walk and toddler trot will be held at the stadium. The 2.62-mile run is an out-and-back course, beginning and ending in front of the stadium. The course follows Greenway Avenue, Penhurst Street, Avondale Avenue and Parkview Avenue into Constitution Park before returning to Greenway.

Sounds like a great event, and it is. The Cumberland City Mini-Marathon at The Stadium promotes good health, community involvement and the much-needed renovation of Greenway Avenue Stadium, and according to event co-director Fred Cook, as of Friday, $10,500 in donations and registration fees have been raised, with runners and walkers averaging about $50.

“So we are optimistic that our total will rise by April 25.”

According to an article by Kristin Harty that appeared in the Times-News on Friday, four companies have donated $1,000 each to the event — more than twice as many as organizers had hoped. Almost 45 individuals and businesses have contributed $100 each to get their names on a commemorative T-shirt. Organizers had hoped for 15.

That’s the good news. The less-than-great news is organizers had hoped for 500 runners to take part in the event, which they hoped would raise $28,000. As of Thursday, only 75 had registered.

“We need a little help on runners,” Cook said in the article. “Some people are thinking that it’s too late to register. It’s not.”

So there’s still time for runners and walkers to step up and register for a great event that will help benefit the community. Folks in the community, local sponsors and organizations have been generous, and donations have come from as far away as Raleigh, North Carolina. In obituaries, requests are made for donations in the deceased’s name to be made to the stadium renovation.

We love and care about our community, and as we flock to Greenway close to year-round, it’s obvious we love and care for what we know is the finest high school stadium in Maryland. But we can only do so much. You can’t get blood out of a turnip, and it’s likely not possible to get the full $3 million, the current cost projection of the renovation, from a community that, like all others, is reeling in the sorriest economy this nation has known since The Great Depression.

Supporters have raised about $1.26 million, which, given the circumstances, is remarkable. But, according to Vince Montana, director of Facilities for Allegany County Public Schools, “Obviously, this isn’t going to be enough for this project.”

And as for trimming even more costs, Montana said, “There really isn’t anything we can take out of this project ... You have to have rest rooms. You have to have concession stands. You have to have the locker rooms.”

Mike Calhoun is the principal of Allegany High School. He’s been going to Greenway since he was a child, either as a fan, player, coach and school administrator. He knows as much as anybody still with us about Greenway Avenue Stadium — its strengths, its weaknesses; its charm, its shortcomings, and its needs. Calhoun said on Thursday during a meeting of the Greenway Avenue Stadium Committee, “My personal opinion is, you got a facility that accommodates two schools. Don’t do it half-(way). If you can’t do it the way it should be done, don’t do it.”

Yes, please, let’s not simply throw both Allegany and Fort Hill high schools, or any of the other county schools, a bone the way we did with the second-hand computers, desks, TV sets, band instruments, etc. they received once Mountain Ridge High School opened. It amuses me in a sad way when the folks over at 108 Washington Street (and talk about what has to be an overcrowded building) says something along the lines of, “Well, the stadium needs a complete renovation, true; but the community isn’t doing anything about it. They didn’t buy enough raffle tickets, and nobody wants their name on the marquee badly enough to throw us $1 million, so what can we do?”

Well, you figured out a way to build a state-of-the-art model facility in Mountain Ridge High, and more power to you and thank you for that. Now it’s time to figure out how to do the same for the facilities that serve the students of Allegany and Fort Hill. It’s well past time for the Allegany County Board of Education to get blood out of its turnip, find the money to do what they’re paid to do, and that’s best serve all of the students of Allegany County.

See how easy it is to say, “You’re not doing all you can” to the board the way the board so easily says it to the community?

The students and community of Cumberland have been on the low end of the totem for long enough. Providing them with a first-rate athletic facility is the very least 108 Washington Street can do for them.

Mike Burke is sports editor of the Cumberland Times-News. Contact Mike Burke at mburke@times-news.com.