Baseball season is right around the corner for the Austin Packers and their fans are having a fundraiser to help the team cover expenses on its upcoming road trips.
Stephanie Stark, a parent of one of the Packers baseball players, saw a need for the team and put together a Booster Club to help.
"As with many sports, the kids are responsible for their own food when they travel to away games," Stark said. "Since I'm self-employed, it's really not a big deal for me to leave work to bring my son something before he would get on the bus. Unfortunately, there are several kids who either don't have parents who can do that or forget to grab something from home."
The inspiration for Stark to assist the players came from a fall sport. During the football season, the Austin High Booster Club provided players with a bagged lunch for road games.
Comedy Night
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Sharing a few laughs is the way the Booster Club will help the cause of the Packers. There will be an Adult Comedy Night fundraiser for the team on Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Hormel Historic Home.
Goonie's Comedy Club from Rochester is providing the talent for the show. Shannon Thompson and Benny Quash are the headliners for the night. The comedians will begin at 7 p.m.
"When the kids are leaving school early to get on the bus to travel to a game and don't sometimes get home until after 10 p.m., that's a long day to go without something to eat," Stark said. "That's my cause, and I think this will help with the "team" feeling as well.
"I've organized the fundraiser to create funds, so we can put together lunches for the players. It should be fun and I think the cost is still a reasonable night out."
Tickets for the show cost $25, which also includes dinner and two beverages. Advance tickets can be purchased for the show at South Central Athlete in downtown Austin and also at the Holiday Inn. For more information call Stephanie Stark at 507-438-1248.
NAHL news
Austin Bruins team president Craig Patrick recently announced that his North American Hockey League team has hired Chris Tok to be the head coach/general manager.
Tok has been an assistant coach in the WCHA for the Michigan Tech Huskies over the last four years. Before coaching at Michigan Tech, Tok was the assistant coach and assistant general manager for the Waterloo Blackhawks of the USHSL.
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The new coach has been around the sport his whole life and grew up playing hockey in Coleraine. He went on to play college hockey at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The team also announced Adam Kostichka as assistant coach and director of player development. Kostichka was the head coach of the Chadder’s Tier I program in Salt Lake City, Utah, over the past three seasons. Kostichka played his junior hockey for the Bismarck (N.D.) Bobcats.
Renovation work on the locker rooms at Riverside Arena is set for this summer. Patrick signed a lease with the city to rent the refurbished arena and the team opens its inaugural season in the fall.
Hounds honored
Although I haven't made the trip to Minneapolis for a view of the new baseball stadium, some of the locals who have gone to Target Field say it's quite a venue. Unlike the cramped confines of their old domed home, the new stadium for the Minnesota Twins apparently doesn't have a bad seat in the house.
Stevie Serratore, who played on the state champion Austin VFW team last summer, went to the exhibition game with the St. Louis Cardinals last Friday and reported back to me that it's a great place to watch some baseball.
Going to a Major League game outside takes me back to when I was Stevie's age and cheering for the Twins at the old Metropolitan Stadium. I wonder if the famous, "Wally the Beerman" is peddling his wares at the new park?
My old mentor Gabby Weiss sent me an e-mail the other day and said they have a wall at Target Field which honors amateur baseball in Minnesota. They have a reference to the Austin Greyhounds back-to-back state titles and a picture of our own Marcusen Park.
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It won't be long when the crack of the bat will be heard at the old ballpark by the river. I guess it will be the ping of aluminum bats this spring when Lyle/Pacelli plays its home games at Marcusen Park, and then it's on to the "Boys of Summer."
