Field dedicated in memory of Gary Elliott

Kids in cleats were chasing a soccer ball and laughing, while the smell of fresh cut grass lingered in the damp spring air.

The late Gary Elliott would have relished the scene.

Dozens of friends and family, along with Rotary Club members, gathered Thursday evening at Smith Fields in Whitefish to dedicate a new soccer field in Elliott’s memory. The longtime community leader passed away in January.

The fresh turf was buzzing with multiple soccer games as Elliott’s wife Bev, son Dave and his two grandchildren helped sink the screws into a memorial sign dedicating the park.

“Those are two of the things he loved most in Whitefish — the Rotary Club and soccer,” said Whitefish Rotary Club member Joe Basirico.

Club members thought it was only right to dedicate the field to Elliott, Basirico said.

“He was truly one of the initiators of soccer in valley,” he said. “Gary helped build the Grouse Fields, helped start the Whitefish Summer Games and was always involved in soccer and Rotary. It made sense to marry those together.”

The new Gary Elliott Memorial Field sits on the west side of the sports park. The Whitefish Rotary, with the help of Rotary International and Project Whitefish Kids, funded and developed the project.

“We look for these types of projects all the time,” said Basirico.

Thursday, Rotary members got their hands dirty and helped plant trees at the new field.

“One of our main criteria is to not just throw money at a project, but to get club members involved hands on,” Basirico said. “We were out there picking rocks out of the mud prior to the field being seeded.”

The new turf at Gary Elliott Memorial Field should be totally mature and ready for daily use by this fall.