Honoring Chester Davis

Posted by Dan Jensen

In the thread about the naming of the football stadium, I kiddingly remarked that orthodontist Lynn Davis should have put up big bucks for the naming rights.

Well, the name of Davis has been attached to a League City sports venue but it is Lynn's father who has been honored.

Below are a couple of e-mails to the city council from someone named Pat Hallisey:

I saw on your agenda for tomorrow evening an item to name the Sportsplex in honor of Chester L. Davis. I would like to offer my support of this effort.

The SportsPlex might not have ever happened if it had not been for Chester Davis. He dreamed of ball fields for the young people of this community and with other Council Members put the item to the voters in 1991 and 93.

Chester spent more time on the City Council than anyone in the history of this town. 18 years total, in two separate times ranging from the late 60s and early 70s and the late 80s and early 90s.

He went out and found the deal on the land the Sportsplex sits and imposed on his friendship with G. I. Butler to get a good deal on 50 ac of prime I-45 real estate.

He came to the County in the early 90s and had the County Parks Board draw the first set of drawings for the future sportplex. He was on the Council in 1995 and pushed and insisted on the bonds being sold two years after the 93 election authorizing the use of the Sales Tax for the SportsPlex.

The stories and contributions of Chester Davis to this Community are so numerous to recount all of them in one email.

Chester was the quiet mover and shaker in League City for a long time. He traveled at his own expense, all over the Country trying to create different types of economic development projects for League City.

His want and desires to make League Park user friendly with the Saturday concerts in the park that still go on today.

No one is more deserving of this than Chester Davis. I ask you please to remember those that built this Community as an inspiration to those that follow. We still appreciate those that serve and should not forget them.

I just wanted you to have the benefit of a few things that make Chester Davis deserving of this recognition.

Respectfully,

Pat Hallisey

Then, his response after the vote:

Mayor and Council,

I want to thank you for your vote this evening in naming the Chester L. Davis Sportsplex. I know that many of you did not know Chester or were active during the years leading up to the Sportplex. I can assure you that you have preserved a spot in the history of this Community for a very deserving individual.

I recognize that even those that did not vote in the affirmative were not really voting no to Chester’s contributions. I do want to make myself available to each of you, to put you in touch with people who will affirm the right decision was made this evening, if you desire it.

It is my belief and prayer that some young person will look at the sign “Chester L. Davis Sportsplex” and ask who was Chester Davis? I hope they will be inspired to give to this community as Chester did.

Comments

[Dan Jensen]

Ed Davis shared some good Chester Davis memories with me and I wish he and others would post them here. Maybe we would finally get C. Lynn Davis, Jr. to post too.

[Ed Davis]

I remember Chester driving those buses everywhere for our team. There was Chester and some other driver whose name I cannot remember who did the majority of the driving as we motored around the area or when we took overnight trips to tournaments or to places like Big Sandy.

I especially remember losing a game and Coach Carlisle not being happy with us. We usually would stop for a meal after the game but this time Coach had Chester go pick up some hamburgers and cold milk. He handed each of us a small bag when we got on the bus. This meal was to be consumed on the bus not at a restaurant. I do not know which was colder - the milk, the lone burger in our bag, or Coach's attitude when he called us up one-by-one to the front seat for a discussion of our play that game. I do remember saying to myself that I did not want to have to do this again.

Chester was a no-nonsense guy when it came to bus rules as I remember but he also cared about all of us individually. He was really more than a bus driver. He was a part of our team like the coaches and managers were. We liked and respected him for his support as well as for his bus-driving skills.

[Pat Jensen]

Come on, Ed. Don't leave us hanging. What did Coach say to you?

[Ed Davis]

Coach would often use the time on the bus on the way home from games to talk to us individually about a variety of subjects. When we won, it was always fun to go up there for our little talk. On this occasion, however, none of us wanted to go up to the front because we lost to a team that we should have handled easily.

I think Coach asked if I liked chicken fried steak better than a cold hamburger. If so, then I needed to earn it. He reminded me that I was one of the team captains and I needed to make sure that I did my part to make sure the team did its best always. He asked about my family, how school was going, suggested I think more about basketball than my girlfriend, things like that. More like a father/son talk rather than a trip out behind the woodshed. I remember thinking how I had let Coach and the others down.

Man, that was a long bus ride and hardly anyone said a word during the trip home. The burgers were hard to swallow for sure. But, we started district play soon after and we did play a lot better from that point on.

[Pat Jensen]

Coach started that practice some time after '56. I'm glad. I may have been hard to find on that bus.

[Patrick H]

Sorry to hijack another thread for a Ray Kraemer update, especially one honoring someone special to all of you, but several of you appreciate the updates, so I'll continue to use the most recent post as long as nobody objects.

Ray is finally starting to find his place with the team. After a slow start - especially offensively, he's starting to display the shooting ability that we had been expecting all season. His minutes are still limited as Nevada is in a real dogfight of a conference battle, but his last 4 games (excluding a beating at the hands of Utah State where he barely played) have been great. Over that period his stats: 34 minutes, 10-11FG, 7/7 3ptFG, 3/4FT. He's become a huge fan favorite because of his hustle and team play and every time he scores the chants of "Kraaaaaaaeee-meeeeeeeeeer, Kraaaaaaaeee-meeeeeer rain down. He still struggles with the speed of D1 basketball - especially on defense where he's a bit foul prone due to being a half step slow to react, but he's becoming an important bench player. The team as a whole seems to be coming together and Ray's role continues to grow.
Hit the link for my name to see a great photo of Ray from yesterday's game vs Hawaii. He hit a 3 to end the game that brought huge cheers - since it was the 12th made 3pt shot for the Pack nearly 10,000 fans got a free pizza at Round Table, but also because they love Ray.

[Ed Davis]

Hey Pat,

Thanks for the update on Ray Kraemer and his progress at Nevada. Keep those updates coming.

I hope everyone noticed that if you click on Pat's name at the bottom of the comment, it will take you to the website showing the great picture of Ray and some teammates. Try it - you will like it, I guarantee.

In fact, entering a URL address when you type your name in for a comment is something we have not had before on the blog. Maybe we could try this with some other comments that will link us to other websites quickly.

Thanks again, Pat.

[Patrick H]

Nevada has a tough game vs Southern Illinois on ESPN U today. If you have it in your cable package you can watch the game at 4:30pm Eastern. SIU and Nevada have each been to 4 straight NCAAs though both are down a little this year. It's going to be a tough game for Nevada as SIU has one of the toughest defenses in the country every year.