photo Ridgewood Elks Lodge
APRIL 24, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW BIRCHENOUGH
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RIDGEWOOD — On a warm, sunny day, seemingly handpicked for the unofficial start of the season in the village, swarms of young athletes flocked to the 65th annual Ridgewood Baseball and Softball Association (RBSA) Opening Day festivities.
“The baseball gods, softball gods were with us today with the beautiful weather,” RBSA President Jim Albano said last Saturday, referring to the streak of poor weather the event had experienced in recent years.
The association pulled out all the stops this year, expanding the event with a 60-item tricky tray, 28 craft vendors, five food trucks and various other baseball- and softball-related activities.
“It’s a festival now, it’s not just Opening Day,” Albano said.
RBSA board member Lisa Powers, the key figure behind the so-called “grand-slam changes,” had sought a larger event to “bring the community together.”
“I wanted to make it bigger and better and more exciting, not just for the RBSA but for the community,” Powers said. “I wanted to make it fun for the kids, so it wasn’t just a parade, and they could have a day off from their games and play.”
The festivities attracted several hundred youth players to Veterans Field and the early reactions were positive.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/amazin-day-for-season-opening-festivities-1.1317693
