High school turf gets new name

STERLING – The turf at Sterling High School’s Roscoe Eades Stadium will now bear a familiar family name.

The school board on Wednesday approved a 5-year, $186,000 contract with Candlelight Inn Inc. to rename the football and soccer playing surface Prescott Memorial Field, in honor of the family long associated with the local restaurant chain and several local businesses that bear the family name.

The late Bob and Jan Prescott spent many years serving dinners, drinks and offering a gathering place at their family restaurant to Sterling Golden Warrior and Newman Comet football fans after Friday night games, and the late Dick and Juanita Prescott, owners of Prescott Construction, built homes and businesses for many of those fans.

Matt Prescott, owner of Candlelight and Bob and Jan’s son, sought to find a way to honor his family. The school district sought a new name for its field. The two tasks took 6 weeks to come together.

“Our original intent was to use the name Candlelight Inn Field,” Matt said. “When my father, Bob, passed away on June 26, I knew right away we needed to honor him and the Prescott family in some way. Our entire family agreed.”

Bob, Lyman Prescott and Chuck Sisson established Candlelight Inn in 1967. The restaurant is known for its Chicken George, a recipe concocted by Bob in the 1970s. Jan died in 2016.

Richard and Juanita started Prescott Construction in 1961. They sponsored the Prescott Dental Clinic, which opened in 1997 and is operated by the Whiteside County Health Department. They also established the Parkway Plaza retirement community in 1986. Richard died in 2017; Juanita preceded him in 2005.

Jim Prescott, the last of the brothers, is an appliance dealer and owner of Jim Prescott’s Barbecue Shop in Sterling.

“Sterling is in our blood,” said Matt, a 1992 SHS grad. “It just seemed appropriate.”

The field, built in 1937, predates the 1939 stadium around it. Synthetic turf replaced the grass surface in 2012, and it was named Sterling Chevrolet Field in 2013. That 5-year, almost $250,000 naming-rights contract was not renewed.

Superintendent Tad Everett is glad to continue to have a local name associated with the field.

“We are elated to partner with them and their family,” Everett said. “They have been awesome to deal with over the years, and this is just another example of that.”

Candlelight has the option to renew the contract when it expires on Dec. 31, 2024.

Sterling will play six varsity and sophomore football games on the turf this fall, all on Fridays; Newman will have four varsity, all on Saturdays, and two Monday sophomore contests. Sterling’s boys soccer team has seven home matches.