Another building ritual

Yesterday as I was thinking and working on consecrating buildings and cornerstones, this picture popped up in the Oregon Softball Twitter feed.  Which has nothing to do with my research projects.

But here's another building rite, a ground-breaking.  In this case for Sanders Stadium for Oregon Softball.  Purely ceremonial like cornerstone laying.  And with ceremonial objects; those shovels definitely decorative.  Don't recognize anybody in picture, maybe that's Oregon Coach Mike White in the middle.  Where's Becky Sisley?  Shouldn't she be there? 

In the twitter feed, there's a comment by AD Rob Mullens "We've fantasized about this day for a long time."  Really?  Not sure I believe that.  It seemed that the athletic department was fine with letting the women's softball team play in substandard facilities for years.  It wasn't that long ago before I got them to get rid of the port-a-potties.  There seemed to be no urgency at all to make a major move to improve Howe Field.

For the 1895 cornerstone laying for Mishkan Israel, they gave out ceremonial silver trowels to mark the occasion.  Don't know where any of those might be.  That also implies a mason's influence.

Howe Field is really all gone, they've left that small press box structure.