THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 1, 1996 TAG: 9608290317
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 48 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 120 lines
Youth baseball wonderful
Everyone who attended last week's World Series found out firsthand why Babe Ruth baseball is such an outstanding youth program. It was exciting to see the thousands of fans who came out to enjoy some great baseball games. The enthusiasm of the players spilled over to those of us who knew none of them - but rooted for them just the same.
All of those involved, from the organizing committee to the parking attendants, deserve our appreciation for providing what proved to be a tremendous community event. In the long term, it will prove to have been a wise investment, both for our youth and for our businesses.
What many local fans may not realize is that Babe Ruth Baseball is not new to Dare County this year. In fact, each spring (and in some places even in the fall) hundreds of our boys and girls play Babe Ruth baseball and softball from Hatteras to Southern Shores. On almost any evening from April through June those same fans who turned out for the World Series can find our local youth playing ball at every level from 7-year-olds to the 16- to 18-year-olds we watched last week.
Already our local leagues have been asked to host district and state level tournaments next summer because of the quality of our local Babe Ruth programs.
Don't wait until 1998 to take in Babe Ruth baseball again. Come out next spring and support our local young people. Except for tournament play, admission is always free.
Better yet, get involved by volunteering to coach, keep score, or work in the concession stand. It will be time well spent in a program that has shown Dare County its worth through the years.
Rick Lawrenson
Secretary
Dare County
Babe Ruth Baseball Association Join in the hearings
There is a perception among commercial fishermen that the Moratorium Steering Committee already has made a decision on the proposals it is taking to public hearings and that it would be a waste of time to attend the meetings.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The proposals are just that, proposals - ideas that have been discussed in one form or another by this committee for two years.
We feel that the proposals are a step toward revamping our fishery regulations and implementing fishery management plans. We know that the proposals are not the perfect solution to all of our problems. But we feel they are a start.
That is why we need fishermen to participate in the hearings. We need their ideas on how we can improve the proposals. Fishermen need to attend as many fishery meetings as possible.
Change in the way we do business is coming. We can participate in that change - or we can sit at home and complain about the changes.
If we attend the meetings, we will know what the changes are and may be able to influence their implementation. If we stay at home, someone with little or no knowledge of the fisheries will make decisions that will affect our livelihoods.
Murray Fulcher
Ocracoke Baseball and business
I've read all The Virginian-Pilot's Babe Ruth Baseball reports over the last two weeks - which really brought the tournament to life. I also read Sunday's story about Manteo businesses being disappointed it wasn't a bigger week for them financially.
Quite frankly, as the marketing head for the tournament, I, too, was disappointed that Manteo didn't do better financially. But we had never put on a tournament of this size and had no idea of what to expect. In the future we will.
There's nothing worse than over promising and under delivering. But in so many areas, when you balance out the pros and the cons, we were able to deliver so much more than we had expected that we hope the community will continue to see this event for the exciting opportunity we think it is.
First of all there was the baseball. Who'd have thought that we could all get so caught up in a team from Nashville and a team from Alacosta, Calif.? But we did. And there were some incredible ballgames played. No one left bored.
Then, there's the national exposure this tournament has brought - both with the three televised games (which probably went into over 20 million households) and the players, friends, families, coaches and umpires themselves. All these new ambassadors for the Outer Banks can only help build a broader tourism base for our area.
Plus there's the infrastructure already in place at Manteo High School for our own teams to take advantage of. Some of the coaches and players indicated that this was the finest baseball diamond they had ever seen.
Lastly there's the sense of community. We had volunteers from all over - even some from Virginia who specifically came down to help - working together on everything from the parking lot to the gate to the scorekeeping. Everyone helped to make this tournament successful.
Tournament Director Terry Wheeler practically lived there, arriving before everyone else and leaving late each night. Multiply that a hundredfold and you have the dedication that volunteers put into this event.
I won't say there weren't mistakes and we couldn't have done some things better. But no one can say we didn't try our hardest to put the best face possible on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Shortly, we'll be having a session to go over what we did and what we could have done so that next time we're even better prepared and don't stub our toes in some of the same potholes in 1998.
Working more closely with the business community will be one of my recommendations. But it's important to note that most of the people involved in this tournament were volunteers - people who donated their time not for pay but to give something back to the community and to the kids to make this an experience they would never forget.
We feel that we succeeded and have a lot to feel proud about.
Kathy Sparrow
Marketing Director
1996 Babe Ruth World Series Thanks from California
Good afternoon. Thought I would let you know that the Alacosta Tigers baseball team, the parents and coaches, all arrived safely at the San Francisco Airport.
Please offer my thanks, as a grandparent, to the community of Manteo.
You have given all the players something to remember for a lifetime.
Bill Wall
Alacosta, Calif. by CNB