10/25/2026
Ripon, we need a favor. It takes 30 seconds and it won’t cost a dime.
On July 27, an EF3 tornado tore through Menasha and took Nathan Calder Stadium with it. The Menasha Bluejays have played their entire season without a home field. No home bleachers. No band in the stands. Homecoming and senior night had to happen somewhere else.
Here’s the part that gets us. A senior on the team said what he’s really hoping for is that his little brother, a freshman, gets to play under those lights someday. That’s not about a trophy. That’s a town trying to get a piece of itself back.
Right now Menasha is in FIRST PLACE in the Midwest division of ’s Friday Night 5G Lights contest. Hold on through Sunday and they win $250,000 toward rebuilding and move on to the final four for the $1 million grand prize. It all comes down to votes.
Voting for this round ends SUNDAY, October 25. You can vote once a day, every day until then.
Here’s the link. Pick Menasha, verify your number, done:
https://www.t-mobile.com/brand/friday-night-5g-lights?region=midwest -anchor
Vote today. Vote tomorrow. Vote Sunday. Then text somebody and tell them to do the same. And if Menasha wins the Midwest, voting opens back up October 29 for the big one, so stay tuned.
One more thing. If you ever played at Calder, cheered there, marched there or froze in those bleachers on a Friday night, drop a memory or a photo in the comments. Menasha is collecting them.
Pastimes is Ripon through and through, but on this one we’re all Bluejays. Let’s help a Wisconsin town bring Friday nights home.
Like Pete's Garage Bar called us out to help with the cause, we want to kindly ask our neighbors downtown Ripon to do as well J's BBQ - Knuth Brewing Company - Ripon Dough Co
Menasha Bluejay Football Menasha High School Athletic Department T-Mobile
