Friday morning, the high school fields were nearly deserted.

Football players had the day off from practice and school won’t start up again for nearly a month.

But that’s good for Brian Johnson.

He has work to do.

Johnson, the parent of a high school sophomore, has spent the past six weeks sprucing up the Anacortes High School fields to make them look better before the athletic year begins.

“It comes down to pride and stewardship,” he said. “I want the kids to see the adults have some pride in what we have.”

Bright and early Friday morning, Johnson was at War Memorial Field with equipment donated by Birch Equipment Rental and Sales removing overgrown grass from the track.

Friday afternoon Johnson’s son Paul came by to help. By the end of the day, there were several piles of grass and debris to take away — and a clearer track.

“There’s just so much to do,” Johnson said. “I want people to come up here and take a look at it.”

Johnson, who coaches track at the middle school, and many others have been frustrated over the high school field conditions — and that frustration has been building.

He decided to turn his frustration into something positive, using his talents and experience to come up with solutions.

About two months ago, Johnson met with district Superintendent Chris Borgen and AHS Athletic Director Rick Mergenthaler to discuss things that needed to get done at the fields.

After getting the go-ahead Johnson has been working hard.

“It’s grassroots — knowing there’s a need and I can operate machinery,” said Johnson, who grew up working on a farm.

With every other Friday off from his job at the Shell refinery, Johnson has been using his time to knock off some projects the district’s maintenance crews can’t get to. He said they’re swamped with bigger projects like leaky roofs and balky boilers.

The School District’s recent bond requests addressed those problems and had funds for new roofs and major renovations — along with money for athletic field improvements. But voters said no to two bond proposals and the district is working to find other ways, and money, to get things done.

Johnson gave a presentation to the School Board Thursday night outlining some simple things that can be done to improve the fields — and some more complicated ideas.

He spent about five hours recently removing Scotch broom from the hillside near Rice Field. His future ideas include adding tiered grassy areas on the hillside, similar to the what’s at Causland Memorial Park, which would offer some seating for spectators.

Other simple ideas include repainting the War Memorial scoreboard and goal posts, removing invasive vines, adding fencing to separate the football field and track and building a third ticket booth.

“It’s not going to change the world but it’s going to change Friday night,” he said.

At the meeting, Johnson showed school officials a conceptual image of what War Memorial could look like if the wooden bleachers were replaced and an overhang added.

“It’s possible,” he said.

He suggested group work days, along with some donated materials, could work wonders. The recent Our Town Our Park effort to build a new playground at Storvik Park showed what can be done, he said.

Johnson has traveled around the county checking out facilities as the father of two boys, one a sophomore at AHS and the other a recent graduate, and as a coach.

“By far this is the worst facility out of all of them,” he said.

Johnson said he would like to see other community members volunteer to do some work at the fields. He has already talked with area businesses to get support — Island Rentals plans to donate equipment use, Dakota Creek Industries will donate posts for the fence and Puget Sound Rope will donate the rope.

“It’s bigger than me,” Johnson said. “This is a community effort. We’re all taxpayers. This is ours.”