Vol. IV, Issue #6 - August 2016

** Field of Dreams - the Movie & Baseball Field
Part II of the Report by Wolfman Shapiro
Interview with Denise Stillman (owner) **

(In 2012, the Lansing Family put their farm with the Baseball Field up for sale and
Denise organized a group of investors to buy the property under the name of
the investment group called Go the Distance Baseball, LCC - we speak to
the CEO of this group, Denise Stillman to see why she excepted this job.)

Field of Dreams Movie Site Logo shown on their website

(Notes from the Wolfman:  As I indicated in Part I of this report last month (July 2015) I became interested in the "Field of Dreams" Baseball Field when I heard the Commissioner and Hall of Fame Pitcher began the Hall of Fame Tour, stopping in various places to represent MLB including Dyersville, Iowa, at this field for their 1st stop. Upon doing a search on the internet I found a website called "The Field of Dreams Movie Site" and a person named Margie Kolle, the secretary for the CEO of the investment group, answered my emails about a) to interview the head of Go the Distance Baseball b) that when we visited the field to talk with Betty Lansing.  After some emails with Denise, who was very open to do the interview and was very friendly, we agreed to do it via skype, some I could record it on the computer to transcribe later and set this time for Monday, July 18th, when I was visiting my father in Bloomington, Illinois.  The interview was about a half an hour, which we survived one 10 minute disconnect through skype.

One thing that Denise discussed, was to clarify her standing as the founder of Go the Distance Baseball.  Initially, she was working with her, now ex-husband to start this project but since the sale of the Lansing Farm and when I was speaking to her, her and her ex-husband decided to take a different direction with their lives.  Here is what Ms. Stillman shared about this situation during the interview:

Ms. Stillman:   Oh, there is one thing I wanted to make sure is clear, that was discussed on the internet linked to this project and the purchase of the farm that is important to me and to my children’s father, is that although we did began the project as a married couple – it was always my crazy idea as he called it from the very beginning. In this process of the last three and half years, I have ended that relationship with him but we are still parents to wonderful teens together. When your story comes out if you would please just refer to it (this project is run by) Denise Stillman and Go the Distance Baseball, LCC -- because he does not have any involvement and it is not that he doesn’t like the project, he just wants it to be clear that everyone knows that’s my baby and he has his own law career back in Chicago.    

-- Anyway, I found Ms. Stillman to be a very friendly and straight forward person, who is 100% dedicated to continuing the vision of the Lansings, and will keep the Baseball Field open to anyone who wishes to see and visit, as long as they don't have other events going on.  She has embraced taking care of the Baseball Field very seriously and is constantly thinking of new activities that can take place on the field as you will read in this interview.

So dear members, sit back, kick your shows off and hear about Ms. Stillman's thoughts and experienced linked to the "Field of Dreams Movie site in this interview.)
 

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Interview with Denise Stillman
President & CEO of Go the Distance Baseball, LCC
July 18th, 2016 via Skype with Wolfman Shapiro


Denise Stillman posing with White Sox Hall of Famer, Frank Thomas

Wolfman:  Denise, when I do my interviews for our newsletter, I like to ask first, the person I am interviewing to discuss their background, related to the subjects we will be discussing today.  So according to what I read on your website, it shared that you have seen the movie, “Field of Dreams” several times. So my first question would be why were you so inspired to become the new owner of the Lansing Farm which has the Baseball Field from this movie when they decided to sell it a few years ago?

Ms. Stillman:  Well my inspiration for doing what I am doing, it comes from my love of teaching kids. It comes from nothing more than wanting to create a legacy not only for my own children but for children nationwide and for the future of our national past-time.

Wolfman:  So you saw by purchasing the Field of Dreams Baseball Field this might help you with this goal you just stated as well as Your Personal Dream to create more baseball fields for the youth which is the special project you are currently working on that you call Allstar Ballpark Heaven?

(Note: Ms. Stillman has created a new project which she calls Allstar Ballpark Heaven where in addition to having the current Baseball Field available to be utilized for future baseball games, she hopes to purchase other local land nearby and build additional baseball fields that could used by youth and possibly by a minor league team linked to MLB.)

Ms. Stillman:  Well the reason that we are building Allstar Ballpark Heaven Wolfman is, our group, first and foremost wanted to preserve the original movie site, so we had to find a way to economically make it work. The Lansings who owned the farm beforehand, they inherited the farm and they didn’t have a mortgage to pay on it. So they were very happy to have a small souvenir shop and running the farm.

However, this is not the way I believe a baseball shrine should be run, so we created a partner company that was truly for profit that can support what honestly is a not-for-profit business which is the Fields of Dreams Movie Site.

Wolfman: So you have both a non-profit and profit business, so both businesses can work together harmoniously?

Ms. Stillman:  We have set it up completely as a for profit business because that’s the best way to move for the investors, to let them know that they can make some money on the backend. So Allstar Ballpark Heaven is a tournament company that will use part of the 193 acres that is here, that is on the north end of property and to leave the Fields of Dreams Field undistributed and looking just like it is today.

Wolfman:  And when I did the interview with Betty a few days ago, she told me that it was very important for her and her brother (Don Lansing), when they decided to sell the farm to you, that the Baseball Field would be kept as it is. (Ms. Stillman: Yes).

I have read on the internet, that some of the local people were resistant to your idea to be building more ball parks on the property you have which are linked to your Allstar Ballpark Heaven project. Can you give an update on what is happening with this situation at this time, and if there are still people who are protesting to stop your project here in Dryersville?

Ms. Stillman:  We truly don’t focus very much on the lawsuits that the neighbors had brought against the city (of Dryersville) because they do not impact us. They have been the neighbor’s fight with the city about the way that the city re-zoned this property.  The reason that the city of Dryersville did what they did is they truly see the value of what we are bringing to the community, it had to do with (which will affect?) about 85% of the people in Dryersville. So naturally, they would like to preserve the right for us to be able to use (the land?) commercially verses agriculturally.  So it does not hinder us from building, all it does is create a negative veil over what we are doing. And it has come up in interviews just like this one but we do minimize it because it doesn’t impact us at all from doing what we are doing. We can build at any time we have our funding ready for phase I.

Wolfman:  Has there been strides toward getting Allstar Ballpark Heaven started? Do you have any idea when you will begin to build the new ballparks you plan to do so? What is the status on this project?

Ms. Stillman:  Absolutely Wolfman, Absolutely.  Yes we have taken the initiative to go ahead and ensure that we are building a market and building the Allstar Ballpark Heaven brand in the baseball market. So we have hosted tournaments already for three years now. (Wolfman: OK). So baseball coaches from all the country have been coming to bring their teams here and its proof of concept to show our future investors that, “Yes, people will come to Dyersville!”  And its not just build it and they will come, that you have to establish the branding and make the coaches know about it and then they will come.

Wolfman: I also saw on your website for the Field of Dreams Movie Site that you have two different type of events that take place on the Baseball Field.  One deals with what you call the “Ghost Players” which happened in the earlier part of this month. And then a second event that will involve several well known ex-Major League Baseball Players.  Could you share more about what is happening linked to these two exciting activities please?

Ms. Stillman:  Absolutely. One of the goals of our group is to bring more people to the movie site in ways that have not been shared with the public before and obviously to increase visitor-ship. When we bought the farm, our group did it in December 2012, the Lansings reported about 65,000 people a year coming. We have about 100,000 people coming now a year, and that is based on quicker counts at the bridge (coming over), so we can know how many people are coming. And we have done this through special events, like the “Ghost Players Sundays”.  We do this event, at least five or six times a summer.  And it is truly guys that were in the movie, two of the gentlemen were in the movie. One still gets royalties every time the movie is played.  They come out of the corn, just like the “Ghost Players” did in the movie, dressed in 1919 White Sox uniforms. And they put together a family friendly show that is about an hour, an hour and half long. This show shares a message about the importance of communication and staying in touch with your kids and connecting with them. With one of the ways to do this is through baseball.

Then we do have the other event that comes every year now that we are doing called the Team of Dreams event which is very magical.   It’s really one of those Who’s Who Moments where you get to see hall of famers like Johnnie Bench, Ozzie Smith, Frank Thomas and Wade Boggs go ahead and play together as a team at the Field of the Dreams and they get to play against each other. This event happens once a year, usually in September.

Wolfman: Now I also read on your website that Hall of Fame Baseball Player Wade Boggs, was one of your investors in your group. Was he a key person to help with the funds to buy the farm and baseball field when you bought it in 2012? And what was his reason for helping in this endeavor?

Ms. Stillman:  Well Wade’s involvement was very important to us for a few reasons.  One, is Wade is a baseball coach right now in Tampa, Florida, so he is in touch what other Baseball Coaches want. In addition, he has a strong desire to teach young children, that’s why he is doing what he is doing in Florida, the mindset of what it takes to be an MLB player and the discipline. When you get a chance to speak with Wade, its amazing the discipline he still has in his physical routine, to keep his physical fitness still going as he does play in a lot of charity events. So, he wants to go ahead and teach that kind of discipline to the kids and to future MLB baseball players. So his goal is to create more baseball players out of Ballpark Heaven, whether they are in the major leagues or not, he wants to pass on what he has learned.

He is pretty private person however, you don’t see many interviews with him. He did quite a bit around the retirement of his number, his number 26 with the Red Sox.

Wolfman:  Now this is one of my strange questions I wanted to ask you, now it is a bit more meaningful since I had the chance to visit the Baseball Field two times last week.  So now I have a better sensing about what kind of things and activities happen on the baseball field. As you know the movie dealt with these “Ghost Baseball Players” coming out of the cornfield, and since I am very active in the study of these subjects and I actually also do public presentations and write books on the paranormal, I was curious if you, as the owner of the Baseball Field have personally seen any type of magical activities happening on the field. Or, perhaps have you seen, or heard, or had any kind of experience yourself with a type of contact with so-called invisible people who are present on the baseball field? What can you share with our readers about this type of experiences of this type of activity since you have become the owner of the farm?

Ms. Stillman:  I have not witnessed or heard stories of any paranormal activity at the Field of the Dreams. I can tell you though, that many many many visitors have expressed to me that they feel there is a spiritual vortex here.  And to me, what that means is they feel a connection to their family members who have gone before them or they feel a connection somehow to God, to the universe, however you express that. So that has been my experience.

Certainly the fog that comes over the field on some cooler summer nights, like it did a couple of evenings ago, lends some credibility to: why does that happen(?), why does it always go to center field(?) and left field(?), (Wolfman: ahh…) and why does it only happen on certain nights? It is the same fog that was in the movie, a natural expression of Mother Nature’s specialness to this place.  So, it is a unique geographic place and I do believe that there is a spiritual connection here for many people.

Wolfman:  Ok, this was a strong feeling I had when I was walking all over the baseball field and I would be curious to hear your feedback to this thought or idea.  When you have a specific place or location that generates, let’s say, a feeling of great happiness and joy which I think is certainly connected to the baseball field. So for myself, during my visit on the second day, I wanted to go onto the mound and throw the ball as a pitcher even though I am 61 years old and I haven’t thrown the baseball for probably 30 years, so I wanted to try it here. So then before we arrived on the field, I asked to the source that people speak to or talk to in their prayers, if there could be a young person on the field at the time I arrived, who would catch the ball I would (try) to throw and sure enough, there was a young man waiting for me. 

So I think there is a kind of magic that gets created by these good feelings people have when they visit the field and the special connections they make when they come to the “Field of Dreams Movie Site”.  And when people decide to visit the field, they are expecting something good is going to happen to them. Are these the kind of experiences that you see or hear about?  Like for example, when I talked with Betty in her interview, she told me about a time when two brothers, who hadn’t spoken to each other for 30 years, both decided to visit the “Field of Dreams Baseball Field” on the same day and were surprised to meet each other here.  So are these the kinds of activities which are happening around the Field of Dreams Movie Site?

Ms. Stillman:  They do, they do. And Betty certainly has far more experience and knows more stories than I do about the Field. I can tell you something unique that happened yesterday.  We have an experience for “Ghost Sunday” called the “VIP Experience”. They get to sit on the front porch (of the white house on the farm), they get a private tour of the house, they get a signed “Ghost Player” baseball and they get a connoisseur to serve them food and beverages during the game.  And one of the gentlemen in the “VIP Experience” on his tour of the house, found a photo of himself in the house. (Wolfman: Oh wow!). That is very unique. It was a photo in news clipping that Betty had on her wall.  So, while we were on the tour, and some of the other people on the tour looked at him and said, “Wait a minute, that’s you!”.  What are the odds that things like this will happen?  So the Field is a place that certainly reunites people, reconnects people as I mentioned somehow even to those that have gone before them-- although these occurrences happens many fold, even more than Betty and I and the rest of the staff know of.

Wolfman:  I also read on the internet that Kevin Kostner, who was of course the star of the movie, and I really feel this film made his career, had publicly stated that he was very pleased that the Baseball Field would continue in its original form.  I don’t know if he made this comment linked to what the Lansings had done to preserve the Baseball Field or it was linked to when your group was purchasing of the farm in 2012 and promise to keep the Baseball Field in the same condition. Do you know what Mr. Kostner said exactly on this issue linked to his experience with the Baseball Field during the filming of the movie?

Ms. Stillman:  Kevin has been a great friend to the field. He has come back several times since the movie was complete. We were honored to have him with us in 2014 (for the 25^th anniversary). Yes, he knows the contribution that this movie has made to him. He is thrilled that it is staying (as it has existed before). When I first met him, of course I don’t think he believed me that I actually was buying the farm but he said (to me), “Oh, I am so glad that you are preserving it, it is one of my favorite places on earth.”  So he has a special fondness for the site as well.  And the blessing for him, two years ago, was that he was able to share it with his young family, he has three young children with his latest wife.  He was able to bring here and play catch with them on the field.

Wolfman:  So you have been the owner of the farm and the Baseball Field now since the end of 2012, going into your fourth season – has this been a wonderful experience for you so far that you would do it over again or has them been challenging in some ways? I understand that you are now focusing on a business perspective to run the farm and field too, but there is of course a lot of attention that will come the group who is in charge of the activities linked to the field.  What has been your experiences so far?

Ms. Stillman:  Yes there has been many challenges as with any journey in life – there are ups and downs. The hallmark of a great leader is someone who gets up quickly from the downs and then keeps moving and keeps focused on the long-term goal. And that’s truly what our team has done is really pulled together to make a lot of things happen. I can’t thank the team around me enough because without (their support) we could not do what we do. Betty works here tireless hours. Over the summer, you know her favorite phrase is “We got to make hay while the sun shines!”  That woman absolutely does this, she will be here till the work gets done.  And I call her the “bionic woman” because she has many decades on me and I believe many kinds of energy and positivity – so I blessed to have her on the team. And there are others like that too, who just will come in at 6 AM to make sure that Ball Field is dragged and to make sure it’s clean and everything is beautiful and a great experience.

I told my staff yesterday before we began “Ghost Sunday”, because a lot of them are younger college students, I said, “You have to remember that some people will only come here once and we want them to leave with the best experience they expected to come here to have.”  The stories that we get in our guest book Wolfman are just crazy. Sometimes we see stories about, “It’s my Dad’s dying wish and we wanted him to be here and see this (the Field) before he passed on.”  And then we get an email a week later, “Thanks for being part of my dad’s last week of life because he got a chance to live out his dream!”  It just an honor and a privilege to be part of that and I wanted to make sure my team understands and they know that we are a bucket list attraction for many people in the world. The man from Scotland who was here yesterday to see “Ghost Sunday”, this was on his list of places to go before he died. So we are just honored and blessed to have that ability to have this impact upon people.

Wolfman:  Let’s see what other question do I have here on my list …

Ms. Stillman:  Oh you asked (Wolfman: I sent to Denise a list of questions by email and she was looking at this list here …) a question about how baseball has touched my life or if I am rooting for the (Chicago) Cubs or White Sox.  (Wolfman: Yes, that would be a good question to answer …).  I can answer that and say – I root for all baseball owners and baseball fans.  Because I think, as I am sitting here, I am honestly sitting in the room that was used as the bedroom for Kevin Kostner and Amy Madigan, and I am watching about 30 people playing on the ball diamond.  And what I root for are the people that get involved with each other, put their phones down and have a chance to just have an energy exchange of catch.

We have, probably I am guessing, three complete strangers involved in the game right now at one pitcher, a catcher and a gentleman who appears to be in his late 60’s or early 70’s batting – in fact he looks like Santa Claus – he has a white beard down to his chest and I would guess he would fit well into a Santa suit and he is at bat.  There is a little girl at third base in pink with a glove, there is an athletic looking mom at short, there is probably late teenager man standing at first base and they are just having a baseball game and a game of catch.  It doesn’t matter what uniform they wear, what color they wear, I think Baseball has a huge place in our society.  And it can teach children so many awesome and life skills about character, and leadership and sportsmanship and honor – and honestly things like math – you can learn a lot math through baseball. I think if we do this, through what we are doing here, we’ve created something very special that will have a lasting impact on America. So in conclusion, I am not rooting for either Chicago team then.

Wolfman:  Ok, I found my other question now. Again, I read on the internet that you were looking to actually have some professional team that might play its games on the Baseball Field.  Is there anything new on this possibility or was this just wishful thinking or is this going to come up in the near future?

Ms. Stillman:   We were approached by one of the minor league divisions to entertain the idea of including a minor league team on our site.  My first response when I was asked in 2012 was “No”.  I don’t know much about that market. What I do know is that I have lived in the Travel-Based Home Market for 7 years and been a baseball mom for 9 years and my background in marketing and strategic planning helped me to figure out that this was a viable business based upon the current climate and based on the competitors in the industry. But, I know nothing about minor league ball and I know it’s very difficult to operate.

But when the minor league group came to us a couple of years ago, I thought well if they wanted to run it and they could find owners and they thought it would work – we would be more than happy to host the games here because it would give the kids and the adults who come every week for our tournaments to have something fun to do while they were in Dryersville.  And it would bring more baseball to Iowa which is a place that loves baseball. Northeast Iowa has a rich deep history of professional league ball.  That specific minor league group is no longer looking at the opportunity primarily because there was a conflict with a couple of people that were involved in that group, they have just focused on other entities at the moment. We are still open to the idea – we are still building a facility large enough (that could accommodate such a team) but we will include that in the plans when another person who is interested comes forward – we certainly won’t pursue this on our own.

Wolfman:  Denise, is there anything else you want to share with our members which you think is important for them to know about the “Field of Dreams Movie Site”, one of your special activities or your company, Go the Distance Baseball, LCC – that we have not discussed so far through the questions I have asked in this interview so far?

Ms. Stillman:  We would like your members to also know, because your members are very focused on the game (of baseball), to let them know we also do rent out the field out after hours. We close at 6 PM every day, April through November. We do have baseball teams especially men senior baseball leagues and others who rent the field.  We do host vintage baseball games, that was a highlight last year – learning how vintage baseball works and watching the girls catch the balls in their skirts, it was very fun. So if your members are interested that they can actually play a game on the field after hours under the lights by renting it from us.

Wolfman:  Denise, thank you so much for spending this time with us to share some great stories and your experiences with the “Field of Dreams Movie Site”.  Thanks for taking time in your busy schedule to give our members a very good idea of what happens around the Baseball Field.  Continued success with all your plans and Allstar Baseball Heaven.

If you would like more information about the “Field of Dreams Movie Site”, you can visit the website sponsored by Go the Distance Baseball, LCC at:

http://www.fodmoviesite.com/

To learn more about the special project, “Allstar Ballpark Heaven” see:

http://allstarballparkheaven.com/

For questions you can send an email to:
Margie Kolle at margie@allstarballparkheaven.com