Passing the baton
Fourteen years ago, a small group of Aurorans had a vision.
They wanted to build a first-class baseball and softball complex that would give local kids a place to play and give Aurora a place to welcome teams and families from across the region.
They didn’t have millions of dollars in a city budget or a paid staff waiting to make it happen. They had an idea, determination and a willingness to roll up their sleeves.
Fourteen years later, the lights at the Aurorns 4 Diamond Sports Complex are shining, the parking lot was full this summer and nearly 200 local youngsters are wearing A-Town uniforms. That’s quite a return on a community investment, and perhaps the most encouraging part of the story is what is happening now as the men who helped turn that original vision into reality are passing the baton to a younger generation.
Doug Kittle and Sam Moyer have every right to be proud of what they helped build, as do the late Wayne Griffith, Jim Koepke, Bob Kremer, the Roberts family and countless other volunteers and donors who contributed time, money, materials and sweat.
Kittle estimates he has spent about 20 hours a week at the complex during the spring, summer and fall for years. That’s not just volunteer work. That’s a second job for the Aurora High School principal.
But the founders never viewed A4DS as something they owned. They considered it something the community owned — something that would require successive generations to step up and keep it going.
That’s why the arrival of Jordan Stithem and Sami Vincent is so encouraging, and news worthy. They aren’t simply taking over an existing program. They’re putting their own fingerprints on it.
More than 100 games were played at the complex this summer in roughly two months, including 35 involving out-of-town teams. Nearly 200 local youngsters participated in A-Town baseball.
Perhaps more importantly, Stithem and Vincent have worked to make baseball more accessible to local families by bringing more games home and reducing the emphasis on travel. That’s a winning proposition for everyone.
There is a lesson here that goes well beyond baseball. Communities don’t build themselves.
The best things about a small town usually exist because somebody cared enough to do something about an idea. Somebody raised the money. Somebody donated the materials. Somebody spent Saturday morning fixing a fence or mowing a field.
Eventually, those people get older. The challenge is finding the next generation willing to step forward. Aurora appears to be doing exactly that at A4DS. That’s worth celebrating, and supporting.
-- Kurt Johnson