Friends of the Fishermen fix their baseball infield
By Douglas A. Moser, Staff writer The Gloucester Daily Times
Infielders won’t have to dodge potholes and puddles when fielding ground balls next spring at the home of the Gloucester High Fishermen after a nonprofit group raising money for athletics paid to replace the infield.
It was the first major project underwritten by the Gloucester Fishermen Athletic Association, which used $9,750 it took in from a fundraiser last November and from membership drives since it was founded in August 2006. The association contracted to replace the sod and soil and upgrade the drainage at Nate Ross Field on Dr. Osman Babson Road near O’Maley Middle School.
“It was a complete rehab of the infield,” said Richard Wilson, president of the association. “It was unsafe.”
Gloucester Junior League also uses the field.
Joseph Orlando, the high school baseball coach, said he was thrilled with the work, which was done by Home Field Athletics of Gloucester over two days and completed this week.
“It’s well overdue, and I’m so happy they funded the money for that because the kids deserve a nice infield to play on,” Orlando said.
Orlando and Wilson said poor drainage caused water to puddle on the infield after rainstorms. Snow melts and early spring showers also created potholes just before the start of each season, Orlando said.
“We’d have holes as deep as 12 inches,” he said. “The DPW tried to keep up with it as much as they could, but it comes down to funding.”
The Gloucester Fishermen Athletic Association threw a Saturday evening party last November, called Pride Night, to raise the money it gives to the School Department to keep athletic user fees under control and uses to pay for projects such as replacing the infield.
With contributions from the general fund eliminated, athletic programs are now funded through a combination of user fees, gate fees, a contribution from Talbot Rink revenues and contributions from the athletic association.
The Gloucester Fishermen Athletic Association contributed $65,000 to the schools in its first year, helping to cover an $85,000 gap in the athletic program’s funding.
This year, the athletic association has pledged to give the schools $85,000 for user fees.
To raise that money, Wilson and Maria Ventimiglia — “she’s running the show,” Wilson said — are having another Pride Night at the Sen. Benjamin A. Smith Fieldhouse on Nov. 10 from 7 to 11 p.m.
The event is for those 21 and older, has a $25 admission and includes drawings, live and silent auctions, drinks, hors d’oeuvres and music by DJ Leo Francis. State Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, will be the auctioneer.
“We have 100 to 125 auction items,” Ventimiglia said. The items include a baseball bat signed by Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek; tickets for Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics games; two trips to South Africa; and various weekend getaways.
There’s also a drawing for tickets to a home game of the Patriots against Miami on Dec. 23, Wilson said.
Wilson said the group has 100 members now — membership is $50 a year — and he hopes to have 500 by the end of the winter. Anyone going to Pride Night can sign up as a member, and memberships can also be purchased online at www.thegfaa.org.
Tickets for Pride Night are on sale at local businesses, including Palazola’s, Cape Ann Savings Bank, Destino’s, Favazza Johnson Insurance, the Liquor Locker and George’s Coffee Shop.
Fees for athletics last year ranged from $35 in the middle school to $195 for high school hockey.
Under a School Committee proposal earlier this year to cover athletic costs, the most expensive sports user fee would have been $371 for hockey. Football and baseball would have cost $228 each.
With the increased contribution by the Gloucester Fishermen Athletic Association reducing the increase to an across-the-board 9.1 percent, the user fees for the 2007-08 school year will be $213 for girls and boys hockey, $142 for O’Maley hockey, and $140 for field hockey, soccer, football, baseball and many other high school sports. Cross country and track will cost $90.
Last year’s Pride Night, held Nov. 11 at the high school field house, raised nearly $70,000 and attracted more than 1,000 people, Wilson said.
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If you go
What: Pride Night
When: Nov. 10, 2007, from 7 to 11 p.m.
Where: Benjamin A. Smith Fieldhouse, Gloucester High School.
How much: $25 admission, tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door.
Features: Drawings, live and silent auctions, music, drinks, dancing.
Benefits: Money raised will go to the Gloucester Fishermen Athletic Association.
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Athletic Association spent $9,750 on a new infield for the high school baseball field. New sod, soil and improved drainage were installed
earlier this week. Dick Wilson, center, who is president of the GFAA, said the field was unsafe because rainwater would puddle around the infield. Harold “Bucky” Rogers, left, and John
Matheson are with the senior and junior Little League which also use the field.
Mike Dean/Staff Photo(Click for larger image)
