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Our Wishes For A Field of Dreams Came True In 2001 - Thanks To Our
Sponsors
Over the next 2 - 3 days we called our assigned parents. To my amazement, within that time frame, we had received commitments from about 30 - 35 people and businesses for about $35,000. I was very proud of just the approximately $5000 in commitments I had received on the phone. I remember that Phil and Doug were in a friendly battle to see which one of them could raise more money. If my recollection serves me correct, Doug took the prize with somewhere around 15 - 16 donation commitments. Ninety percent (90%) of all of the donations were at or above $1,000. I was in awe of our parents and sponsors. The first thing we did even before the project began, was to have a gopher exterminator come in and make sure we wouldn't repeat our gopher problems after the new fields were complete. Whatever the exterminator used worked, because we haven't had a serious gopher problem since. The project began around the last part of October (best of my recollection and reading some old notes). There were many things that needed to be done. Planning for a new sprinkler system, increasing the size of the incoming water meter from 5/8" to 2" (which also involved digging up some of the pavement), completely remove the infields, grade the outfields (the plan was to sod the infield and seed the outfield), trenching for the laying of the sprinkler system, laying of the sod, seeding of the outfields, etc. One of the real unsung heroes of this project was Mark Nilsen. Mark not only supplied equipment, but he was the one out there using it to dig up pavement for the new water meter, remove the old infields and grade the outfields, among other things. If you were looking for a role model in those days, not only for his volunteerism, but especially as a parent, you didn't need to look any further than Mark. We miss him. As we got close to the end of the project, I remember that we ran out of sod for field #3. Steve Colangelo picked up some more of it, enough to finish the project, and he an I laid the rest of it to complete the physical part of the project. The last part of it was to just watch it grow. The fields could not be used during try-outs so two of our sister leagues donated time on their fields (Sundown LL & Western LL) so that we could hold our tryouts that January/February 2001. We didn't open the fields until we were about within a week or so of opening day. There's a whole lot more to this project and a lot of unsung heroes. From Doug Carruesco paying for laborers and physically seeding the outfields, and becoming the "keeper" of the fields to Phil Dunn working his magic with his contacts. Although I was thanked many times and told many times how great the fields look, it's the people below who deserve all of the credit. Without you, our donors and sponsors, Hoover Tyler would not be the Little League it is today. On opening day, 2001, after the National Anthem was played, I remember gesturing to the fields and asking with my opening lines, "Well, what do you think?" The ovation lasted what will be a lifetime for me. At the end of the 2001 season, we again hosted the 9 & 10 year old All-Star tournament and I served as tournament director. It was an absolute dream come true to hear all of the other leagues gawking about how great our fields were. The writer for the Stockton Record asked me why we didn't host all of the tournaments out there and couldn't believe how well the fields looked. To top it all off, as tournament director I got to present the Championship banner and trophies to our 9 & 10 year old team for going undefeated and becoming the District Champions. My dreams had come true through all of you.
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| 2000-01 Field Improvement Project Donors | |||
| Antonini Company (Joe Antonini) | Donation | ||
| Bank of Lodi (Jack McAuley) | Donation | ||
| Bank of Stockton | Donation | ||
| California Homes (Pat Matthews) | Donation | ||
| California Water Service (Mike Camy) | Donation | ||
| Caresco Homes (Doug Carruesco) | Donation, Time, Labor, Fundraising Efforts, Subcommittee Chairman | ||
| Collins Electric (Gene Gini) | Donation and conduit materials | ||
| Don & Susan Lenz | Donation | ||
| Dr. Brad Louie | Donation | ||
| Dr. George Rishwain | Donation | ||
| Ed & Kristin Sprague | Donation | ||
| Ed Sprague Sr. | Donation | ||
| Edward Walsh Company (Larry Jeter) | Irrigation Pipe | ||
| Florsheim Homes (Audrey Pritchard) | Donation | ||
| Gerry & Kelly Hodges | Donation | ||
| Greg Pruett | Donation | ||
| Grupe Company (Frank Passadore) | Donation | ||
| Hanley Construction (Jim Hanley) | Donation | ||
| Jeff Frese | Time, Labor, Fundraising Efforts | ||
| Kencor Development (Ken Brown) | Donation | ||
| TMGL Partners (Don, Tom, & Peter Lenz) | Donation | ||
| Matt & Shelley Simas | Donation | ||
| McDonalds Hamburgers (Craig Schrader) | Donation | ||
| Michael’s Pizza (Mike Calder) | Donation | ||
| Mike Butler | Donation | ||
| Mike Smith | Donation | ||
| Nex Systems (Keith Bewley) | Donation | ||
| Pacific State Bank (Steve Rosso) | Donation | ||
| Phil & Marji Dunn | Donation, Time, Equipment, Fundraising Efforts, Project Leader | ||
| Prudential Insurance (Larry Lotwin, Bob Post) | Donation | ||
| River City Turf | Grass Sod | ||
| Segale Travel Service (Ernie Segale) | Donation | ||
| Steve & Karen Colangelo | Donation, Labor (Steve got River City Turf to donate the sod) | ||
| Teichert (Mark Nilsen) | Donation, Labor, Equipment | ||
| Union Safe Deposit Bank | Donation | ||
| United Rentals (John Furman) | Trencher | ||