Calhoun Sports Boosters honor Sept. 11 hero

Under sunny skies, the Calhoun Sports Boosters Association dedicated the scoreboard at Calhoun’s baseball field this week in honor of the late Ronnie Gies, a Merrick Fire Department chief who was killed in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The dedication was years in the planning, said members of the Sports Boosters. Gies, a New York City firefighter who, most of all, loved to play baseball with his children, rushed into the World Trade Center as others were rushing out, and was among the more than 341 city firefighters who perished that day.

Gies’s family was on hand for the dedication ceremony, including his wife, Carol; sons, Bobby, Tommy and Ronnie; and brother, Billy.

The scoreboard was dedicated last weekend before Calhoun’s game against Holy Trinity High School.