By Lyndsie Ferrell
SOUTH FORK— For years, the South Fork Kiwanis helped bring little league baseball to the area but due to a number of factors beyond their control, the popular All-American game fell to the way side, until now. New organization Friends of South Fork have committed the funding to help bring the sport back to the public and are asking for people to sign up to play ball again in South Fork.
“We want to get this back up and running. It was such a wonderful thing back in the day when it was in full swing, and with the help of Kiwanis, we can offer adult softball for now and if we get enough children interested, Kiwanis will help sponsor the youth softball in the future,” said Friends of South Fork member Kris Steffens.
The plan for now is to level out the existing field that has been in disrepair for many years and create an actual baseball playing area. The field is located next to the South Fork Community Center and is meant to be part of the family fun area that includes activities at the center, games of Pickle Ball on the revitalized courts and now softball in the field.
Work for the field will begin just after Logger Days that takes place this coming weekend. “We have a number of people already signed up, but of course we will welcome all we can get and we will host our first game on July 29 with hopes of expanding the event in the future. We plan to offer food and refreshments at the community center as we begin regular play, and our future plans include a grass field,” said Steffens.
The organization has been making headway within the South Fork community for the past few months, beginning with their Christmas event that took place last year. Thanks to donations and volunteers that made up the beginnings of the Friends of South Fork, the South Fork Visitor Center will now host an annual tree and town lighting event every year.
“We are working on other projects and will be announcing them soon. We always want to reach out and thank our supporters for their donations and time. Anyone can join the Friends of South Fork and we encourage people to start getting involved in this wonderful community. One other event that we will get started here in the next few weeks will be a kickball team. Anyone can join, and we invite people of all ages to sign up. We have this beautiful field, its time to start using it,” said Steffens.
For more information, to sign up for softball or kickball or to join the Friends of South Fork, please email the organization at [email protected]. The organization will be hosting their next meeting in late August.
Come out and join in on the fun! Let’s play ball!