President's Message 2023
January 5, 2023
Last year had a lot of joyful moments and good news, but there were some sad losses. We had ten known deaths last year. A very significant death was that of Jack Hoover. I could share a whole page about the many ways that Jack helped shape and develop our Club, from his interactions with Redwood City to his standardizing of tournament dates and rules throughout northern California.
Allen Statler, died a little more than a year ago. Allen was known for his personality, his Samoyan dogs who came to every day play and tournament, and his love for softball and Reggie Jackson. Con Maloney was a loss to me; a great gentleman and someone who always told me a joke from his priest that was given at that week’s mass.
Don Schroyer was a committed player who kept going even as his body and skills began to deteriorate. This was also true of Ron Eadie an early pioneer member. Mike Kapchuk lived in Gilroy and we only saw him in Saturday league but he was a well-known manager and sponsor of many successful tournament teams in northern California.
Ron Baughman was a unique individual and a very good player before focusing on being an umpire during day play and Saturdays. Jim Bechtold was a softball player in this area for decades, primarily a pitcher, but didn’t play with our Club until his final years of playing. Sid Maytorena had many skills and was a very desirable tournament player into his 80s.
Bill Hayes was an active player in day play and night play and we lost him suddenly when he was still a contributor. We also remember active spouses such as Gabi Pretes who was present at most of John’s tournament games. Despite her blindness, she recognized people by voices and was friendly to all as we filled her in on what was happening on the field.
These losses, as always, result in a drop of membership but we added many new members this year, especially more women and some younger players not yet retired from their jobs. Our membership is still around 280, but we have dropped several 80s members from our mailings who are no longer playing such as our oldest living member, Ron Fredlund, at age 103!
Our finances are sound. Our normal sources of income are yearly dues, raffle income from two annual events, auction income, and any profit we make from tournament fees at our annual NorCal softball tournament. This year our expenses for subsidized holiday party, occasional picnics, hardball trips to the Giants, our annual Labor Day One-Pitch tournament, and regular expenses such as mailings, equipment, rain line, field rental from San Carlos, etc. were only $15.20 more than our income! As our Treasurer, Angelo Rizzato says, “What a non-profit!”
The Board will still be looking for a gift to Redwood City because of their free fields and support over the years.
We had a couple of social all-Club events this year: our annual birthday picnic for the oldest active member which was again Dick St. Denny at 98; our annual Holiday Party organized by Pete & Debbie Kutch, December 3 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel; and of course the many, many lunches where all players are invited to join day play participants at various local restaurants.
Our regular day play games were well attended, with fewer rainouts this year. There were the usual challenges of momentary displacements for field maintenance, public school events, summer play at Hoover, and the continuing expectation of field renovation at Hawes Park. Night league continued under the new format similar to day play and participation has increased from last year.
Our annual summer tournament was a success under Paul McKowan’s leadership with ample volunteers and many words of praise by teams participating. We had to use McGarvey Field and play under the lights because of the planned (but not actually done) field renovation at Hawes.
We sponsored only three tournament teams this year, but our Saturday league this winter has seven teams—tied for the most ever…hopefully without rain continuing to disrupt the schedule.
The One-Pitch tournament on Labor Day also was a winner—we had the largest participation ever and a great time was had by all as teams battled for the coveted shirts. However, it was an extraordinary hot day and two players went down from dehydration and several people did not show up, particularly among family attendees.
The Señors Games resumed this year after a hiatus for Covid and scheduling challenges. More than two dozen athletes strove to set new records.
Our long-time recording secretary, Donna O’Farrell retired this year after many years of wonderful service. Pat Michael is currently handling some of her duties.
And in conclusion, the Club benefited from the work of so many volunteers who served as Board members, leaders of one-time events, and commissioners, all of whom were supported by so many other Board members and spouses.
We are looking forward to a great 2023. We will continue to enjoy the sport of softball in the company of friends.
Dennis Logie, President