THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505110165
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
So there are no bleachers at the Carlton-Mott Youth Complex in Hickory. So it lacks restrooms and concession stands. So some of the fields are a little ragged. So what?
Lofty expectations for the youth baseball complex off Eason Road led to some disappointment on opening day. It was a bit of a letdown for some supporters when they realized that the ambitious long-range plans for the facility, ballyhooed throughout the fund-raising campaign, have not fully come to pass, not yet anyway.
The Great Bridge Baseball Association ran short of money, and some of the amenities that had been planned for the new complex had to wait.
Fund-raisers, facing a tough economy and stiff competition for donors' dollars, fell a half-million dollars short of the $1.2 million it would have cost to equip the complex with covered dugouts and stadium seats and lights for night games.
Some nattering was heard on opening day from parents and fans, who had nowhere to sit but on the ground and no place to go to avoid the hot sun. For a while yet, those folks will just have to learn to bring folding lawn chairs and umbrellas from home.
Human nature being what it is, there is a tendency to see the glass half-empty rather than half-full. But frustration that more was not done shouldn't overshadow all that has been accomplished.
With thousands of kids moving into the city every year, the city has barely been able to provide enough classrooms, let alone ball fields. Youth recreation simply has not been a civic priority, as evidenced by a recent proposal to eliminate a modest allocation for the upkeep of baseball fields as part of the city's budget-trimming effort.
Not content merely to gripe about the lack of playing fields, and unwilling to wait until the city gets around to doing something about it, the Great Bridge Baseball Association stepped up to the plate and took a swing. They deserve a lot of credit for that.
Their work has made it possible for thousands of kids, this summer and for many summers to come, to enjoy wholesome physical activity, to learn what it means to be part of a team, to appreciate the thrill of competition and the satisfaction of developing personal skills.
We all know the trouble kids can get into these days if they have too much idle time on their hands. The 1,700 youngsters involved in Great Bridge Baseball are better off because the Charlton-Mott complex exists.
So it's not Yankee Stadium. So what? Kids are playing ball, and that's something to be proud of. by CNB