By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

In the past five years, Bruce Campbell has learned an awful lot about grass cultivation, weed control and sprinkler maintenance. The pursuit of the perfect ball field takes time out of at least five days a week all year round. "I don't know how I got into this," he says. "I should be practicing law."

Actually, Campbell says, it all started with the kids.

For the last nine years, Campbell, an attorney with a background in business litigation, has coached for the Wai Kahala Athletic Club youth baseball league. About five years ago, he left a downtown law firm to start his own home-based practice. At about the same time, he started paying closer attention to the fields his league was playing on.

"It started with safety, and it went a little farther. Now it's like, looks nice, yeah?"

The first project was the mustang field at the Kahala park. Campbell joined with parents and coaches to partner with the city parks department to maximize their efforts.

"We have a deal with the city's lawnmower guys," Campbell explains. "They do the larger areas and we do the infield. We don't want their lawnmowers on our field area. Weeds, eh? The seeds are all in their lawnmowers."

The volunteers use their own mowers and pick up the cost of repairs. The city has helped with supplies like cinder and sand, and in some cases, committed to renovate existing irrigation systems. Bruce and his volunteer crew also dig weeds, seed fields, spread dirt, and make calls. "What the city can't supply, we look for donations from golf course people so that the cost doesn't come out of league programs," he says.

The full-sized volunteer crew is around 40 people, but the "us-three-guys" day-to-day squad is just Campbell, Kip Sakuma and Dwight Makalena. "We fix sprinklers," says Campbell, who learned quickly that water is the most important thing in cultivating a nice grassy field. "I can't fix a toilet in my house but I can change sprinklers in the park."

The showpiece project has been Wilson park. About 2 1/2 years ago, the Wai Kahala league was about to give up on the Kilauea Avenue park. "It was just a pit," Campbell says. "Basically, our league was about to declare it unplayable."

But coaches and parents decided to try to bring it back. They met with city parks director Bill Balfour, who gave the crew his full support.

"The whole outfield was all dirt and messy and so forth. Mr. Balfour got the city plumbers in there. Then the city dropped a humongous amount of dirt and sand. We must have had about 40 coaches and parents and we seeded that entire park. It was kind of a bizarre sight to see."

Now, Campbell says, Wilson park is looking good, though the grass crew is aiming for better. This from a man who says he doesn't even have a yard at home.

Kahala and Wilson parks are the main areas in Campbell's purview, but, he admits cryptically, "There are others." Campbell has become something of a consultant to other volunteer groups working on their own neighborhood parks.

Mayor Jeremy Harris commented: "Bruce Campbell and his group have done a superb job of keeping the ball fields in his neighborhood in great shape. We appreciate it, and I know that the hundreds of kids who play there do too. Across our island, over 225 parks benefit from the work of volunteers. They do everything from picking up litter, to painting our picnic tables, to — as Bruce does — keeping our fields in shape. It's a partnership that benefits everyone."

Campbell credits his crew and the city parks staff who, he says, has been nothing but supportive of their efforts. "They've green-lighted everything we've wanted to do.

"It's happening all over the island," says Campbell. "I'm just one of many who are doing this to varying degrees. Cannot help. We gotta do our part."

It's all about good irrigation, a willing work force, a can-do partnership with the city, and the right attitude.

"If from day one, we were to take the attitude that this is all the city's responsibility, then it's the kids who suffer," says Campbell. "We realize the city's resources are limited, so we have to step up."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Correction: Kip Sakuma is one of the volunteers who helps maintain the Kahala park used by the Wai Kahala Athletic Club. His name was misspelled in a previous version of this column.