Volume 236

Memorial Day weekend is a busy time for everyone. It is regarded as the unofficial start of summer, and we too often become so overjoyed with the idea of a three-day weekend that we try to cram too much into it.

The Indianapolis 500 is a must for many in our country and, locally, Herrin Fest takes a front seat in some people’s plans. Of course, a number of people turn it into a mini-vacation. I know of families from our locale who took a trip to St. Louis. My younger two boys and Martha spent a few days in our state capital, visiting the Lincoln sites.

Today, our family makes an annual visit to the cemeteries to decorate the graves of our loved ones and to honor their memory. We should observe Memorial Day in our area in particular since one of the first ever held was in Carbondale to honor the Civil War dead. John A. Logan was responsible for organizing this “Decoration Day” as it was called at that time.

Even though Memorial Day has come to recognize all ancestors, of a particular individual or family, its original purpose was to honor those that had given their last full measure of devotion, as Mr. Lincoln put it, in service of our country.

Do you realize that in 1942, 71 major league baseball players gave up their entire season to be in the military service? In 1943, the number was 219; in 1944, it increased to 342; and in 1945, the number again increased to 384. It’s unbelievable that people making salaries well above the national average would willingly give this up to help protect and defend our nation. Even more ¬¬impressive is the fact that the list included 15 future Hall-of-Famers including Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, and Stan Musial. Can you imagine a number of today’s players enlisting in the military? Until the late sixties, when the military draft was discontinued, you would often see at least a dozen or more players losing a whole or part of a season each year. According to my research, the last two major leaguers to lose even a part of a season to the military were Mickey Rivers and Wayne Garrett in 1971.

This writer does not wish to be critical of the modern ballplayer. Rather, one might reflect and positively recognize those, from another era, who made major sacrifices so that our quality of life could be the best on this planet.

It is possible that, at some time in the future, we all may have to make major sacrifices in our lives. It is my hope that we will accept that challenge in the same manner of former generations.

Celebrate and honor those who made sacrifices for us and be safe on this very important holiday.

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Meet the Board

Our board member of the week is Burk Watts. Burk is in his fourth year as a member of the board and served as President the past two years. Whether in a leadership role or not Burk has demonstrated hard work during his service to Tri-C. He has put in a number of hours this year in helping prepare the fields for play.

Burk and his wife, Angie, have been married for 17 years. They have lived in the Carterville area since 2000. They have two sons, Tanner (12) and Nate (7). Tanner has participated in baseball, basketball, and football in the Tri-C Leagues. Nate is playing for his dad this year in baseball. He has previously played baseball and football in Tri-C programs. While Nate will be enjoying Pinto League, Tanner will be playing for Dan Lutchka in the Boys C League.

Burk, who is a native of Tennessee, has been employed by Helitech Waterproofing and Foundation since 1997. He enjoys hunting, fishing, and almost anything dealing with the outdoors. He is a fan of NASCAR and his favorite driver is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. In baseball, he roots for the Cardinals and last year enjoyed a trip to their camp in Jupiter, Florida. He also roots for the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL. His allegiance in college sports is for Tennessee and SIU.

To say Burk Watts is a valuable member of the Tri-C Board would be an understatement. A number of improvements have been made over the past few years and Burk has been a participant in most of them. Burk, has certainly made an impact on this program and we hope he continues being a part of this organization for years to come..

ODDS and ENDS:

Am I the only one, or when you are typing are you, also, late with your “h”? I know when I don’t use spell check, I am likely to spell the, “teh” or that is often, “taht”. My favorite is tahnks. Oh well, as long as I spell Martah’s name correctly, it will be okay.

The news the past few days has been filled with the death of celebrities Gary Coleman and Dennis Hopper. I realize Coleman was a part of pop culture. To Hopper’s credit, he portrayed a wide range of characters from great movies such as Giant, East of Eden, Easy Rider, and Hoosiers. Both will be missed by many. A loss that got my attention, though, this week was the passing of Dorothy “Dottie” Kamenshek. Her own life experience helped inspire the Gina Davis character in the movie, “A League of Their Own.” She was the star player for the Rockford Peaches of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She played for the Peaches from 1943 to 1951 and also 1953. She led the league in hitting two seasons and was regarded as one of the best females ever to play the game. She also was named to the top 100 female athletes of the century by Sports Illustrated. She was 84.

Spending a couple of days in Springfield was great this week. I never tire of visiting the Lincoln sites and learning more about this most extraordinary historical figure. Those who know me well know that I can be a little emotional or like the little boy at the candy store when I am surrounded by this tribute to our history. It was interesting, though, to reflect on the term Popular Sovereignty and Lincoln’s raising of taxes to pay the nation’s bills. Often he was attacked and hated for taking, what history has proved to be, the correct steps for the preservation of the union and the human rights of others. Isn’t it kind of ironic that today we still face similar challenges and people are negative in the approach of our government in being an agent to preserve and protect. Some people prefer to think solely of their own needs in the present and use unthinking rhetoric to justify it. Regrettably, those individuals among us will never learn the lessons of history. Thank goodness Lincoln did understand history and the need for government to act on behalf of all of us.

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The winner of our contest is Gary Glidewell. Gary knew that The Tampa Bay Rays hold the best record in baseball. They are currently playing at a .667 clip. Better them than the Yankees or Red Sox. Congratulations Gary and thanks to all who entered.

This one may be a little tougher. Yesterday, Albert Pujols had a remarkable game, hitting three home runs versus the rival Cubs. It was the fourth time Pujols has hit that number in a single game. This feat has occurred 491 times in baseball history. Surprisingly, five of those times have happened this year. The most by any player doing this is six times. Name one of the two players who have hit three home runs six times in a major league game. Cub fans, it wasn’t long ago for one of them.

If you know the answer, please email me at brm48@hotmail.com to be included in the drawing for a large Blizzard.

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Until next time,

Pay attention,

Hustle, and always

Use your “noodle.”