PITTSFIELD — The Wahconah Park grandstand has been a steady companion through Joe Ryan Jr.'s life.

Mayor Peter Marchetti holds the microphone for Joe "Banjo Joe" Ryan, as they both sing a final rendition of the song "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" before the demolition of the Wahconah Park grandstand.

He saw his first game from the grandstand shortly after it opened in 1950 when he was just 10 years old, accompanied by his godmother when the stadium was still home to the city's Canadian-American League teams — first the Pittsfield Electrics, then the Indians and finally the Pittsfield Phillies before the league suspended operations in 1951.

After that, Ryan came to the ballpark to watch police officers play against firefighters on the diamond — as well as high school games, drum and bugle competitions and other events that the stadium hosted between pro teams.

Ryan has been a regular at the stadium ever since, only missing games during a brief stint when he worked in Poughkeepsie; since returning to Pittsfield around 1967, he estimates he's gone to about 90 percent of the pro games played there. His godmother was also a regular companion for those outings, even into her 90s, he said.

Community members were invited in to visit Wahconah Park during the city’s “Farewell to the Grandstand, Hello to the Future of Wahconah Park” event on Saturday.

He's visited the ballpark in many capacities over that span, having served in the past as Pittsfield's City Council president, and more recently as "Banjo Joe," the string-plucking morale booster known for his spirited renditions of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch.

Through all that time, the grandstand has been there, bearing witness to regularly scheduled sun delays, unforgettable fireworks shows and countless other gatherings. On Saturday, Ryan was there with banjo in hand to bid farewell to the storied grandstand, set to undergo a slow dismantling starting next week to make room for a new structure as city leaders aim to bring baseball back to the city in the coming years.

Community members are invited in to visit Wahconah Park as it is for the last time during the city’s “Farewell to the Grandstand, Hello to the Future of Wahconah Park” event on Saturday before the demolition of the historic grandstand begins.

Introduced by Mayor Peter Marchetti during the afternoon's "Farewell to the Grandstand, Hello to the Future of Wahconah Park" event, Ryan led the crowd in one last chorus of "Ballgame," dreaming of a day when those grounds might see another.

Visitors wrote their memories of Wahconah Park and tied them to the fence during the city’s “Farewell to the Grandstand, Hello to the Future of Wahconah Park” event on Saturday before the demolition of the historic grandstand begins.

True to its name, the event Saturday afternoon honored the history of the ballpark while also looking ahead to the future project. Archival footage of memorable moments at the park ran continuously on screens just outside the entrance, while visitors got the chance to relate their own fond memories in short videos with Pittsfield Community Television or on written notes to be displayed in the fence links. Nearby, Baseball in the Berkshires Director Larry Moore gave out lessons from the county's rich history with the sport.

Other aspects of the event gave residents one last look at the confines before the demolition began; visitors ascended the entrance ramp to the grandstand, taking in the view from behind home plate without entering the seating area. Inside the park, people made their way to the outfield, practiced imaginary windups on the pitcher's mound and took in the sights from home plate.

Baseball in the Berkshires Director Larry Moore gives a speech about the next chapter for baseball at Wahconah Park during the “Farewell to the Grandstand, Hello to the Future of Wahconah Park” event on Saturday before the demolition of the historic grandstand begins.

Some even ran the bases — Jess Passetto, a lifelong Pittsfield resident who began going to games around age 5, took off down the basepath on a whim, she said, thinking it would be fun to get "one last memory of Wahconah Park" while the bags were out. Soon after, her son Luke Passetto, 11, followed suit, overtaking her at the last minute before she crossed home plate.

Others sat and took it all in from the sidelines — Ben Coe, a frequent attendee since the 1980s, reminisced on the right field line about days past and cold night games in April. Becca Hand, mother to former Pittsfield Suns batboy Jaxxon Hand, 15, was more doleful for the environment the park used to provide.

Becca Hand, admittedly not a big sports fan, never came to Wahconah Park much before Jaxxon was born but came to love the community at the park and the kindness of the players who befriended her son. While the Suns haven't played at the stadium since 2023, she said some of the players still keep in touch with him.

Community members were invited in to visit Wahconah Park during the city’s “Farewell to the Grandstand, Hello to the Future of Wahconah Park” event on Saturday.

"It was like a huge family here, and it's been sad not being able to come," Becca Hand said.

Family memories abounded in recollections of the ballpark; lifelong Pittsfield resident Tanya Mullin recalled seeing games with her grandfather when she was 5 years old, instilling a love of baseball that hasn't stopped since.

As a child, she used to love waiting outside the dugouts to get autographs from potential big leaguers; as an adult, she's become a driving force to keep the stadium alive in the absence of the Suns, organizing Babe Ruth League New England Regional tournaments at the park in 2024 and 2025 as player representative and league secretary for local teams. She was proud of the park when the respective championship teams wanted their picture taken in front of its old wooden scoreboard, and when the players insisted that the anti-smoking sign in the outfield should be preserved in the upcoming renovations.

Visitors take a look at renderings of the new Wahconah Park grandstand during the city’s “Farewell to the Grandstand, Hello to the Future of Wahconah Park” event on Saturday before the demolition of the historic grandstand begins.

For Pittsfield City Council Vice President Pete White, the memories were similarly familial — he was reminiscing about taking his godson to games at the park, and the joy he used to get hearing the "thunk" off the grandstand roof when a foul ball landed there. As a middle schooler, too, White used to stand outside the park with his friends and collect foul balls in a bucket, bringing them back to gain entry to the park.

That's one of the things that's important to him now, as a city councilor: accessibility. Restoring the ballpark as an affordable option for families to gather without having to pay "an arm and a leg" was critical, he said, as was the chance for local kids to have something to aspire to.

"Kids need things to do," White said. "They need role models to look up to."

Cliff Nilan speaks during the “Farewell to the Grandstand, Hello to the Future of Wahconah Park” event on Saturday before the demolition of the historic grandstand begins.

Former Pittsfield Parks Commissioner Cliff Nilan echoed those sentiments during his remarks at the event, heralding Wahconah Park as "our Field of Dreams — a place we watched our heroes, and for many of us, a place where we took to the field and got to be heroes, if only in our own minds."

Nilan's speech followed remarks from Marchetti, who spoke about growing up just four blocks from the ballpark and hearing games from his backyard, and before a history lesson from Moore, who spoke about the days before the grandstand was even erected.

Mayor Peter Marchetti speaks to a crowd during a “Farewell to the Grandstand, Hello to the Future of Wahconah Park” event on Saturday before the demolition of the historic grandstand begins.

Frequent mention was made of the park's signature defects; its flooding problems, evident that day with fresh replenishment from an overnight shower, and its batter-stifling orientation against the setting sun among them.

But they were always mentioned with reverence, as hallmarks of a field that meant a great deal to those gathered.

"The old grandstand won't be here anymore, but the dreams and the memories will continue within all of us," Nilan said in his speech. "And the sun will always shine in center field."