A great baseball reunion
Last weekend over 90 ex-players, coaches, managers, widows and batboys took part in the Kimberley Baseball Reunion 2018. We wanted to take a moment to thank the citizens of Kimberley and other East Kootenay cities for the warm welcome everyone received during the JulyFest parade and the other social events held at the BPOE Elks and the Bootleg Gap Golf Club. A primary objective in organizing this event was to try and give Kimberleyites a small feel of what baseball was at Coronation Park in the late 50’s and 60’s. Of course, competition between the Senior Hobo’s and Dynamos split the town’s fan base almost directly in half. On the Junior scene, The Tempests, the BPOE Angels and the Marysville Trader Dick Steelmen were just as competitive and waged intense battles on the field.
As for the attending players, they all thoroughly enjoyed their time together and some outstanding stories were spun during the “open mic” session at the Elks Hall on Saturday afternoon! Although the main purpose of the Reunion was to allow everyone to renew friendships and tell stories, there was another underlying objective. The Reunion Committee, in conjunction with the BPOE Elks, made a surprise donation of $1195.00 to Pam Taggert (President) Kimberley Minor Baseball. The donation also included some individual contributions made by winners of various fundraising activities during the weekend.
Our thanks go out to the BPOE Elks for their Hall on Saturday, Bootleg Gap for their services on Friday and Sunday, Big Magic Entertainment for getting hats and shirts prepared for all five teams, Kimberley’s ex-BPOE Angel, Barry “Moose” McKay of McKay Contracting who supplied the Flatbed for the parade and anyone else who helped make the weekend such a “home run”. To all the above we extend our sincere “Thanks”.
Continuing with the theme on the City of Kimberley’s Webpage, we say, “Kimberley, a Good Place to COME HOME TO FOR A REUNION!!”
Kimberley Baseball Reunion 2018 Organizing Committee
Mel Johnson (Trail)
Al Patterson (Arizona)
Al Jobe (Cranbrook)
Colin Patterson (Cranbrook)