Muskegon area sports teams and individual athletes enjoyed the benefits of one of the city’s most generous boosters in beverage distributor Smitty Vanderplow during the mid-twentieth century.  Smitty, himself a football and basketball star at Muskegon High School in the 1920’s, was committed to the promotion of athletics in his hometown and gave generously of his own time and money to make Muskegon proud of its sports programs and its heroes.

Among his considerable contributions were team sponsorships, primarily for youth baseball and softball leagues and numerous bowling teams in the area.  Many, many local athletes participated in their favorite team sports under the banner of “Smitty’s Beverage”.  Smitty was devoted to local sports and reached into his own wallet on many occasions to accommodate sponsorship requests.  He also took a personal interest in individual athletes needing financial support to further their careers in college by providing summer jobs at his distributorship.

When professional baseball returned to the city in 1948 with the formation of the Muskegon Clippers of the Central League, Vanderplow was one of the stockholders, along with the parent Chicago White Sox.  After two disappointing seasons, the White Sox attempted to buy out local shareholders and dissolve the franchise.  Determined to keep baseball in Muskegon, Smitty purchased the team and arranged a working agreement with the New York Yankees and other Central League clubs to assemble quality players to continue the Clippers operation another year.  Unfortunately, poor attendance here and throughout the league in 1950 forced Smitty to sell out in a sea of red ink, but he managed to pay off all outstanding debts, many of them out of his own pocket.

In 1966, local sports enthusiasts toasted Vanderplow at a special banquet.  On this occasion, Smitty donated over $8,000 to the creation of a new athletic facility in Norton Shores, which was named Vanderplow Field in his honor.