Miracle at Bennett
Posted by Steve Frazier
Our Program on January 12th was a presentation by Bob Jasper entitled "Miracle at Bennett". Bob is on the board of the baseball facility in Minnetonka, Bennett Family Park, which was founded in 1956. It is a 22-acre park located on Highway 101 between Highway 7 and Ty Abel's Corners. Privately run, it is the home base of a number of local kid and youth baseball leagues.
In November 2005 a group called West Metro Miracle League started a campaign to re- equip one of the fields for use by disabled (politically correct term: physically challenged) youngsters. The group developed the plans for the amended field, and set to raising the $1,200,000 dollars needed to make one field a safe place for the kids to play baseball. In order to use the field, it was necessary to make a number of improvements throughout the park, including paving walkways and removing steps. Support for the project came from many local and regional sources, and the fund drive was fully successful, the field and park were completed, and there is no debt involved; the project is fully paid for. At the dedication of the field, Harmon Killebrew was present and because of his support and interest, the field is named after him.
Bob showed some pictures from the dedication, and talked about last year when there were 100 players in their league team. They expect 160 young people to play this year. He told of the "buddy system", where players have people who provide encouragement and support for them during the games. He said that the buddies get almost as much good out of the program as the players.
In the pictures Bob showed, there were advertisements on the outfield fences, but there is no scoreboard. Their plans are for a $25,000 state of the art scoreboard (with video screen, of course) in the very near future. He and the committee are looking for groups to sponsor the scoreboard. (Story by Tad Shaw)
In November 2005 a group called West Metro Miracle League started a campaign to re- equip one of the fields for use by disabled (politically correct term: physically challenged) youngsters. The group developed the plans for the amended field, and set to raising the $1,200,000 dollars needed to make one field a safe place for the kids to play baseball. In order to use the field, it was necessary to make a number of improvements throughout the park, including paving walkways and removing steps. Support for the project came from many local and regional sources, and the fund drive was fully successful, the field and park were completed, and there is no debt involved; the project is fully paid for. At the dedication of the field, Harmon Killebrew was present and because of his support and interest, the field is named after him.
Bob showed some pictures from the dedication, and talked about last year when there were 100 players in their league team. They expect 160 young people to play this year. He told of the "buddy system", where players have people who provide encouragement and support for them during the games. He said that the buddies get almost as much good out of the program as the players.
In the pictures Bob showed, there were advertisements on the outfield fences, but there is no scoreboard. Their plans are for a $25,000 state of the art scoreboard (with video screen, of course) in the very near future. He and the committee are looking for groups to sponsor the scoreboard. (Story by Tad Shaw)