Gary Vogt

In February of 1989, the Booster Club accepted the most challenging project in club history. Construction of the new Washington High school had begun and all of the football practice fields were being eliminated. To help Coach Lee Owens solve this problem, the Club’s Executive Board suggested the possibility of installing artificial turf in Tiger Stadium. Coach Owens was very impressed with this idea and he received approval from the Board of Education to proceed with this project.

The Club formed a “Turf Committee” to solicit funds to pay for this project. Through the energetic leadership of President Vogt, Coach Owens, and the Turf Committee, and a great response from the public, the club was able to raise over $400,000. Because of this outstanding effort, the following stadium improvements became a reality:

• Omni Sand turf was installed on the field.
• A sports cluster lighting system by Musco was installed.
• A new state of the art sound system was installed.
• A rubberized surface was installed on the running track.

The 1989 Tigers finished the regular season by beating Canton McKinley at Fawcett Stadium 24-7 and went on to become regional champions. This was the first state play-off appearance for a Tiger team in six years. Also, this season was the birth of the now familiar “Tig”-“ers” cheer!!! It was also a great season to celebrate the “50th Anniversary of Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.”