What a wonderful day we have found, where the efforts and generosity of so many within our league and community are coming to fruition. This week we will all gather on the grass of Mays Field, listen to music, savor the tastes of a full day’s grilling, watch the first pitch, and celebrate how strangers and friends came together to build something so beautiful.

We, as a community, have found a way to make joy from sorrow, to nurture growth from loss, and to give when so much has been taken away. Some of us will never know what it is like to go through what the Mays family has endured. Some of you know far too well. But as the vessel of the body is temporary, and the soul eternal, let this collection of wood, steel, georgia clay and grass remind us of all that it will hold that can not be measured. Eager eyes, smiles, tears, laughter. The pleasure and excitement of children, the coming together of strangers who become neighbors, a place to rejoice in the vitality of youth, and a home to return to and reflect on the precious swiftness of time.

I invite you all to join us on Saturday as we celebrate. That day we will celebrate our accomplishments with this field. We will celebrate the community that is enriched as we give of ourselves. We will celebrate the morning that we have been given again. And most of all, we will celebrate our children, whose wide eyes and smiles remind us why we do all things.

play ball,

David Fairbairn

president
Athens Little League

Mays Field Dedication Ceremony
Holland Youth Sports Complex
Saturday, April 25, 2009
6:00pm

Please join us for an evening filled with BBQ, music, family and baseball.

Athens Little League’s BBQ Committee will be slow roasting all day,
serving up free BBQ sandwiches with all the trimmings beginning at 5:30pm.

Bring a blanket or chair to picnic in the outfield grass
and help us celebrate the opening of Mays Field.

Inaugural game to follow at 7:00pm
Athens Hearts vs. Northeast Sales

Over the next few weeks you’ll see things accelerate dramatically at Mays Field. Dugouts are being built. Fences will be hung. Lights will be installed…

As our Spring 2009 season gets underway, wander down the hill to take in the fruits of the many contributions of all of you. This project is very real. Your donations have made the difference. The generosity of our community is turning a small plot of land used for storing sand and dirt into a working living baseball field for small children to run and play and a new generation of Little League families to build memories.

We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed their checkbooks, nickels and dimes and time to make this field a success. We are almost there. Over the next month we will begin the dugouts, fencing, sidewalks, lights and scoreboard. We’ve had amazing support from our community and are on our way to playing baseball on Mays Field.

Though the grass won’t be ready for play for Opening Day March 28, we will be able to see the last few elements come together. Midway through our spring season we will host another Opening Day for Mays Field, making it available to hold games. We are very excited!

Plans for the statue portion of our project are underway. We still need your help to finish. Please contribute what you can. Every bit helps.

See you at the ballfield….

Sometimes in the middle of maneuvering through the many obstacles to make this field possible, and as time tries to take away urgency and intensity, it’s nice to remember the sincerity of what’s going on out at the Little League park, and how a single moment can affect so many things.

Ran across this letter from Glenn Mays that appeared in the Banner-Herald and thought I’d share it.

Construction began on the far retaining wall next to Fields 3 and 4. Thanks to some warm spells and rain, the grass is growing well and keeping us on track.

This past Saturday we saw the planting of bermuda sod at Mays Field. It’s been a long winding road to get to this point, but we’ve made it. Special thanks to Brandon Morehead and family for helping with this. 10 guys, a flatbed truck, and 5 hours later, and we’re on our way to playing baseball. Now we just need lots of sunshine, some warm days, and some rain.