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Troubling Vandalism at Joe Johnson Park Special Personal Commentary by: Scott Bennett, Adair Co. Little League President As current Adair Co. Little League President and several year member of the local league Board it is very troubling for me to see lack of respect for property that has gone on over the years at Joe Johnson Little League Park. That lack of respect came to a head yesterday afternoon, when a group of 8 year old boys went out to the park to enjoy the spoils of the beautiful day and take in some practice. As they approached Field 2 the outfield was full of mangled grass and rutted out tracks from someone's "fun". Along with the most recent event mentioned above, vandalism by means of spray painting vulgarities on the blacktop, attempted break-in of the concession stand, and emptying a fire extinguisher in the scoring booth have occurred over just the most recent months. We as a board, have always kept the park open to families that wanted to bring out their children to enjoy the grounds when they are not in use by our teams, but one can only see that this privilege is being abused by a certain few. If the abuse does not cease other means may need to be taken to ensure protection of the grounds for the players of the league. Several in the community realize that the Adair Co. Little League organization is operated by a group of volunteers, parents, and families of players who over the years have put in thousands of unpaid hours giving the youth of Adair Co. a ballpark that they can be proud of. While many still believe that the volunteers at the park are compensated, that is far from the truth. Adair Co. Little League was built on the backs of people giving of their own time to provide a place for kids to call their own. Personally, I have seen the growth over the years after playing a season at the fairgrounds and going from one original field to what is now a four field complex. I am forever grateful to the individuals involved in building the park to what it is today and allowing it to be used by my children. The local league is funded by the member families paying signup fees, concession stand sales, and our local businesses and individuals who sponsor teams or buy field advertisement signs and for all these folks we are eternally thankful. The money that is raised is used by the local league to cover the expenses of the park which include player insurance, Little League charter fees, property insurance, electricity, water, gas, mowing, and other expenses that go along with maintaining a baseball/softball park. Adair Co. Little League is in a unique position among its peers. An overwhelming majority of leagues in the state and nation play on publicly (city/county) owned parks. Their overhead is minimal to that of ACLL in that most can just "show up and play" and not have to worry about if the fields are mowed, if the trash has been picked up, etc. While this does provide leeway on the grounds use, it causes higher than we want registration fees and more expense on our families. (For clarification, a portion of the land at Joe Johnson Park is city owned, with ACLL holding a revolving lease while maintaining the land) The expenses of repairing an outfield, while not known at this time, will only take away funds that were to be used for 3-12 year old boys and girls to enjoy a game, build friendships, and learn valuable life lessons in a safe environment. I can only hope the culprit(s) of these outrageous acts can feel proud of the situation they have caused. This story was posted on 2014-02-20 15:31:58
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