Central Bucks East celebrated the new lights at First Lieutenant Colby Umbrell Field at Patriot Stadium with an official ceremony on Thursday night. Tracy Valko was there to photograph the historic event.
It was reason to celebrate on Thursday night at Central Bucks East when they turned on the lights at First Lieutenant Colby Umbrell Field at Patriot Stadium, and for the first time in the school’s 53-year history, the Patriots will be able to play home games under the lights.
“It was amazing for our entire community to celebrate this event,” East athletic director Ryan Kelly said. “We had our athletes out on the field. We had parents and community members in the stands. We just had a ton of support throughout the whole thing, and to be able to bring everyone together – to see our marching band, our choir, our cheerleaders perform and create the excitement and ultimately to flip on those lights and see the joy on the faces of everyone was really remarkable.”
A highlight of the evening was the ceremonial presentation of a check for $112,305.85 from the Central Bucks East Patriot Stadium Committee to Dr. Abe Lucabaugh, Superintendent for Central Bucks School District, and school board president Dana Hunter, who accepted on behalf of the school district. The check represented the balance remaining after decades of generating support for the project that officially came to a close.
The lights put the finishing touches on a stadium that was completed in 2015. Prior to that, all East football games were played at Central Bucks West.
“I remember when I was coaching (football) with Larry Green we just had a cinder track around a dirt field with a few bleachers – we played all of our games at War Memorial up until 2015,” Kelly said.
Thursday night’s ceremony began at 8 p.m. The bleacher and walkway lights were turned on for safety purposes, but the field was in darkness. The evening was capped with the turning on of the lights.
“The band gave me a little drum roll, and I was able to activate the stadium lights,” Kelly said. “It was a really amazing experience to be a part of."
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