Menu
Baseball games aren’t the only activities that bring people to David Allen Memorial Ballpark in downtown Enid.
It’s been the site for birthday parties, wedding receptions, homecomings, reunions, movies, music, fireworks, and funerals. Movies have been shown on the ballpark’s 35-foot-wide LED video board, which at the time it was built was the biggest of its kind in either Oklahoma or Texas. For several years, the ballpark was the host of the Greater Enid Chamber of Commerce’s Candy Cane Cash giveaway.
Director Bill Mayberry sees the ballpark as a community partner. It has sponsored events for Vance Air Force Base and has coordinated events with the Stride Bank Center across the street. Elementary schools have come to the ballpark for field trips during tournaments. Corporations have sponsored nights for their employees. Veterans, current military personnel, and first responders are admitted free to ballgames.
“We just enjoy sharing it,’’ Mayberry said.
When Enid entrepreneurs/philanthropists Paul and Joan Allen donated funds for the construction of the ballpark as a memorial to their son, they wanted to benefit both youth and the city at large.
“We’re so fortunate to be a part of something that Paul and Joan shared as a way to invest in our community,’’ Mayberry said.
Paul and Joan Allen were also the driving force behind another ballpark attraction, a gigantic American flag unfurled over the infield for special events.
Mayberry said the biggest ballpark crowd might have been the community Pride in America rally after 9/11 in 2001. “That’s the most people we ever have had in here,’’ Mayberry said, “because people were all over the field and all over the stands.’’