Wall of Dreams

Wall of Dreams. . For years men from all over Indiana and Western Ohio have benefited and lived the dream, every little boy's dream, since their first visit for peanuts and cracker jacks. The Rockets play good old fashion baseball. It may not be New York, or Boston. There may not be thousands of fans or million-dollar endorsement deals. But for 60 years the Portland Rockets, a semi-pro, wood bat baseball team, have been giving players an opportunity to grow as a player and as men, to get noticed, and for some, a last chance to play the great American pastime before hanging up the cleats for good. The name itself may not be important to a player trying to get a few more years in the sun, but to everyone else with the organization just the name "Portland Rockets" bring history, respect, and community to a small town in East Central Indiana., The Rockets Franchise, founded in 1959 by Dick Runkle, is one of the oldest franchises in amateur baseball. Ray Miller took over the team in 1972, when his son and current Rockets' Manager Randy Miller started playing. Ray made it possible to keep amateur baseball alive and well in Portland. Giving everything he had to his family, his team, and his community. , The Rockets call Runkle-Miller Field home. Located in Portland's southwest side in what's locally known as "Sportland," Runkle-Miller Field named after the founders of Portland's baseball legacy., The Rockets are a big thing in a small town. And it does matter because without the community, without sponsorship of local business, the Rockets wouldn't be here. The Runkle and Miller dreams were much like that of the movie "Field of Dreams." In the movie James Earl Jones says, "People will come Ray"., So, we continue to dream. Now we have an initiative to salute the team's contribution to Portland by stamping its history on the side of the Ritz Theater, an icon of its own. Record the timeline of events that mark the steady existence of this Portland symbol, the Rockets, by commissioning a mural crafted by Pamela Bliss, the same nationally renowned artist who graced the Eagles building at the corner of Meridian and Arch streets with the Elwood Haynes creation., MURAL CONTRIBUTORS , Jay County Commissioners, City of Portland Council, Jay County Council, Bollenbacher and Associates LLC, Barry and Elizabeth Hudson, The Williams Family Ed, Rocky, and Heath, HISTORICAL SUPPORT, Jim Runkle Family, Nick Miller, Coach Randy Miller MURAL COMMITTEE , Randy Fisher, Dru Hall and Chuck Huffman. ,