Salem community seeks repairs for Reilly Stadium Wall

SALEM

Members of the community are working together in the hope of winning $25,000 to repair the Reilly Stadium Wall for the “This Place Matters” challenge through the National Trust for Historic Preservation site list.

The wall is part of the Reilly School complex that includes the school district’s football field.

A group of community members met and decided to submit a request. Communities all over the country are submitting entries.

The “This Place Matters” is sponsored by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. and National Trust Insurance Services to help protect historical places.

The place with the most internet votes before Wednesday will be awarded the money. Each unique e-mail or person may only vote once. Register and then zoom in on the Ohio part of the map. The blue dot for Reilly is just below Youngstown on the map. The link is http://my.preservationnation.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=9519&security=2862&s_interest=3322 Some of the notable events at the stadium that was named after Civil War General James William Reilly include:

• Oct. 11, 1929, when Salem was the first Ohio high school to play a football game under lights.

• Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy gave a speech at the wall on Oct. 9, 1960, during a tight race.

• Jesse Owens ran at the track in 1941 after being coached in the Olympics by local trainer and athlete Fred E. Cope.