Article written by: Michael Hawley
Photos by: Kenna Collins
The 2025 season marks the 75 th anniversary of the home of the Clinton Yellowjackets.
Over its three quarters of a century Jim Tumlison Field has hosted a variety of events
from football to graduations and it has seen major improvements over the years.
In 1939 at the request of the students and financial support from the community football
began at the Clinton Vocational Training School as the school was known then. In fact,
the football players selected the name Yellowjackets as the school’s mascot. The first
nine seasons of Yellowjacket football were played downtown in the city’s baseball park
located roughly where F L Davis is located today.
At the dawn of a new decade, the1950s, the dream was to build a new athletic field that
would serve both football and baseball and work began to bring the Yellowjackets back
to campus on school hill. The site selected was the valley area between the two hills,
one containing the high school and the other the elementary school. The area for the
field was described as a “swamp with a road running through it.”
It was a joint effort between the school, Lions Club, Petit Jean Electric, and the booster
club. The Lions Club raised money, the booster club sold memberships, a traders-day
was held, and personal donations were used to raise the money for the new field. In all
$11,000 was raised to create a new home for the Yellowjackets including bleachers and
lights. In today’s money that would equate to $150,000. The field was surveyed by an
electrical engineer with the information sent to St. Louis where blueprints were made for
the exact and best location for the lights. The lights,120, were purchased from a supply
company in Little Rock. The 120 lights would have a total of 316,800 candlepower.
Petit Jean Electric began the process of installing the lighting in late July of 1950 and by
August 4 th poles were set along with the accompanying hardware.
The first game the be played on what the newspaper called the Clinton Athletic Field
was played on Saturday September 16, 1950, and was described by the Van Buren
County Democrat newspaper as a “gala event.” The game had been moved from
Friday to Saturday so as not to conflict with the county fair going on the same week.
Game night was rainy, in fact the field was described as very muddy as it had rained the
previous three days also, but still 700 hearty fans made their way to the opening of the
new field interested in seeing both the game but no doubt intrigued in seeing a game
played under the lights.
The opening game opponent for the Yellowjackets were the Danville Little Johns. The
Yellowjackets coached by future coaching hall of famer Mike Malham, scored the games
and the fields first points in the second quarter as Jacket quarterback Bill Lefler handed
off to Bill Finton who gave the ball to Jud Avey who threw a long pass to Willard Smith
for the touchdown. Danville scored a touchdown just before the half to take a 7-6 lead
and it would stay that way until the 4 th quarter. The Jackets rallied in the final period on
Smiths second touchdown catch of the game and Lefler scored a late rushing
touchdown on 4 th down to give the Jackets a 19-7 win. The following summer the first
night baseball game was played as Clinton hosted Heber Springs in a semi pro game
on June 22, 1951.
The field has undergone many changes and improvements over the years. The
baseball field was later moved to another location making football the only sport played
on the field. Improvements to the seating as well as expanding the seating capacity of
the field have occurred at various times over the last 75 years. In 1951 bleachers were
added to both sides of the field and in 1955 new steel framed bleachers with wooden
seating were added to the field at a cost of $1540 that were hoped to be paid for by the
sale of season tickets. Original wooden bleachers have now been supplanted by
aluminum and steel. Jim Tumlison Fields capacity has been increased twice in the last
six years. Two sections of bleachers have been added to the home side of the field as
well as new visitor seating doubling the capacity of the visitor seating in 2019. The
press box as well as the fieldhouse have been replaced over the years. A field house
constructed in the 1990s on the east end of the field replaced a fieldhouse used for
years that was located on the hill above the field on its north side. In recent years, a
track has been installed around the field as well as a newly constructed modern
concession facility on the west end of the field. In 2025 the press box underwent a
major renovation and the old concession facility built in the 1970s was removed opening
the east end of the field. In 2008 the field was given a formal name as it was dedicated
to the career and legacy of longtime coach, teacher, and administrator Jim Tumlison.
From the first game in 1950 until now generations of black and gold clad yellowjackets
have poured their hearts out on this 120 by 53 yard piece of scared ground but more
importantly it has provided a place for a community to come together for the school it
loves dearly and a place for its children to dream big dreams under the Friday night
lights.
