The Legends of Holman Hall of Fame plaque is about to get four new names as the Class of 2022 will be inducted on July 4. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

It’s a special weekend, as the time around the July 4 holiday usually is – a time when we pay tribute and celebrate the past while enjoying the present.

And, as usual, it’s a special time for a place local sports fans love – the jewel called Holman Stadium.

It will be on display all around New England Saturday when NESN televises the Nashua Silver Knights 1 p.m. game vs. the Pittsfield Suns. Always a buzz when the New England Sports Network is around.

Monday the Fourth always is a big day, because we honor Holman’s past as a tradition that began some 12-13 years ago, the Nashua Lions Club Legends of Holman Hall of Fame welcomes three new members – the late Larry Elliott, the late Noel Trottier and retired former longtime Nashua athletic director Al Harrington.

Then this coming Friday, July 8, the Silver Knights will parnter with the Greater Nashua NAACP to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Nashua’s role in breaking the professional baseball color barrier. It happened right at Holman, with Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella playing for the Nashua Dodgers. Those murals are at the stadium’s entrance there for a reason, folks, as are the numbers out on the left field brick wall.

The Holman memories of Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe will be celbrated on Greater Nashua NAACP night next Firday, July 8 when the Nashua Silver Knights take on Vermont. (AP photo courtesy of Nashua Silver Knights)

It’s also fitting that the opponent that night will be Vermont, owned by former Nashua Pride owner Chris English. The Lake Monsters will match the money raised through sales that are being donated to the Greater Nashua NAACP; the Pride under English’s ownership did a lot to honor the color barrier past of Holman, complete with uniforms that resembled the Dodgers, home and away, throughout their tenure.

On Monday, the Lions Club Holman induction will take place sometime before the annual fireworks show, after the Knights play Worcester at 11 a.m.

Elliott was well known as a local sports benefactor during his time, and is basically called “The Father of Bishop Guertin Athletics.” He also was a huge supporter of local Pop Warner football, and youth baseball, all of whom called Holman their home.. He was inducted into the BG Hall of Fame in 1998 and Guertin’s fields bear his name. Fitting.

Harrington gave the Nashua athletic department stability for over three decades and his school’s teams called Holman their home. Perhaps his biggest challenge was steering the past into the present, as coaches like Ken Parady, George Noucas and Charlie Mellen were ready to turn over their programs to the next wave. With regard to Holman, that meant football and baseball.

And then there’s Trottier, the late longtime Nashua Parks-Recreation Director. Holman was literally his playground, and there are stories galore. For example, try out this one from current umpire Jeff Kleiner:

The late Larry Elliott will be one of the inductees, along with former Nashua Athletic Director Al Harrington and the late former Nashua Parks-Recreation director Noel Trottier, into the Nashua Lions Club's Holman Stadium Sports Legends Hall of Fame on July 4. (Photo courtesy of Bishop Guertin High School)

“I was real young, so I don’t remember the exact year,” Kleiner said. “But it was the 14-15-year-old Babe Ruth tournament, and home plate was out in right field. We had torrential rains the night before and during the day.”

Usually, that means a no-go at Holman, as certainly the infield wasn’t tarped at the time. And Kleiner said there was no cat litter or diamond dry around to use that day.

So what to do?

“His idea to get the game in,” Kleiner said, “was to burn the field.”

Burn it? Say what?

Tom King

“We had a fire on the field to try and dry it off,” Kleiner said with a chuckle. “The fire department was here and everything. Classic. It worked on one side, didn’t work so well on the other side.

“I’ll never forget that. Look out and see flames to try and dry the field.”

That’s almost too funny. But hey, resourceful, right?

And they got the games in “hours later” said Kleiner, who spent a lot of time with Trottier as a kid helping out at the tournament games over his young years.

“A lot of state Babe Ruth tournaments because my Dad (the late Larry Kleiner, longtime sports umpire/official). So I would keep score, and he’d have me doing the PA announcing behind home plate – with a bullhorn. Sitting three rows behind home plate.”

In case your wondering, home plate was in right field because then Nashua AD Buzz Harvey didn’t want the football field (from left field to first base dugout) ruined. So Trottier followed suit until things got back to the current layout in the early 1980s.

“I go back a lot of years with him,” Kleiner said of Trottier with a grin. “He did a lot for the city. He is definitely a legend, that’s for sure.”

They’re all legends for a reason. And that’s why Holman is historic.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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