Ronan woman keeps up with favorite sport from her back porch
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RONAN – From her back porch, 90 year-old Dorothy Lundvall has the best seat in the house to watch her favorite sport: baseball. In the late 1960s, she donated approximately three acres of her farm, (which at the time was still considered the “outskirts” of Ronan), to become a new baseball park.
According to Dorothy, her father used to talk about how wonderful Montana was when she was a little girl. Her father had been stationed with the Army in Hardin. The stories of Montana made Dorothy want to move to Montana from her North Carolina home. After meeting her future husband, Bud Lundvall in Portland, Ore., they made an 80-acre farm near Round Butte their new home.
When their farmhouse burned in February of 1959, the family moved to their current Third Avenue home. After living on their new farm for a few years, the couple decided to give some of their land for the new park.
Lundvall recalled, it took more than land to make a ballpark. Arnie Armstrong helped by bringing in loads of dirt to build the fields and many others in the community helped in various ways too.
“Everyone helped,” she said. “The whole community came together.”
Cheryl Lundvall, Dorothy’s daughter, laughed when remembering the day community members came to help paint the facility.
“Everyone was covered in green,” she said with a smile.
Dorothy’s farm housed a few animals, but she wanted to donate the land anyway. She also donated land for U.S. Hwy 93 and part of the fairgrounds.
“I didn’t need all this land,” she said.
In its heyday, the park hosted numerous tournaments and leagues of baseball and softball for people of all ages. Cheryl recalled that the height of the league’s popularity ran for approximately three decades. Local games continue to be played on the fields, even if Dorothy isn’t able to volunteer as much as she used to. Dorothy explained that Steve Larson took over her responsibilities when the job became too much for her. During her younger years, Dorothy ran ticket sales and organized the games and tournaments. She says that her love for baseball hasn’t lessened over the years.
“I still watch from my porch,” she said. “My legs won’t go that far anymore.”
The ball park lies directly behind her home, giving her a convenient way to keep up with all the action.
Dorothy and Cheryl reminisced about the good ol’ days when the league was thriving. She mentioned her former neighbor, Beverly White, who was a fifth grade teacher in Ronan, as well as an avid painter.
“We never realized that we were blocking her view of the mountains when we built our grandstands,” Cheryl laughed. According to Dorothy, White had a sense of humor about the new view.
“She painted her new view (mountains and grandstands too) and sold the painting,” Dorothy said.
She has no regrets of giving her land for the park, as it has been a joy of hers to volunteer for, and watch the sport, creating many wonderful memories.
Dorothy still has animals roaming around her small farm. She has one horse, a burro (donkey), a chicken and a few rabbits. .
With softball and baseball seasons just beginning and warmer weather on the horizon, Dorothy will be sitting on her back porch, doing what she loves, watching America’s favorite pastime from the best seat in town.
