Hello All Shakopee Baseball Commitee Members, Players, Volunteers, Fans, Etc.,
I have some GREAT news to report from St. Cloud, Minnesota!
It seems that all the time, effort, donations, and volunteer efforts of so many of you - along with the City Council actions of 1999 - 2000, has finally paid off!
Yesterday, (Saturday, January 24th, 2004), after a brief 10-minute presentation (and great competition!) at the Minnesota Amateur Baseball State Board Meeting, the towns of Shakopee and Chaska were named as Co-hosts for the 2008 Minnesota Amateur State Baseball Tournament!!
Shakopee has not hosted this major event since 1948, when Shakopee recorded the second highest attendance record in the history of the event at Riverside Park in Shakopee. Shakopee has not won the tournament since 1959, when Howie Heller, Fred Kerber, and so many other Shakopee "greats" took to the field!
This is the event that we have been seeking since 1983, when the Shakopee Stadium and Lights Committee was formed, and this is the reason that so many of you have generously committed your time and effort to in helping to create such a great baseball facility in the City of Shakopee!
Although we have a wonderful stadium and facility, there are several projects and maintenance issues with which we will likely need your help during these next four years before the tournament - Projects ranging from minor repairs to landscaping projects to some possibly larger-scale "platform seating" areas, etc... Some of these projects will no doubt require City "O.K.'s", etc., but many of the projects (such as garden areas, painting projects, and general maintenance) are items that can be handled by simply putting together a small group of volunteers and doing them!
We will also need to start forming committees (and chairpersons for different committees!) such as grounds crew, ticket takers, ball shaggers, advertising, etc., - much like was done in 2001 when we hosted the Minnesota High School Class "A" State Tournament with so much success. The difference will be that this tournament will attract thousands more in attendance over the course of three weekends, as the tournament is traditionally held during the last two weekends in August and the first weekend in September (Labor Day weekend) each year...
Yes, it does take a lot of volunteers to successfully host a tournament of this magnitude! However, the rewards to the City of Shakopee and the entire Shakopee Baseball Program (youngsters and old oldsters, alike!) will be well worth all of the effort!
We hope that we can count on everyone's support, and we hope that both the Shakopee Indians and the Shakopee Coyotes town baseball teams will be representing the City of Shakopee in the Minnesota Amateur Baseball State Tournament in the upcoming years, and especially in 2008!
It's rewarding to host this tournament in an "anniverary" year that will be TEN YEARS after the passing of Joe Schleper, Sr., TWENTY-FIVE YEARS after the original Shakopee Stadium and Lights Committee was formed, and SIXTY years since our last State Tournament!
I hope you, too, will be a part of Shakopee Baseball "history in the making" by being a part of this tournament!
Sincerely,
Bill Schleper
