Grand Forks Herald, N.D., Marilyn Hagerty Column: Play Ball!
By Marilyn Hagerty, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.
Jul. 24–Dear Shirley,
It was 50 years ago this summer when a bunch of farm boys from down around Holmes, N.D., got together and made themselves a softball diamond. They would work all day and then get together in the evenings and play ball.
They started this week with a celebration at Holmes Wesley United Methodist Church. They invited all the former players on the Holmes team, the present players and, of course, the families. Ball games are family affairs. Over the years, the Holmes team has improved its diamond, built some bleacher seating and a concession stand. And they are quietly proud of the fact that you can actually flush the toilets.
Holmes isn’t really a town, Shirley, although it once had a store. It’s just a place not far from Reynolds, N.D. — if you know where that is! There is the church, and there is the ball park a mile from the church. And the Holmes Softball Club won the state Recreation IV tournament in Grand Forks last year.
Kenneth Roeder, who has been the heart and soul of this ball team, was inducted into the North Dakota Softball Hall of Fame several years ago. Some of the other original players are Eugene and Lloyd Schreiner, Danny Lee, Duane Lee, Harold Lee and Leroy Schroeder. And, as a matter of fact, the softball diamond bears the name of Schroeder Park because the late Ralph Schroeder donated the land.
One of the most enthusiastic people in the Holmes Softball Club is Mark Ellingson, pastor of the Holmes church. His son, Jason Ellingson, Grand Forks, also plays with the team. Terry Fichtner was the chief cook for the celebration Sunday. Ellingson says he thinks the Holmes tradition of softball will continue. Now, it is the second and third generations of the original players who are carrying it on.
Music, books, art
Summer is for ball games and band concerts around here, Shirley, and the Grand Forks City Band will present its last summer concert at the Myra Museum Gazebo this evening at 7:30 p.m. There will be a prelude by the Sweet Adelines at 7 p.m. And after the concert, the band members will have a pizza party at Happy Joe’s. Director Don Craig has been leading the band through concerts as well as Thursday evening rehearsals at the Grand Forks Senior Center.
The Grand Forks Library has been full of kids Thursdays for the Summer Reading Program with a theme of “Catch the Reading Bug.” Today there will be an “Ant-ics” Game Show with prizes and coupons donated by local businesses. Brett Goodwin, who is known as the Bug Guy, made a big hit earlier in July.
The Third Street Gallery on Kittson Avenue downtown has turned into a lively place, Shirley. It’s just around the corner from Widman’s Candy Shop, and you know where that is! Anyway, they are having a reception there this evening for artists Sara Christensen Blair and Gregory Blair. Their display is called “Truth, Ritual and Symbol.”
So, you see, summer is rolling along in Grand Forks. At times, I think it is rolling too fast. Especially when I hear about the 30 percent to 50 percent increase in natural gas for heating the house this winter. I guess I should be like the industrious ant putting things away for the winter. Instead, I flit around like the silly grasshopper in Aesop’s fable.
I trust you are keeping your cool in Arizona since you know you won’t have big heating bills this winter. Love from your sister, Marilyn, following the trail that leads down to the dog park in Lincoln Drive Park.
P.S. Dot.Com the dachshund is beginning to feel at home on Cottonwood Street, I think. She patrols the yard to make sure there are no squirrels, birds or rabbits around. And she has a couple of bones she keeps hiding. I don’t know if she thinks I would want them or what.
Reach Hagerty at (701) 772-1055 or send e-mail to mhagerty@gra.midco.net.
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