The Verbena football program opened up the 2017 season at home against Isabella on Sept. 1 and showcased the recent improvements to the football field.

The V-Club, Verbena’s alumni and booster organization, were involved with several projects that took place during the offseason with the goal of improving the overall image of the field.

Logan Mayfield is a junior at Verbena and is the son of V-Club president Tera Easterling.

Mayfield is also a member of the football team and tries any chance he gets to help in the improvement of the school’s athletic facilities.

“We ended up getting a lot of comments about how the field looked,” Mayfield said. “Everybody’s very pleased with what we’ve done so far, and that’s what I had hoped.”

He took about two Saturdays a month during the summer to help tend to the field and assist other V-Club members.

“If they [players] see the amount of people in the community that care about them, it gives them a sense of meaning and purpose to know that what we do here matters to them,” Kelley said.

The improvements included painting the field house and concession stand, adding railings to the home bleachers and fertilizing the field.

“We started on some of the bigger projects like cutting the grass and then went on to the smaller projects of touching up the paint,” Mayfield said. “I don’t like the school looking bad, and I don’t think twice about coming out and helping.”

The addition of the railings is expected to make it much easier for fans to climb the steps and find their seats.

A staff has been designated to work the concession stand each home game and a giant “V” was painted at midfield, all with the hopes of heightening the game day experience.

According to Mayfield, the V-Club currently has about 30 members, but is always looking to add new members to the team.

“It feels like old Verbena,” Kelley said. “There’s enough people in the community that are getting together and doing things instead of just talking about it.”

The improvements do not stop there, as future plans include painting the goal posts and painting the trim on the concession stand to match the field house.

“It makes me feel good being from here,” Kelley said. “I remember in the late ‘90s when it was going good. I feel like we’re headed back toward that direction.”