Dear Editor, It
’s a Saturday morning and you’ve either driven down Monterey
Road passing the front of Britton Middle School, or up Hale Avenue
passing the athletic fields behind the school.
Dear Editor,
It’s a Saturday morning and you’ve either driven down Monterey Road passing the front of Britton Middle School, or up Hale Avenue passing the athletic fields behind the school. You’ve finished your second cup of coffee, had your eyes open for a while and glanced around wondering, “Who are those people and why are there so many of them on the fields at Britton?”
You’d only have to take a quick glance at your calendar to find the answer.
Spring is in the air and the 2005 Pony Baseball season is just around the corner.
For the last three months parent volunteers, led by Pony Baseball Fields Director Chris Houle, have been out on the fields regularly, rain or shine (mostly rain this year), working to improve the baseball diamonds at the Britton complex.
It all began innocently enough. Morgan Hill Pony Baseball approached the school district Board of Education last fall with a plan to improve the sprinkler system at Britton.
With the Board of Education looking for ways to minimize cost, maximize revenue and continue to maintain facilities, the district and the league entered into a novel lease arrangement. MHPB entered into a lease with responsibility for the management and maintenance of the Britton field complex, as well as responsibility for a significant portion of the water bill. It was an arrangement that the league did not anticipate in 2004, but felt compelled to accept.
With new stipulations under the lease, Director Houle, a local landscaping contractor, went to work. Calling on old friends and new, Houle rounded up a crew of dedicated volunteers with the assistance of Pony Board members Chris Blocker, Jim Persons, Mike O’Connell and Gregg Hall. With team leaders like Mike Tomasello and Kenny Palmer, crews of parents worked weekends starting in early December through early March to prepare the fields for the coming baseball season.
Replacing and upgrading sprinklers, repairing broken backstops, benches and storage sheds, cutting out old or dead grass, rolling out new sod, adding soil amendments, removing debris, grading the track and spreading new compressed granite around the infield, Houle and his crews worked hard to improve a facility that has been in distress due to over use, negligence and harsh weather.
With Opening Day, March 19, less than two weeks away, the fields are greatly improved.
Houle and the members of Pony Baseball want to recognize some of the local businesses and individuals who gave so freely of their time, materials and equipment. Some are easily recognized local firms. Others are just generous individuals who wanted to help without a lot of publicity. All are friends.
Here’s a quick list, along with their contribution:
Dave of A Tool Shed, who donated most of the field equipment, like roto-tillers, sod cutters and thatchers.
Vince (no last name or affiliation) who donated his time and trucks to haul compressed granite from the quarry to Morgan Hill. He also donated a free load of the compressed granite.
Mike Johnson of Johnson Lumber & Ace Hardware, who donated all the lumber and hardware for the repair of the backstops and storage sheds.
Jack of HydroTurf in Gilroy, who donated 14 large grading rakes and small landscape rakes used around the fields.
Landscaper Mark Rizzo who donated 30 large Rainbird rotor sprinklers.
Bruce Alter of South Valley Disposal who donated the use of two 20-yard dumpsters to haul away debris.
Rick Lynch of Peninsula Building Materials who donated all the soil amendments used this season.
Steve Nilmeyer of Nilmeyer Bros. Grading and Paving who provided his Massey-Ferguson tractor and a big blade grader to touch up the running track and spread all the compressed granite.
Erin Gil of The Grass Farm who donated 13 pallets of sod and a crew to deliver it.
Terry of Granite Construction who donated the compressed granite (gold fine).
From the community that is Morgan Hill Pony Baseball to the friends of MHPB, what more can be said than “THANK YOU!” It could not have been done without you.
Bob Benevento, president
Morgan Hill Pony Baseball
