Judson to unveil renovations to baseball field

Judson University will host a formal dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony for its newly renovated Robert A. Hoffer Baseball Field Saturday, April 25.

The day will be filled with fun, food and baseball. Judson baseball alumni will play a game from 1 to 2:30 p.m. There will be food and fun near the diamond starting at 4 p.m. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled at 4:30 p.m., right before the Eagles play a doubleheader against Robert Morris University.

New state-of-the-art FieldTurf was installed last fall, and the renovated field was used for the very first time this spring.

Families are encouraged to come out and enjoy the afternoon festivities.

The field renovation project was courtesy of the Hoffer Foundation, the charitable arm of Hoffer Plastics Corp. in Elgin. Its founder, the late Robert A. Hoffer, was a longtime supporter of Judson University. In fact, Hoffer, who died in 2007 at age 87, was one of the founding trustees in 1963 when Judson College was founded in Elgin.

Over the years, he regularly contributed to Judson's baseball programs, and in 2005, was inducted into Judson's athletic Hall of Fame. Hoffer also received an honorary doctorate of humanities from Judson University in 1983.