Kemp Memorial Stadium

Kemp Memorial Stadium is Shamokin's home football field in Coal Township. Wikipedia describes it as a football and track complex with seating for 6,000, artificial turf, and lights for night games. PIAA District 4 Football Coaches Association lists the stadium as Kemp Memorial. The 2026 home games on the EasternPAFootball schedule are played there. This page does not publish a street address.

The News-Item's Aug. 20, 2017 story, hosted by the school with permission from Larry Deklinski and the paper, says the stadium is named for Sgt. Robert Alfred Kemp, the first Shamokin alumnus killed in World War II. He was in the class of 1935, born Nov. 2, 1916, and killed in action Aug. 11, 1942, a radioman on a bomber shot down off the British Isles. His funeral was Aug. 14 at Brookwood American Cemetery in Surrey. The story says he was an undefeated wrestler at Shamokin and captain as a senior, that he had more than 80 bouts with two losses in high school and college, and that he graduated from Washington and Lee in 1939. He enlisted Oct. 4, 1940, and later transferred to the radio section of the Army Air Forces.

An alumni association meeting on Oct. 23, 1942 renamed Shamokin High School Stadium at Edgewood Park to Robert A. Kemp Memorial Stadium. It was dedicated Nov. 7, 1942, before Shamokin played Sunbury. The Rev. Richard B. Martin and superintendent Joseph H. Davison spoke. John Wary was the master of ceremonies. Betty Kemp unveiled a plaque over the scoreboard. The story, written at 75 years, says the home side later switched, lights were added, grass was replaced by turf, and the surroundings changed from Edgewood Park to Stetler Drive. It does not date those changes. Tommy Ryan's line in the story is "Lest we forget."

WNEP's Jan. 22, 2020 report, by Nikki Krize, says an anonymous donor gave $250,000 toward new turf and that the estimated cost was just over $440,000. Henry Hynoski said the turf then on the field had been installed in 2005. Administrators said the new turf was scheduled for May and would be ready for the fall of 2020. The News-Item's May 7, 2020 lead says the field was named Bridy-Ruane Field for decades of contributions by those families. The Field and Community Foundation Partnership and the district announced the name with a turf replacement that had started the week before and was expected to wrap up in June.