Is this Heaven? Yes, it is.
Endowment preserves Ghost Players history for tomorrow’s baseball fans
Years of preparation came to fruition when the Major League Baseball’s Field of Dreams game was played in Dyersville on August 12. Behind the scenes, support from endowment funds at the Dyersville Area Community Foundation helped make the event a home run.
An anonymous Community Foundation fund holder supported a bicycle sharing system providing an alternative transportation option to and from the activities. The fund holder also supported bike racks, providing a safe parking option for those enjoying the experience on two wheels. And the Field of Dreams Ghost Players, who have their own endowment at the Foundation to preserve their legacy, had a big part to play.
The Ghost Players are a barnstorming baseball team and comedy troupe that performs exhibition games and leads baseball skills camps. The team was founded over 30 years ago by Dyersville resident Keith Rahe. Its members are former professional and semi-professional baseball players, and some acted in the 1989 movie “The Field of Dreams.” On August 11 and 12, they assisted with rehearsals for the Major League Baseball camera crew and announcers, entertained visitors to the movie site, and posed for photos.
The Ghost Player Endowment Fund for Baseball History was created to archive and preserve decades of video footage of the Ghost Players at work. They’ve performed in most of the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as Japan, Europe and the South Pacific Islands. Dyersville resident Joe Scherrman is responsible for the large collection of historical film of the Ghost Players and was integral to the launch of the endowment.
When he realized the early footage was deteriorating, Scherrman worked with the State Historical Society of Iowa to archive the collection, which contains over 6,000 clips and is now stored on the Internet Archive, a nonprofit online library. An award-winning documentary about the team called Ghost Player: Relive the Magic, was made from these clips and is available on Amazon Prime.
Annual distributions from their endowment with the Community Foundation help preserve the Ghost Players history for the enjoyment of future generations.
“It’s a great example of what we do at the Foundation,” says Executive Director Michelle Grover. “We preserve the generosity of today’s local donors and address community needs, like support for arts and culture, for generations to come.”
The MLB is already preparing for 2022’s Field of Dreams game, and when the pros return to Dyersville, the Ghost Players will be there ready to represent the community’s place in baseball — and movie — history.
To learn more and make an impact on the future of your community, contact Grover at dacf@dbqfoundation.org or visit dbqfoundation.org/dacf.
Photo courtesy of Joe Scherrman.