Council to discuss renaming Little League field in memory of assistant fire chief

The president of Hodag Little League has asked the City of Rhinelander to consider formally honoring the memory of assistant fire chief Dan Bauer by renaming a ballfield in Hodag Park .
In a letter dated May 21, Ben Gauthier asked that the Little League field closest to Messer Street be renamed Dan Bauer Memorial Field.
Bauer, a 19-year employee of the Rhinelander Fire Department and a youth baseball coach, died of a heart attack last fall at the age of 42.
“To my knowledge this field does not currently have a name and in all of our usage have always referred to it as the Minors Field,” Gauthier wrote. “Dan Bauer was a pillar in the youth sports community here in Rhinelander and especially when it came to youth baseball. Dan spent more time curating the fields and young ball players than anyone I can remember in the 30+ years that I have lived here and have been a part of the baseball program.”
Gauthier went on to note that Bauer was a member of the Hodag Little League board of Directors for six years and served as both president and vice president of baseball.

“He coached countless teams including two of our Little League All-Star teams that qualified for the Wisconsin State Tournament,” Gauthier continued. “Dan was instrumental in growing our organization from the around 200 participants we had each year when we started to the almost 400 we have had for the last three seasons. Dan was also heavily involved in the development and execution of having the playing surfaces replaced and irrigation installed on both Little League diamonds at Hodag Park.”
The letter also notes Bauer’s service to the community as a paramedic and firefighter.
“I am hoping that through this letter, either I can receive approval to move ahead with this process or be given direction on how to best proceed,” Gauthier wrote. “The naming of the field would include a plaque being affixed to the fence and sign being made to hang behind home plate notating the name of the field. I would also like to have a small ceremony to complete these items.”
The letter was included in the packet for the council’s May 27 meeting and the panel indicated the topic should be placed on a future agenda for discussion.
The council will also discuss an idea submitted by Jim Barber who has proposed changing the name of the Davenport Street Bridge to Veterans Memorial Bridge “to honor all veterans for their sacrifice, service and dedication to our country.”
In a letter to city officials included in the council packet, Barber suggests placing a sign on each end of the bridge and banners of each branch of service on each light pole on one side of the bridge and banners of the city’s veterans organizations on the other.
Finally, in response to a question, city administrator Patrick Reagan noted that the city is in the process of ordering a sign to be placed in the city-owned plaza across from the State Theater. The council voted last year to rename that plaza in memory of the Rouman family, longtime operators of both the State Theater and Rouman Cinema. A move to rename the plaza began last year after Rouman Amusement Co. president George Rouman was killed in a car accident last June 9.