By Kenny Varner

LEWISTOWN – Parting is such sweet sorrow.

As the 2024 MIfflin County football season gets underway, we will be saying a long and sad season having to say goodbye to one of Lewistown and Mifflin County most iconic facilities in Mitchell Field.

Due to close its doors at the end of the season, the MIfflin County High School Sports Complex will take over and be the new home of the Huskies. Mitchell field has been a staple to the community since 1934.

Even though the gates will be closed and the lights permanently turned off, nothing can take away the memories from local sports fans like myself.

The field has been a staple in my life as a player, coach, reporter, radio broadcaster and fan.

Unbeknownst to me, Mitchell Field would not only provide memory, but it would also help hold me to the person I eventually would become. I know it sounds funny talking about a football field sports complex like that but throughout my life, Mitchell field always seem to be a spot where I would find myself returning to in some fashion.

My Uncle Gil Varner played under coach Alex Ufema in the glory days of the Lewistown Panthers (Maroon and Steel edition). He told me of numerous stories of local Lewistown football icons that were on his team and game stories from the undefeated team. Fred Stoicheff and Ralph Baker as well as Junior Powell were brought to life through stories of their games at the hallowed location.

As I grew up, I experienced the jubilation of winning and the agony of defeat numerous times as an athlete there.

My first visit to Mitchell Field came as I was one of numerous future Panthers that were honored for winning the Punt Pass and Kick contest.

Standing in front of the fans in the stands for the first time was electric. Later in my early childhood, I was a member of the Lewistown Panthers pee wee football team that would make numerous trips to the “Big Time” as we would call it.

While the Lewistown Panthers high school team struggled in the 70’s and 80’s, Chief Logan was there to provide numerous winning seasons and iconic football games.

The most exciting game of the season for both teams during that era was the annual Chief Logan versus Lewistown in the “Battle for the Old Iron Kettle. No matter what either team’s record was, it was bound to be legendary.

Not only did the football teams use the facility but the landmark would also be the home of the Lewistown track and field team.

As a dual use stadium, the area was quite a busy place in the fall and spring sports season.

The atmosphere of the complex was one of hanging out with a best or old friend. It was an exciting and nostalgic at the same time, knowing of the athletes that came up through before you and the unity you had with your teammates.

Though never a starter in high school, my time to shine came in the warm up passing drills before the game. I made some catches that were applauded by the fans, giving me goose bumps in the process. I got to watch on the side lines in my sophomore year as Mark Hidlay helped lead the Panther football team to a 5-5-1 record which came after a multi year drought of losing seasons.

I got to put on the same uniform as Lewistown legends, Rob Reeder, Scott Pupo, Brent Dunmire, Casey Shore, Dale Searer and numerous others.

Ironically, I always stood away from the team during a contest to watch the game and soak things in, which looking back was a prelude to being a sports writer years and years later.

However, I did get a chance to compete in the stadium in the spring as a member of the track team. Back then, the crowds seemed larger and louder than today.

Mitchell Field also was the spot where us as students closed the door on our high school career and welcomed us to adulthood as we would graduate from its hallowed grounds.

After graduation, I was away from the sports scene until 1998 where I would be hired as a stringer for the Lewistown Sentinel.

It would be a dream to be in the same stadium years later that I had special moments of my childhood.

By then, Indian Valley had taken over from where Chief Logan was before it merged in 1988 with Kish High School.

Under football legend and Pa.Hall of Famer Gawen Stoker, the Warriors brought home the hardware as well as they dominated the Iron Kettle game and District 6 titles.

By that time it was the girls turn to battle on the football field, playing for the “Old Iron Skillet” in flag football.

Sometimes there were as hard of hits as in the boys football contests. It could be as intense as any championship game.

I was fortunate enough to co-announce legendary local broadcaster for WCHX, Dave Burman. It would be an Indian Valley contest against Philipsburg-Osceola.  Burman would for a lengthy time be the voice of Mifflin County sports.

My favorite memory as a young reporter came when Lewistown was trying to qualify for the post season and JB Baker caught the football late in the game against Bald Eagle, giving the Panthers the victory. It would be later called “The miracle at Mitchell Field”.

The Indians Valley/Lewistown rivalry was extended to both soccer and field hockey played their rivalry games there.

From the early 1970’s until the present, the Juniata Valley League and later the Central Keystone League played their Bowl games there.

Once the merger of Lewistown and Indians Valley schools merged into the Mifflin County Huskies.

The football team brought back the glory as they captured playoff games and winning records under numerous coaches.

The past three seasons under coach Shane Breon, the Huskies had made the post season in all of his time at the helm.

For 18 years, the field also hosted the Burnham/Central Keystone Special Needs football team played their Annual Super Bowl games there as well. I was honored to coach those team at the field I grew up playing on.

There are so many that if I thought about it, might be enough for a novel. So I will leave it at that.

I hold fond memories that will live with me forever. However, when she is gone, I’ll feel like a piece of me will die with it. But I look forward to a new future and the hopes of capturing more forever memories at the new Kish Bank Field at Donald M. Chapman lll Stadium.

In the words of the comedic legend Bob Hope, Thanks for the memories!!

Thank you Mitchell Field, you can be sure you will not soon be forgotten.