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The family of Ethan Smith did a fantastic job last Sunday with the Ethan's Shining Light Foundation's Meet the Dodgeville Knights baseball team day at Centennial Park in Dodgeville. They not only held a fundraiser for the foundation and had some people sign up to be bone marrow donors, but they (and the baseball team) brought a smile to a lot of youngsters' faces with the activities that day. The team members spent an hour or so with some 40 kids showing them the fundamentals of playing baseball - hitting, throwing, catching fly balls, running the bases and more. Then, everyone had the chance to watch a great baseball game that went extra innings, unfortunately the Knights lost 3-2. This is the second year for the event and it grew from last year. Hopefully it will keep doing so year after year and some of these youngsters will see the value in having baseball teams like the Knights in the area. Nearly every game brings flashes of some of the great plays you witness on television in watching the major leaguers play. Great job Ethan's family and the Knights!
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Speaking of Centennial Park, both that diamond, the high school diamond and Harris Park will be filled with ball teams starting Wednesday, July 13 when both the Wisconsin State Babe Ruth 16-18 year old tournament and the 9 year old tournament are here. The high school diamond will be used Wednesday and Thursday while Centennial Park will be used possibly into Sunday. Harris Park will have two diamonds going at the same time. Stop by any of the spots and maybe watch some future major leaguer!
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Dodgeville's big summer celebration is this weekend on Saturday and Sunday (July 9 & 10). That's when the annual Farmers Appreciation Day events take place. There's fireworks on Saturday night preceded by some community bands playing at Harris Park. Sunday, the huge parade is at 11 a.m., followed by a bunch of events taking place at Harris Park. Some include a visit by the new Alice in Dairyland, a local talent contest, carnival rides, a lot of good food (B-B-Q pork and beef, ice cream, pies and more), a silent auction, family farm adventure, raffle prizes and a new tractor rodeo and more. The carnival rides begin at 5:00 p.m on Saturday.
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Oh, and don't forget another big celebration in Dodgeville on Saturday, July 23rd when the Bluesfest returns to the downtown - and there will be Maxwell Street Day going on too!
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I had one of Dodgeville's mailmen tell me their little driver/pedestrian story the other day. It seems he was crossing the highway at the corner of North Iowa and Streets going to the east. He was in the intersection, but several vehicles just sped on by. Soon a vehicle stopped coming from the north, then another stopped coming from the south. All was well - NOT! A vehicle behind the one coming from the north decided that they should go around the one that had stopped for the pedestrian. The mailman said he came withing an inch of getting clipped by the driver who must've just thought the car stopped in front of him for no reason at all! Sometimes i can't believe what kind of thought goes through people's minds - a car usually stops for a reason!