Sports
Emotions Flow at Warren Field House Dedication
Community's unity was at the core of Warren's dream becoming reality.
Remembering Greg Warren and the civic pride for which he stood was the recurring theme Saturday as several hundred Farmington residents and family members gathered to dedicate the field house bearing his name.
Warren, who died Dec. 30 at 62, left a legacy of projects that bind the town together through athletics. The Gregory Warren Memorial Field House, financed by private donations and in-kind services solicited by public works director and Warren’s best friend Scott Zenke, will stand as his most significant contribution.
The Field House, adjacent to George Bennett Field on the campus of Farmington High School, contains an expansive concessions area, modern lavatories and storage space for the school’s athletic teams.
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“In addition to Greg, we’re here to honor the entire community,” said Town Council chairman Mike Clark, acting as the dedication’s master of ceremonies. “When we started this idea many years ago, this was not what I envisioned. This is an incredible structure. We’re so proud and so much hard work went into this from a number of people.”
Warren’s daughter Katie Marketto, now living with her husband Jon and son Aidan in Grasonville, MD, and Warren's widow Leslie, were on hand for the dedication. Leslie Warren cradled a proclamation from the Farmington Board of Education presented by Chairman Mary Grace Reed and the Friends of Farmington High School awarded by principal Dr. Timothy Breslin.
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Marketto was an All-State softball pitcher at Farmington and her brother Tim was one of the top quarterbacks in FHS history, leading the Indians to their only state championship final in 1999.
“I turned to Tim the last night he played here on this field under the lights,” Leslie Warren said. “Take a good look. Your father put these lights up and you’ll never forget the lessons you’ve learned on these fields. I told Katie the same thing. Greg never forgot how important athletics were.”
Reed said that Warren brought the community together through athletics.
“Greg envisioned this as a way for us to come together and not just stand on the sidelines,” Reed said. “He instinctively knew these things would bring us together and not just for a day. It’s for generations of kids and citizens. This is truly the Field House that love built.”
Zenke, whom Clark called the project’s “archangel,” couldn’t hold back his emotions as he read a lengthy list of people and companies that had a hand in the construction of the Field House.
“This was on Greg’s radar for a long time,” Zenke said through tears. “It’s a fitting tribute. Greg Warren will always be here.”
When he first looked at the project’s blueprints, Clark estimated the structure would cost $250,000. He said the building committee raised over $70,000 with over $150,000 coming from in-kind services. He referred to the donor board affixed to the right of the concession windows.
“These are passionate people who are passionate about their community,” he said. “In a three-month period, they built this structure in their spare time and it’s just awesome.”
State Rep. William Wadsworth read a proclamation from the state legislature. Building committee member John Hinze spoke eloquently about Warren.
“Greg was a visionist,” he said. “He was always looking around the corner for something better to come. His endearing ways gathered friends like bees to honey.”
David Morrissey, past president of the FHS Football Booster Club, read the poems “Around the Corner” and “Bridge-Builder” to accentuate the motivation that drove Warren to improve the quality of life in Farmington through athletics.
