'Hounds' boosters helping Baird

By John Kovach

Draught House owner Jordan Klucinec donated $3,500 for a benefit game at the Chevy Centre.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown SteelHounds booster club is alive and well and in the forefront of the charge to help one of the team’s injured players, Jason Baird, of Austintown who is hospitalized at Akron Children’s Hospital Burn Center.

Cindy Piedra of Boardman, founder and president of the three-year old organization that has 151 members, said the Aug. 24 fundraiser at the Chevrolet Centre to help Baird is a joint effort between former coach Kevin Kaminski, the boosters, former Steelhounds players and the community.

Kaminski is now coach of the Missisippi RiverKings of the CHL.

The SteelHounds are no longer part of the CHL and will not be playing this season.

Piedra is encouraging the community to attend the fundraiser.

Baird, 27, was burned over 60 percent of his body when the lawn mower he was driving exploded Aug. 17 while he was working for a landscaping company in Austintown.

Baird joined the SteelHounds last season in November in a trade with the Corpus Christi Rayz of the CHL. He and his wife, Bethany, have three children.

The fundraiser will help defray some of Baird’s medical expenses and other bills. It will be an exhibition hockey game between former and current NHL players and former Steelhounds and other minor league players.

It begins at 3 p.m. There also will be a Chinese auction starting at 1:30 p.m. and an auction of the players’ actual jerseys following the game.

Ticket prices are $15 for adults and $10 for children, and may be purchased or reserved at the Chevrolet Centre.

“I hope we pack the place because every cent will go to help the Baird family,” said Piedra, the leader of a close-knit Steelhounds hockey family dedicated to helping their players.

“[We] are people who love hockey. We are dedicated,” said Piedra, noting that other booster club officers are Jodi McCamon, vice president; Heather Machel, secretary; Ashley Yungbluth, treasurer; and Don Beck, sergeant-at-arms.

Youngstown Draught House owner Jordan Klucinec of Canfield will cover the $3,500 ice fee for the game.

“He is a SteelHounds fan and comes to all the games. He treated the players very well,” said Kaminski. “This is the kind of people that we need right now and the kind of people that can help bring hockey back to Youngstown.”

Klucinec was happy to help.

“I wasn’t a hockey fan until the SteelHounds [came to town],” he said. “We have got to know the players over the years. They get traded and new ones come in every year.

“I want to do whatever I can to help the [Baird] family.”

Klucinec also hopes his contribution will help bring back the SteelHounds.

“I hate to see [the SteelHounds] go,” he said. “It was great for the downtown. It’s a shame to see it go. But we’ll figure it out and there will be better days. Youngstown always seems to figure it out.”

Piedra said she and other booster members have been out in the community this week seeking donations of items that can be used in the Chinese auction. Anyone wishing to donate may call Piedra at 330-565-6808 or Kaminski at 662-404-0302.

“We do a 50-50 at the [SteelHounds’] game and have bake sales, basket raffles,” she said. “That’s how we make our money. It all goes back to the team.”

The boosters stock players’ apartments with dishes, towels, linens, soaps and all the essentials to help them get started, Piedra said. They also bought mattresses for the team bus and drive players to and from the airport during the season.

“If an emergency comes up or if they need extra money, we take care that,” she said.

The boosters also have an adopt-a-player program.

“You adopt him and help him out, like providing him with snacks to take on the bus,” she said. “We buy ironing boards, vacuum cleaners, sweepers, crockpots [for players]. We take [them] out to dinner. We have a Christmas party and beginning-of-the-year and end-of-the-year parties. We try to do whatever we can for them.

“We do it because we love our team.”

The community can also make contributions to the Baird family to alleviate some of their financial burden. An account has been opened in Baird’s name at Huntington Bank. Deposits may be made at any Huntington Bank branch in the Jason Baird account by mail or in person. Checks should be made out to Jason Baird.

kovach@vindy.com