July 28—Little League field improvements, Carver school asbestos removal on tap
The town of White Springs received a generous $20,000 donation from PotashCorp White Springs on Tuesday, July 14, that will fund three separate projects.
The old Carver School will now be on tap for asbestos removal with $11,000 of those donated funds being proportioned to the task. Another $9,000 will be used for upgrades to the ball field, as well as another $1,000 going towards improving the concession stand.
PotashCorp-White Springs Public Relations Manager Mike Williams was on hand to deliver the ceremonial check. Several boys, who are members of the local White Springs Blue Jays Little League Baseball Team, sponsored by Poor Boys Power Equipment, along with their coach, Ronnie Tomlinson, were invited to join in a photo op with Williams and the White Springs Town Council.
This is the Blue Jays’ second season playing Little League baseball and there are 12 boys on the team. Coach Tomlinson said he will be able to put the $9,000 to good use. He said he has a list of items already written down that he would like to do to improve the ball field. One money-saving suggestion he had was to simply replace the wood on the existing bleachers, rather than purchase new aluminum bleachers that would cost about $2,000.
“We want to get a canopy over the bleachers for the fans, so that the sun is not beating down on them,” Tomlinson added.
He said he would also like to get a snow cone machine for the concession stand and have a new bathroom built that is closer to the Little League field.
Tomlinson said once the ball field is spruced up he hopes to get more home games played in White Springs, rather than have to go to Jasper. Out of 18 games played last year, he said only three of them were played in White Springs. His son, he said, will be old enough to play in a couple years and he would like to keep him playing in White Springs, instead of having to go to Jasper or Lake City to play.
“I want him to play ball here,” Tomlinson said. “That’s what I did growing up and I’d like to keep it that way.”
“I’d like the council to note that this issue arose a few months ago,” Town Attorney Fred Koberlein interjected. “The county was put on notice that under a lease agreement that has been in effect for quite some time, they are actually responsible for the upkeep of these fields. I want the council to understand there is a legal lease in effect.”
___
(c)2015 the Suwannee Democrat (Live Oak, Fla.)
Visit the Suwannee Democrat (Live Oak, Fla.) at www.suwanneedemocrat.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.