Down River 6/3

By John Lipez

A Great Goodwill Ambassador:

A few columns back, Down River had written about a state compilation of the most notable residents from each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. The listing had noted graphic artist/Beech Creek native Alison Bechdel as the Clinton County representative.

A notable choice indeed and again she is achieving great acclaim for her most recent illustrated offering, ‘The Secret to Superhuman Strength.’

It’s time now to offer up another of local origin for consideration, another still very much among us, another still, not unlike Alison Bechdel, at the top of his game.

Lock Haven native Robbie Gould made a whirlwind return to his hometown last week to announce that $1.9 million has been raised so far towards construction of the Chestnut Grove Sports Complex, planned along the banks of Bald Eagle Creek in Castanea Township. It is quite the complex and should be quite the draw for youth activities conducted there upon completion.

So it was appropriate that the Chestnut Grove Recreation Authority, project overseer, chose to name the facility the Robbie Gould Youth Sports Complex. Robbie’s is a great face to put on the development of the complex during its fundraising and preliminary development stage. And he has put his money where his face is with a personal $200,000 commitment towards Chestnut Grove.

The NFL great came to town from his Chicago area home last week to further that fundraising effort, making appearances at a golf tourney related to the project and as a participant at an authority/Downtown Lock Haven outdoor social staged by the Clinton County Economic Partnership.

And, 15 years into NFL kicking stardom, he was the same person who left Clinton County a couple decades back to hone his craft at Penn State then into several stops in the NFL where he has improved with age and continues to move up the all-time league scoring chart. He is the same pleasant, bright young man he has always been, the most notable change the continued evolution and improvement to his right leg and foot, a winning field goal combination if there ever was one.

This favorite son and the sports complex rightly named in his honor are giving Lock Haven and Clinton County unimaginable positive publicity.

A scanning of one of Penn State football’s social media offerings can attest to Gould’s impact. Not long after he completed his local visit, Penn State Football posted a story on his Lock Haven appearance. It featured a photo of him in front of the sign welcoming visitors to the city. It also included drawings of the planned sports complex and a quote from Robbie: “I am honored to welcome everyone to the future home of the Robbie Gould Youth Sports Complex in Clinton County, PA. Thank you to @GroveAuthority and my hometown for having the vision to bring a state of the art sports complex to Clinton County!”

Publicity? Did someone say publicity? As of this past Sunday night, the Penn State Football Gould posting had received 5.8 thousand emojis, 198 comments and 829 shares. Given it came through Penn State, the comments came from far and wide, linking a highly regarded sports figure with Lock Haven.
Here is a sampling:

“BRAVO to you for giving back to your hometown! What a GREAT guy and AWSOME MENTOR to these young athletes! Other PRO ATHLETES…TAKE NOTE!!”

“His heart is in the right place! Always a thrill to watch him kick! May you stay healthy and blessed!”
“Thank you Robbie Gould. You’re a special guy that remembers where you came from! Good luck this year and stay healthy.”

“Great to see he remembers where he came from! This is awesome for Lock Haven!”
“I’m a Lock Haven University alumni! This is exciting!”

“All that glitters is Gould. I’ll never forgive him for the 6-4 game against Iowa in 2004 no matter how nice he is.” (Editor’s note: obviously a still disgruntled Hawkeye fan).

“I graduated with Robbie. Thank you for giving back and remembering where you came from, lots of memories from high school days. This is an amazing thing.”

“Making Penn State proud by your actions again.”

“What a tremendous asset this will be to our community.”

“I’m going straight to Cork’s or maybe the Fallon House to drink to this.”

“As a proud Lock Haven University graduate, thank you.”

“How wonderful Momma Gould, your raised an amazing young man!”

“Awsome news. My college town. Love it there.”

And on and on it went; near unanimous praise for Robbie and his role in this not insignificant undertaking.
If you’re not familiar with a complex of this nature, you need to know about the growth of travel ball all across the country. In addition to local Little Leagues, many youth league players also are involved in travel ball, often the top players from each region who band together and travel far and wide for weekend games and tournaments. While it improves their young skills, it is also lucrative for the facilities that sponsor such events and the communities that host them. Lock Haven, in the center of the state, just off an interstate, is strategically located to make the Robbie Gould Sports Complex a major plus for the local area.

Thanks, Robbie Gould, for your role in making this happen; the classic tale of a hometown boy giving back!