PHILADELPHIA — Last April, not long after Dick Allen was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, a group of his friends held a meeting in his hometown of Wampum, Pa. They were there to brainstorm ideas on how to celebrate the Phillies slugger.

This was not an easy task. Allen was reticent by nature, which was a big reason why he spent so much time in Wampum later in life. He liked the solitude. He liked the fact that there wasn’t a “Dick Allen Way,” or a “Dick Allen Park.”

He liked that Wampum’s welcome sign said, “Welcome to Wampum; Founded 1796,” instead of “Welcome to Wampum: Hometown of Dick Allen.”

And for years, the small borough (population: 546) respected that. If you drove through Wampum during his playing career, you would find no indicators that Allen had ever lived there. This remained true after he died of lung cancer in 2020, and true as late as last year.

Now, things are different. Earlier this month, this group of his friends — The Dick Allen Hall of Fame Committee — hung a banner over Main Street that reads “Dick “Sleepy” Allen, Hall of Fame, Class of 2025.”

On July 11, they began selling Dick Allen yard signs, T-shirts and hats to fundraise for an upcoming Dick Allen Hall of Fame celebration on July 25, followed by a Dick Allen induction watch party on July 27th.

Proceeds will also go toward a mural of the former Phillie, which is the biggest project the Hall of Fame Committee has undertaken this summer. Artist Ernel Martinez, who works with Mural Arts Philadelphia and painted an Allen mural in South Philadelphia, finished the Wampum mural on Sunday.

It is the first permanent sign with Allen’s name on it in Wampum, and it’s on the side of a four-story building off of Main Street (the largest building in town). The mural is set against a backdrop of a baseball field under a big blue sky. On the left is a painting of Allen in his Chicago White Sox uniform, and on the right, a painting of the infielder in his Phillies uniform, mid-swing.

A message, written across the middle in baseball-style cursive, reads: “Wampum, Pa.: Hometown of Dick Allen.”

It is a big gesture, and if the former Phillie was still alive, he probably wouldn’t be too pleased.

“We all said the same thing,” said Allen’s friend, Don Mancini. “Every time we came up with an idea, we kept saying, ‘Well, Richie wouldn’t like this. Well, Richie wouldn’t like that. Richie wouldn’t want all this attention.’

“Everything we came up with, we kept saying, ‘He probably wouldn’t like this.’ If he saw all our front yards here … he would be appalled. To come through downtown Wampum and have all these people with all these signs over their yards.”

But Allen’s friends ultimately agreed that his Hall of Fame induction deserved to be celebrated by the town.

“I think he would be humbled,” said committee member Jim Ferrante. “He could have lived anywhere he wanted, and had homes in different states, but he chose to spend his time here.”

The lead-up to the mural started a few months ago, when Mancini reached out to Martinez. He was skeptical the artist would be able to fit the project into his busy schedule; most of his work is in Philadelphia, and he lives in North Carolina full-time.

There was also the issue of cost. Mancini wasn’t sure if they’d be able to afford a mural. But Martinez offered a discount, and a few generous locals were able to cover the rest.

“I just thought it was super important that this mural gets done,” Martinez said. “I’m working with a really small budget, but it’s a very small town, with limited resources. They’ve done a lot to make it happen. Everyone has made sacrifices one way or another. It’s like a small town working together.”

In 2023, the building was donated by a private investor to Wampum Community Revitalization, a borough nonprofit, which Ferrante leads as president. The building was built in 1905 and was badly in need of restoration, so the nonprofit decided to make the new mural a part of that effort.

The Arts & Education at the Hoyt Public Art Fund — an arts organization in nearby New Castle, Pa. — donated $7,500 toward the mural, and Sunbelt Rentals, a local equipment company, donated a lift.

Conley’s, a local hotel, donated two rooms for Martinez and his son, who was working with him on the project. Ferrante focused on the funding, while Bob Shrock, the chairman of the committee, ran committee meetings. Mancini was in charge of outreach.

‘He really was a special person’

This was a special piece for Martinez. He’s painted murals in small towns before, but not so small that everyone personally knows the subject he’s commemorating. Over the past few weeks, the artist has had countless locals stop by to say hello, or simply wave or honk as they drive past the building.

“It’s appreciated in a different way,” Martinez said, “and I think that’s great. They all kind of have a connection to him in an intimate way. There are folks here who went to school with Mr. Allen, 60-plus years ago, and they’re still alive, and they’re still with us, and they’re coming by the wall to tell stories.”

After this weekend, the Hall of Fame parties will end. The signs will eventually fade. But the mural will live on, and its creation was a true community effort — something even Allen, as reticent as he was, would have to appreciate.

“Maybe he never realized how a lot of people here felt about him,” Ferrante said. “He really was a special person. It’s a gesture of respect and understanding of how hard it was for him to get to this point, and that he’s finally made it.

“And I’m sure he’ll know about it. He’s in a good place. There’s no doubt in my mind.”

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