THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 18, 1996 TAG: 9608180062
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: PAUL SOUTH
LENGTH: 52 lines
The title ``chairman of the board'' conjures up images of starched shirts and tailored suits, cushy salaries and flashy cars.
But 70-year-old Bill Smith of Chickasha, Okla., shatters that stereotype like a baseball through a living room window.
He goes tieless, in shirt sleeves. For Smith and the other members of Babe Ruth Baseball's board of directors, there are no paychecks. This is a labor of love.
``Every one of us has lined fields, pushed wheelbarrows, worked in concession stands,'' says Smith, who has served as board chairman for the past 16 years, and on the league's governing board for 27.
Bill Smith's first involvement with Babe Ruth baseball came in 1954, when he founded a league in Miami, Okla. Smith, the father of two daughters, had no sons.
``I expected them someday to marry some boy,'' Smith says with a smile, when asked why he got involved in Babe Ruth. ``But I think Babe Ruth Baseball us a great educational program. This is the first time some of these kids have been on a major trip. For many, it's the first time on a plane. And for most all of us, it's a first trip to the Outer Banks.''
``Think about it,'' he continues. ``Right down the road here you've got the Wright Brothers Memorial. You've got the Lost Colony. You've got Cape Hatteras. Everybody's heard of Cape Hatteras. If you watch The Weather Channel you've heard about Cape Hatteras. You don't have to step on the field in the World Series, and this is a wonderful trip.''
Smith, who serves as assistant to the president of a college in Oklahoma, says youth programs like Babe Ruth are critical because of the growing number of young people who are at risk.
``We've got so many children today who live in single-parent households or who are latchkey kids, who need structure in their lives. Organized sports is one of the ways to provide that. That's why we've put an emphasis in the inner city, and expanded into girls softball.''
Now, nearly 800,000 children participate in Babe Ruth leagues throughout North America.
``What we're trying to do is play a part in making a difference in this country,'' Smith says. ``It's a small part, but if we can do anything toward creating leaders for tomorrow, we've done a good thing.''
The good things that Smith has done in youth sports since 1954 have not gone unrecognized. The recreational complex in Chickasha bears his name.
Baseball isn't the only reason Bill Smith pushed those wheelbarrows, lined those fields and sold those hot dogs for Babe Ruth all these years.
``It may sound corny,'' he says, looking away as his bespectacled eyes well with tears. ``But I was in World War II, in the Pacific. And I love the red, white and blue. Anything I can do to make this country better, it's worth it.'' by CNB