The Spartan Blog

Jump in the time machine with me and let’s go way back…to 2010. life at Calvary was a little different! Our K-8 school had a little over 100 students and we were all very excited about a new property that Calvary Baptist Church had purchased. Those of us that were involved at that time remember this project as the Vision 20/20 campaign. Would high school expansion be a possibility? Would the church and school move there together? There was a lot of excitement and dreaming about what could become reality, but the first thing that happened was the development of a 20-acre recreation area that came to be known as “Calvary Fields”. Soon, Calvary Fields included a baseball diamond (needs some work today!), several soccer fields, and a pavilion.

While most of us have primarily used that area, the reality is there are 105 total acres that need attention. Grass everywhere needed mowed, paths needed to be created (some beautiful walking paths were added behind the soccer fields, walk those sometime if you never have), and ongoing regular management of the new facilities was a never-ending task. Enter Jeff McKinley! Being recently retired from Honda (and always a volunteer anyway), Jeff jumped in from the start and adopted this location as his own project (and it was always just one of his many projects). Jeff regularly spent 40+ hours keeping the pavilion clean, performing needed maintenance, regular 8+ hour summer days running the mower, and specifically trimming the fields when soccer games were approaching so the fields were in ideal shape.

We’re so thankful for Jeff’s heart and love doing the Lord’s work. It never seemed like work to him. He loved his family, his church, and Calvary Christian School. He loved doing God’s work.

To show Jeff appreciation for all that he’s done for this property specifically, Calvary Fields has been renamed McKinley Fields with immediate effect. We’re ordering new signage now and we’re working on updating it online as well (google specifically) so anyone can search McKinley Fields in your phone and be taken to the property at 1668 N 68. Thank you Jeff!