By Mike Schnitzel
Little League officials hope to begin construction of the field in June so that it will be ready in time for the 2008 season. The field, at Howell Road School, will cost $160,000 to $180,000 to build, according to Little League President John Faust.
The league is looking to the local business community for help, and so far two familiar sponsors have stepped up, according to the league¹s vice president of fund-raising, Jack Wagner. ³We want to acknowledge longtime Valley Stream Little League sponsors Baxter¹s Sports and Modell¹s, from CEO Mitchell Modell, for contributing $1,000 each,² Wagner said. ³We need contributions from local businesses and support to advertise our field fund-raising in their stores.²
Faust said that the field would provide a great morale boost to the league. ³It will be the first time that our minors and majors division can have a home game in a tournament, and that¹s going to be huge for us,² he said. ³It¹s going to be great for the kids to have an official field to play on all year.²
In order to meet their fund-raising goal, Little League officials have designated their target contribution range from $250 to $1,000.
³If we don¹t reach our goal we won¹t be able to build the field, so every dollar counts, even if someone can¹t contribute in the target range,² Faust said. ³We¹re doing this for the kids, and when you do things for them, the community gets a better citizen in return.²
There are also plans to allow the Valley Stream Mail League to use the field when the Little League is not using it.
The current plan has been a long time coming, according to league officials. Prior to the beginning of negotiations with District 13 a year ago, the league had reached out to the state, the Town of Hempstead and the Village of Valley Stream to find a suitable space for a regulation, tournament-sized diamond during an eight-year span of negotiations.
At the formal contract-signing ceremony held in December, District 13 Board President Jeanne Jacobs and Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Lison both lauded the contract signing as the beginning of a beautification of Howell Road School that will benefit both
the district and the Little League.
³It¹s a total win-win situation for the children of Valley Stream,² Lison said at the ceremony.
Comments about this story? Mschnitzel@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.
