Retired Gillette Factory Worker Buys St. Paul Saints Season Tickets

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- The St. Paul Saints return home Friday after nine games on the road. One fan cheering on the team this season has a unique tie to the location of CHS Field.

The ballpark has all the bells and whistles of a new outdoor stadium, but from Dennis Hervin's perspective, the shiny and new doesn't overshadow a rich history.

"In the middle there were bottling lines where they made the shampoo and non-aerosol products," Dennis Hervin, a former employee at the Gillette Factory, said.

Long before the first pitch was ever thrown at CHS field stood the Gillette factory.  It was Hervin's place of employment for 34 years.

"I look back thinking it was a good job," Hervin said.

When the factory shut down in 2005, Hervin heard that developers were looking at a building a ball park on the site.

"I told my two nephews, Terry and Tony, that if they do in fact build a stadium, I'm going to have to get some season tickets," Hervin said.

For Dennis, home games are filled with memories.  The outfield is more than just a place where players make a big catch.

"Above us would have been probably the non-aerosol where the pump White Rain hairspray would have been manufactured," Hervin said while in the outfield.

The outdoor plaza at the ball park was once a place where Dennis spent time each day.

"This would have been the cafeteria, in here, looking out onto the street," he said.

Be it unique coincidence or full circle moment, a former place of employment is now where Dennis chooses to relax in retirement.

"It's just work and baseball, funny thing it's come around like that," Hervin said.

Dennis said he bought four tickets to share with his family and plans to keep those seats for many more seasons to come. He said years before the factory shut down, there were rumors that someone was interested in turning the factory into a ball park.

At that time, he thought it was someone scouting a location for the Minnesota Twins.