“We decided that this was something that we wanted to do,” Terry Steinbach said Wednesday morning in a dedication ceremony at Johnson Park. “There is such rich heritage of baseball down here that you want to respect everything that this part stands for and the scoreboard was something that we were very interested in doing.”

The Steinbachs’ very generous donation, along with other donors, made the high-tech video board a reality.

And for Terry Steinbach, who played at Johnson Park for New Ulm High School and the New Ulm Legion, seeing the park still brings back fond memories and moments.

“There are a lot of great memories,” he said. “Hitting balls out to the ‘New Ulm Welcomes You’ sign and people catching them before the inner fence was put up. There are a lot of great memories.”

Staff photo by Fritz Busch The new scoreboard/video board was unveiled at Johnson Park Tuesday. Pictured from left, New Ulm Mayor Kathleen Backer, Mary and Terry Steinbach of Rogers.

Terry Steinbach said seeing the video scoreboard up with the “Gift from Terry and Mary Steinbach” permanent banner below it means a lot to both him and his wife, especially on the first day the video board went up.

“It was amazing that in the social media world that as soon as the scoreboard was up we got a whole bunch of Facebook stuff,” he said. “Mary is on Facebook and there we about 30 or 40 people had already expressed thank yous. It means a lot to us.”

City officials in attendance were also very impressed by the new video board.

“This is great,” Curt Johnson, chairman of the New Ulm Park and Recreation Commission said. “It is really nice, it is super. It is really something.”

Andrea Boettger, president of the New Ulm City Council, said that it is a wonderful gift from the Steinbachs and appropriate for Johnson Park.

“They have kept New Ulm in their hearts and we are very appreciative,” she said.

New Ulm Mayor Kathleen Backer said New Ulm’s dedication to baseball was a blessing.

“We are blessed to have a great baseball association and a baseball legacy in New Ulm,” she said. “And then to have the Steinbachs come back and help [the NUBA] out with the scoreboard is just – wow. It is very impressive. Thanks to the [NUBA] and the Steinbachs for making this happen.”

Former New Ulm Cathedral and New Ulm Kaiserhoff player Joey Schugel, now the New Ulm Park and Recreation Director, said that the new video board is a huge improvement for the fan experience.

“Johnson Park has had a significant upgrade in the fan experience since the renovation in 2019 for spectator improvement,” he said. “This is another enhancement to make events even bigger and better down at Johnson Park. And everything I have heard so far has been positive and NUBA’s commitment to help improve things at our ballparks is second to none and we value that partnership as a city.”

Terry Steinbach added that the rich baseball history of baseball here in New Ulm with his family being all part of it.

“It means a lot,” he said, “It is very, very special.”