Ballpark Grandstand Named For Rivertronics

A new grandstand at a ballpark in Birnamwood, a small town in north central Wisconsin, was formally dedicated July 10 with a ceremony that included the benefactor of the project—and a familiar name in the river industry—Norm Matsche, tossing out the first ball at a Little League game.

Known as Rivertronics Stadium, after the marine electronics firm in Wood River, Ill., that Matsche founded, the ballpark is used on a nearly daily basis for baseball, softball and a number of youth leagues, a local news source reports.

Matsche is a Birnamwood native who trained in electronics on the GI bill after military duty and then worked for Sperry Rand Corporation. He started Rivertronics Inc. in 1967. The company sells and services swingmeters, fire alarms, satellite TVs, engineroom alarms, and steering and pilothouse electronics.

Although Matsche, 85 and still “chasing towboats,” lives in Wood River with his wife, Alice, he maintains strong ties to his hometown, a nine-hour drive away.