Thanks to So Many for an Amazing Park Prep Day Response, from OYO’s President

How do I adequately thank you all for your help and support this weekend?  After the park grew quiet yesterday, then again today, I was able to take a golf cart ride, look around, and reflect on all that had been accomplished this weekend.  I am filled with so much gratitude for all you did this weekend that I don’t think I could ever adequately thank you.  I just hope you will accept my sincerest of thanks for taking time out of your weekend to come out to the ballpark and give of your time.

Families painted sheds together, a 12U travel team carried the portable pitchers mounds to their new homes on fields 1-4, the littlest of kids filled trash bags of leaves and trash from around the park, grandmas and grandpas came and helped out, dads walked around for hours blowing walkways and all 26 dugouts, dirt and gravel was moved, fields were improved, a new sound system was installed and played tunes throughout the park, sheds were readied with chalk and rakes, garages were organized and swept, and the tractor stayed busy all weekend long.

All of this and more was done for one purpose…to create an amazing environment for our wonderful ball players.  They will show up this week for their first practice and they won’t know all of the work went into what they see.  They won’t know how very hard you all worked, and they may not even fully appreciate it.  I assure you that even though these kids may not say, “Wow!  This looks great!” or “Thanks, Mom and Dad for doing this for me,” the experience we will give them from start to finish is what matters.  The experience started this weekend with hours and hours of beautifying the park. It will continue this week with the first practices and they have a blast getting out on the fields again after a long winter.  Their experience will continue throughout game time as we all model the OYO Way for them all and we help build their baseball and softball skills and their character.  Onward it continues during the tournament season when we kick the competition up a notch, but teach the kids to be modest in victory and courageous in defeat.  The experience will continue through as they all pick up their final snacks at the concession stand and display their trophies and medals proudly.  The reality is, the experience never has to end.  We all continue to invest in these kids in the most significant of ways every single day.

It’s infinitely important for them to see us all serving one another, shaking hands, volunteering our time, leaving something better than we found it, taking pride in our community, and giving without expectation of anything in return.

You all exemplified this today so perfectly.

With the greatest of appreciation,

Brittany Anderson | OYO President