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Canfield Baseball Club celebrates 50 years
By ABBY SLANKER
The Canfield Baseball Club celebrated its 50th anniversary of teaching boys and girls the fundamentals of baseball and softball at McCune Park June 6. Established with the Little League in 1965, the club was founded and created at McCune Park.
The day began with the recognition of key board members, Ray McCune Sr., who threw out the first pitch, Dale Stryffler, Ken Brayer, Tom Haefke, and Gary Williams, who all helped to create
and grow the ball club.
Also recognized was the late Howdy Baird represented by Scott Baird, his son, for all of his contributions to the club. A new sign was hung at the concession stand in his honor.
“When you think about it, it’s really amazing what these guys accomplished back in the day when there was no e-mail or cell phones or the ability to leave voicemail messages,” said Jack Kucek, president of the CBC Board. “It was a grass roots effort and these guys just got the job done.”
The play of 36 teams was kicked off with the singing of the “National Anthem.”
Throughout the day activities included a DJ, bounce houses, face painting and clowns for the children. For the older children, there was a Homerun Derby and radar pitching station. All players received a free Dairy Queen Dilly Bar donated by the baseball club. Several vendors were also on hand, including Sherry Amendolea of Teamology, selling a variety of Canfield Baseball and Canfield Cardinals clothing and items.
The club also hosted a Chinese auction with 63 baskets with some created by the teams and others donated by community businesses, which served as a fundraiser for the club.
“This amazing Chinese auction was made possible by our teams and generous businesses in the community,” said Amy Herrmann, board member in charge of club communications. “As always, it’s the generous support of the community that helps our ball club to succeed. We couldn’t do it without them.”
The club had approximately 18 members, along with board members, who helped sell Chinese auction and 50/50 raffle tickets. The celebration was attended by more than 1,000 people throughout the day.
The Canfield Baseball Club board started planning the event in February and wanted to go all out to celebrate such an incredible milestone.
“It was in February when I joined the board that Jack said ‘I want it big. Real big. I want people there.’ It was an important day to celebrate because it’s not every day you celebrate 50 years. Think about it — 50 years of kids playing baseball and softball. That’s a lot of history. So many of the people who started the club have since passed, but in our minds it was important to recognize those who helped to create the club. It’s a way of saying thank you for all of your efforts,” Herrmann said.