A donation from the estate of K.D. Nelson of West Concord is the trigger to launch an upgrade the support shed at the softball field in town. The current shed was built by the West Concord High School FFA chapter students around 1990. The roof was replaced over ten years ago and the building has lived out its useful life.
K.D. Nelson grew up in Duluth, MN and had career as an intelligence officer serving on submarines in the United States Navy until his retirement. He was enlisted during World War II, The Korean War and the Vietnam conflict. He moved to West Concord to care for his mother, Marian Campbell around 1980. He was very active in the area officiating for high school sporting events.
Before he passed away at the age of 92, two years ago, he requested that his estate be used to benefit the local organizations around town. These include the West Concord library, swimming pool, West Concord Historical Society, the West Concord Legion Auxiliary and the softball field. One of the things that will be helped is the ball field for the youth softball teams. $15,000 has been pledged to match local donations for the support shed at the ballfield. So far $4,000 from Venom Softball, $2,500 from the Cardinal Club, $1,000 from Karen Johnson, $3,000 from Beth Hodgman as well as the Survival Days weekend softball proceeds.
The estimated cost of the support shed and concrete work is $35,000. This includes a 16’ x 16’ building and a 16’ x 10 concrete apron on both sides of the building. Most of the labor will be donated by local tradesmen and volunteers. The project will commence after Survival Days weekend. The future of the old building will be determined by the City of West Concord.
