Pits Replacement Project 2026

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April 14, 2026 Tuesday

Bruce Volocyk, our club President, called a Board Meeting to discuss the state of the pit area.

Mike Anderson, our Field Marshal, has been leading an effort over the past few years to replace the deteriorating carpet in the pits area right in front of the shed.  It has been mostly patching and re-gluing portions of the carpet.  He spent a lot of time doing this but each patch wasn't really lasting more than 1 year before it would pull back up.

Mike has also been researching different types of outdoor carpet at various stores for over a year.

A motion was raised to purchase new rolls of outdoor carpet and replace it one third at a time.  It would take 3 years to complete the project.

The motion was approved.

April 17, 2026 Friday

Jeff Prill saw an ad about used astro turf for sale.  He did a little more research and found multiple places selling the same used turf.  

A quick call was made between Jeff Prill, Carl Will, Mike Anderson and Brian Sokol.  It was decided to go look at some.

April 20, 2026 Monday

Mike Anderson and Carl Will traveled north of Milwaukee on April 20, 2026 to inspect some astro turf removed from a soccer or football field.

That evening, we had another call to discuss.  The cost would be more than what was approved, but almost the same as replacing only 1/3 of the pits and would be exponentially more durable and last longer. 

We pivoted to using the turf instead of outdoor carpet.

We also talked about requesting a one-time donation from the 106 club members for the project.  If everyone could donate $20, if they are able, that could potentially generate over $2,000.

April 21, 2026 Tuesday

Brian Sokol sent the one-time donation request to the club.  

The response was almost immediate, and nearly the entire club donated $20, with some donating even more!

April 23, 2026 Thursday

We purchased 16 rolls of reclaimed turf, weighing 1,000 pounds each.  

As it turns out, this turf came from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin.  It had been installed in 2025 and two football games were played on it.  Then it was flooded by over 2 feet of water for several weeks.  Once the water retreated, the turf was warped and wrinkled.  Due to its massive weight, couldn't be pulled straight.  It was removed and now we have some of it.  It's almost new.

A full-size flatbed semi delivered the rolls to the field.

We had to rent a forklift to move the rolls.  Mike Anderson brought his John Deere tractor.

In addition to the cost of the turf and forklift, nails and other materials were purchased.

Several additional club members were able to help get the rolls onto the pits and unrolled.

April 25, 2026 Saturday

The majority of the day was spent trimming and fitting the seams.  While it may not sound like much, it took the majority of the day.

Many club members came out to help which made the work go much faster.

Lenny Aywaz fired up the grill and cooked polish sausages for everyone.

Carl Will also gave us a live demonstration of why everyone should have work gloves - he showed us the massive cedar wood splinter in his palm while trimming around the fence.

April 26, 2026 Sunday

Final trimming and fitting were completed.  Large nails were pounded in around the perimeter at 12-inch intervals.  Interior seam corners were also nailed. 

Jeff Prill rolled all the seams with the club tractor and roller.

The plane benches were put back in place, and the project was completed by mid-afternoon.

Lenny Ayway grilled for everyone again.

Brian Sokol took some aerial pictures with his drone.

Thank you to everyone that was able to donate both their time and money to make this project a success!

Some nicknames came about due to the project, but we'll see if they stick.

Mike Anderson - Crew Chief, or Chief for short

Al Valenzo - The Nailman

Jeff Prill - Big Roller

Carl Will - Splinter

- Written by Brian Sokol